Pantry Makeover

That is my recently organized pantry. 
It's nothing overly fancy, and could do with a few more changes, but from what it started with, I'm pretty thrilled with the way it turned out!

Unfortunately, it was another one of those projects where I didn't think to take pictures until I was halfway into it.
Well, I'll start at the beginning. 
We are currently renting an older home from someone we know through our church.  We've been here for over two years, and we're happy with the place overall.  The decorator/creative/organized side of me has loads of ideas for this house, but the practical/cheap/lazy side of me says, why bother!? 

I finally called our landlord and asked if painting was ok (I had hoped to repaint my boys' purple bedroom at some point....more details there later).  She said yes, so I immediately whipped out the paintbrush and went at it. (Ha!!)  Slight stretch there.  It was probably a couple of months and I started spring cleaning my kitchen.  The pantry was in some major need of TLC, so I emptied the whole thing onto the counters, stove, table, and any other available surface, (see above) and started scrubbing. 

I started brainstorming as I scrubbed (yes, that IS dangerous), and recalled a couple of neat pantries I've recently seen in blog-land such as the ones from Delightful Order and House of Smiths (not to mention all those on Pinterest!).  So I went and checked out the touch up paint cupboard and discovered this pretty shade of blue that was leftover from one of the bedrooms!  THEN I whipped out the paint brushes! :)

My sweet, smiley little boy had a wonderful time watching me work. 
My wild, fun-loving little man thankfully spent most of the day outside!

Here is the completed paint job.  It isn't really a 'walk in' pantry, but more like a 'step in'.  There is room to take about one step into it, then there are shelves on three sides.  The white shelves needed painted badly too, so that also got done.  So bright and clean looking!! 
Too bad I don't have a before shot :(

After adding a few decorative touches... it seemed to be coming together well.  I painted the 'Thank You, Lord' as a reminder of where the blessings of food (and everything else) come from, and to thank Him for them each day.  The white canisters I got for $3 at a garage sale- SCORE!!
The wire baskets are from Ikea, but I got them for I think $4 each at another garage sale.  And lastly, the tall, glass jar was a couple bucks, also at a garage sale. I love the look of glass jars to organize pantry items, so I have been on the lookout for them lately.

Here is the 'after' shot.
Top shelf: Fancy glass serving dishes that don't often get used
2nd Shelf: Canisters with things such as corn meal, pancake mix, and such;  Tupperware containers for chips, crackers, and snacks; and the tall jar with noodles.
3rd Shelf:  Cans and condiments
4th Shelf: Cereals, oats/oatmeal, syrup, etc
5th Shelf: Paper products, drink mixes, pitchers,
Floor: Potato bin, chips, napkins

The white baskets on the left side I got from Walmart for a couple bucks each on the Easter clearance shelves.  One holds candy/goodies, another holds Jell-o mix, and the last holds partially used bags of noodles.  Otherwise you can see the assortment of things stored here.

The right side is mostly for appliances such as the griddle, extra coffee pot, waffle iron, and so on.  The drawer holds individual serving sized containers for my husbands lunches and for leftovers.

I had a lot of fun doing this, and other than getting a bit crowded after a shopping trip, it has stayed in a somewhat organized order since then.  The original cleaning project blew up into a bigger job, but it was worth it!  My husband probably still laughs at me that the PANTRY was the first 'room' in the house I painted, after finding out it was ok! :)

Thanks for stopping in! Let me know about the storage and organizing ideas you use in your kitchen!

I also linked up at this party (thanks DaNita!):