When you first move into a house, you have every intention to be organized and stay that way. Or, at least, I know I do. At our last house we didn’t have a pantry and I used a small cupboard and everything else was on shelves in the basement. At our new house, we’re not only blessed to have basement space for the shelves, but an actual pantry to keep thing in the kitchen on hand.
As I unpacked the boxes last summer, my goal was to keep it organized – to say that didn’t happen would be putting it mildly. Probably about 6 months after moving in, I couldn’t find something in the pantry – so I went out to buy it, only to find it the next day. Not only did that waste money, but items were getting lost in the back and going bad. Spectrum Diversified came to my rescue this spring, and sent me some of their closet organization products to help with my small pantry space. Now, the picture doesn’t seem to look that bad but really, I’d end up moving boxes around just to find anything – what a waste of time!
Spectrum sent me two of their Ashley Stackable Shelves, 2 over the shelf divider sets, and two utility baskets – surely with these tools I could find some sanity in this messy pantry right? The first thing I did was completely empty my pantry. While I have a lot more counter space – I still had things stacked all over the kitchen. With two of the Large Ashley stacking baskets (from the Kitchen Organization Feature) I started to fill it back up at the bottom and made things a lot easier to get to the fresh veggies. This cleared up a lot of shelf space up above it.
The next step was my tackling my spices. Since I cook a lot from scratch and make a lot of my own spice mixes this has to be the bulk of our pantry space. The Ashley stackable shelves were perfect for this job. Not only did it allow me to double my shelf space for spices, the metal was perfect for my spice pods to connect to magnetically. Now organized alphabetically, it’ll be easy to grab the one I need instead of digging in a mix of pods falling over. The pantry shelves were actually too close together to stack the stackable shelves on each other, so the other found a home on the top shelf with our peanutbutter, honey and other jars of food to make them easily accessible.
Another big area of mess in my pantry has always been my baking supplies. Being a gluten free cook, I have different flours I use and keep on hand. And while I have them in canisters in the basement there isn’t enough space for all of them upstairs. I tend to keep small bags of what I need on hand and close by. Loose bags of flours, sugar, chocolate chips and powdered sugar would get lose somewhere in the pantry… never to be seen again! To help solve this issue, I used one of the Utility baskets to stash all of my baking goods in one spot. The most elegant solution? Probably not, but when I’m in a baking mood I can just grab out what I need and not create a mess as I dig through shelf after shelf trying to find something I wanted.
The other Utility basket ended up with a similar fate – but instead of baking supplies, it was filled with all of the snacks and junk food. Some of the smaller snacks seemed to take up a lot of shelf space where they don’t need to. It helps contain all of our snacks in one spot, and makes it easy to see what we want to snack on if we’re in a munchy mood.
Since most of our meals are from scratch, I found we didn’t need as many of the shelf separators as I had originally thought. Only one made its way into the pantry with the few boxes of food we had, so I took the remaining ones into the linen closet to help organize that some. Unfortunately that meant getting a little help along the way! You see, the linen closet really belongs to Jack and there’s not much we can say to him to convince him otherwise. So putting things in his space meant they had to be fully inspected.
To put the shelf separators in was easy, you simply slide the dividers over the shelf and the rubber grips hold it securely in place. They move easily as you need to adjust items in the linen closet and can help you find shelf space you didn’t know you had inside!
Unfortunately, the only problem I’ve had with the shelf spacers is they didn’t exactly pass kitten inspection right away… instead they had to be taste tested as they went in and have had to be re-adjusted a few times since. My guess is this isn’t a normal reaction and it could be a Jack-Jack issue! I would like to note that Godiva (our older cat) didn’t seem to care that anything was happening and didn’t help reorganize any of the linen closet or try to eat any products.
But with a few tools from Spectrum Diversified not only did my linen closet get more organized but I now have an organized pantry where I can find any of the ingredients I need on a daily basis with a quick look. It will be easy to keep the pantry neat and organized and hopefully in six months I wont be in the mess I was last time!
Spectrum Diversified wants to help one of my readers organize their pantry as well. One lucky reader will win two of their Ashley Stackable Shelves, 2 over the shelf divider sets, and two utility baskets (crazy cat is not included!) Read below on how you can win!
How Can You Win?
Enter to win with the form below. The mandatory entry is leaving a comment on this blog post: Tell me the biggest organization problem you have. Or tell me which Spectrum Diversified product you need the most! If you do not do this entry – you will not win! So make sure you leave a comment and then enter using the form below!
Leaf Sugar Packet Basket to store kool aid packets or Contempo Fruit Bowl
I need the : https://www.spectrumdiversified.com/Cabinet-Organizers-Flower-Over-Cabinet-Double-Towel-Bar. This would work in both the bathrooms and the kitchen and be a big improvement.
Bathroom shelves are deep cubbie holes, so things just get tossed around
My linen closet needs to be reorganized and sorted out.
My biggest organization problem is my food cabinet. I only have one cabinet in my apartment so everything is thrown in there. It is hard to see where everything is.
Bloom Wall Mount Lid Rack.
I need the Large Over the Shelf Dividers for my sweaters. I have so many and I like them out so I can see them. And they fall over when I stack them over 3 high.
My kitchen cupboards need to be reorganized
My closet needs to be organized and I need to thin out the shoes and clothes I don’t wear any longer.
My biggest organization problem is my cookie sheets and pizza pans. There is just no place for them. I hope I can remedy that.
My biggest problem is my husband!!!
https://www.spectrumdiversified.com/Baskets-Trash-Bag-Holders-Contempo-Over-Cabinet-Medium-Basket
My biggest organization problem is crowding a space with too many items and then I can’ t find the one I need.
I need to organize the whole thing! It so tiny and there isn’t enough room for everything.
My biggest problem is I didn’t downsize enough on items when I downsized in housing.
One of my biggest organizational problems is that I have too,much stuff.
The biggest organization problem I have is my kitchen pantry.It’s a disaster. I have cans and spices everywhere.
I could use the Double Towel bar
I need the Large Over the Shelf Dividers for several closets to help organize them.
My biggest organizational problem is with pots and pans.
I have an issue with keeping all of our snacks in one place. Kids like to have them right were they can reach.
I need to put pots and pans in better order.
Scroll Wall Mount Letter Holder & Key Rack.
I like the Ashley Over the Cabinet Cutting Board & Bakware Holder
My baking supplies are separated in3 different places And they are not lall in canisters or jars, so,that needs to be organized too.
The closet my washer/dryer is in needs to be reorganized. It has become a catch-all-closet.
I would love to,have the cradles to clear off and organize the items around the sink .
I have an issue with spices and those small boxes in the kitchen cabinet. They never stay straight.
I need a way to organize my little bottles of craft paint. There are so many and they fall over. I need help there.
I would also like the,large over the shelf dividers for clothing I my closet.
https://www.spectrumdiversified.com/Scoop-Medium-Stacking-Basket I would like these stacking baskets for my lotions & such so I can lay them out & just grab what I need.
I need to organize my sewing supplies.
Medium Storage Basket.
I need to reorganize my bathroom since I have too many products on my counters.
I have a hard time organizing my magazines. I want to keep most of them for reference later. I just don’t know how to keep them where they don’t look like a pile of of magazines instead of a stack of reference material.
I could also,use the over the cabinet double towel bar
My pantry is definitely long overdue for organizing. Thanks for the chance!
I would like to have the Twist Suction Sink Cradle to keep that wet sponge off the counter.
I would get a lot of use out of the utility basket!
I need to get my spices organized and in one place
I could use the Over the Cabinet Large Grid Basket to help organize my bathroom.
I have a hard time keeping my kids rooms organized, their toys and clothes
I have an issue with where to put those semi-wet hand towels. I wish I had the Leaf Over the Cabinet Towel Ring. It would help so much.
Since I have a lot of necklaces I’d love two of their jewelry holders to help organize them
My biggest problem is my pots and pans and their lids.
Scroll Over the Cabinet Triple Hook.
I would like to have the Suction Storage Deep Basket to keep the items in the shower organized.
Another organization problem is where to store all the pots and pans.
I need to organize my pantry shelves and kitchen cupboards.
My biggest organizing problem is my cookware. I have several sets and some open stock pieces that I have on a few shelves in my pantry. I use all the pieces I have, so getting rid of some isn’t an option.
I need to have the Leaf 6-Tier Jewelry Holder to help me organize my necklaces.
I need shelves for,the Bathroom to get items off,the floor.
I need help with my cosmetics and nail polish. I am looking for an item to help me keep them organized and together.
I could also,use the Ashley stackable shelves
Scroll Over the Cabinet Triple Hook
I would get the Tuscan Napkin Holder to replace one I have now that is not very functional or useful.
Organizing my teenage son’s bedroom is my biggest problem right now. He has things toss all over the place.
I wish I had the Patrice Kitchen Organizer for my counter top It would really organize my kitchen counter when I wash dishes.
I would say that all my closets need to be better organized.
I could use some of the wire bins to help organize my laundry area.
my daughter has tons of nail polishes, and the 2 or 3 tier nail polish countertop holder would be something she could use to stay organized!
I would also like the Bloom wall mount lid rack.