Over the years we have moved a lot! We have lived in a lot of small places where I have had to be very creative with my pantry storage. Our current house is HUGE for us, especially square footage wise, but it still seriously lacks in good storage, in fact, I am pretty sure the 1000 sq. ft. mobile home we lived in for several years had almost as much usable storage space.
Because of all the food allergies in our family and the fact that I make almost everything from scratch, pantry storage is one of the most important spaces wherever we live. This house has a large open kitchen and dining room, but the cupboards are narrow and don't hold much, so other than one spice cupboard, we have no food stored in the cupboards. Instead, when we were moving in, we were blessed with to rather large bookcase that I immediately knew what I was going to do with them.
They were almost the same size and the shelf spacing was almost identical, so I screwed them together and gave them a paint job. We had a long, unused wall in our kitchen that became their home. This is my main pantry storage.
Notice my little coffee bar off to one side.
I started out with assorted jar, containers, etc... and slowly collected the glass jars. I asked for jars for birthdays, Christmas, any excuse I could think of to add to my collection. The jars were less than $5 a piece, so it was not too much to ask for from family.
I have labels done for all the big jars and will hopefully finish my labels for the smaller jars soon. The jars hold all of my baking supplies, mixes, pastas, nuts, cereal, etc... When we get in from grocery shopping we fill up any jars that need filling right away. Just eliminating all the packaging makes such a big difference. My spices, which I buy bulk, are all in the quart or half gallon canning jars, along with all my spice mixtures that I make myself (apple pie spice, taco seasoning, Italian seasoning, etc....).
Whatever extra we have, plus all of our boxed and canned goods are stored in a little closet at the top of our stairs. This closet also holds my aprons, shopping bags, broom and mop.
19 comments:
I like it! ;)
Love the space! I'm inspired to do something similar with my own pantry now! Thanks!
~ Mrs. H
What a very nice space.
Always looks nice! Can't wait to see it in person=-)
Looks great! Where did you get the labels on the big jars? I use those jars too - now I need to copy your label!
Kari, I made the labels on my jars on my silhoutte machine. They are cut from black vinyl so they are washable and removable, if I change my mind.
Kari, I made the labels on my jars on my silhoutte machine. They are cut from black vinyl so they are washable and removable, if I change my mind. show more
Found you through One Pretty Thing. I'm in the process of redoing my food storage. Like you, I cook from scratch a lot and I also don't have a pantryroom. I've been mulling over how to store everything - with quick access - in such a way that it doesn't look like clutter. I love how you use all-glass jars with a consistent look to your labels. It looks like you can see at a glance what you've got to work with, yet even though the shelves are exposed, it all looks neat and tidy. Great inspiration!
I love The Neatness of This & I'm needing to do the same thing. Where did you get your jars?
Most of the jars I have received as gifts over the years--they are easily found at most Target or Walmart stores. A few of mine are antiques, but I can't tell the difference between the old ones or the new ones unless I am looking closely. I have even been known to fill a jar with a mix to give to a friend.
The large jars shown on here are available at WalMart. I love these kind of jars and this blog has given me a great idea for our new house for a pantry. I love the idea of using mason jars for spices and homemade mixes. I think this idea will make a big difference in my new home. Thanks for the ideas and wonderful recipes. So glad I found you!!
I use these jars, too, and love them! Here is another idea for labels: I taped off a rectangle on the front and painted the inside with chalkboard paint. So now I can easily change the contents of the jars. :-) By the way - love this blog!!
What is a silhoutte machine? And where did you find it?
I am a new follower of yours and I just had to say that you have amazing tips and recipes! I absolutely love your blog and I am truly glad I found you! You are an inspiration to me and I love how you make all your spices and mixes from scratch. I am definitley going to try to make some of these and I also am going to make your recipes for the pralines and so many more recipes that you have!! Thank you so much for all your wonderful content!! :)
Light destroys food. Looks nice but should cover with a dark curtain.
Looks great! Where did you get the labels on the big jars? I use those jars too - now I need to copy your label!
Pantry storage is one of the most important spaces wherever we live. Look at the jars very organized, and I want my pantry doors to have layers like that.
Will you do a post about how you made your labels? Or have you done so already?
Beautiful organized pantry. Love this. Thanks for inspiration on scratch cooking too :)
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