an organized pantry

we have a small pantry. in fact it is combined with

our laundry room, right off our kitchen. it's about three feet

deep and nine feet wide. to the left is just enough

room for the washer, to the right is just enough room

for the dryer. above each we have some shelves.

not exactly a ton of room or even easy access to pantry items.

i love our little cottage but oh, how i would love a pantry like this.

or this.

or this.

all photos above from country living

i love an organized space!

apart from being more functional and accessible it's just so much

 nicer to look at. and that counts for something. if you enjoy your

space, if it inspires you, if it is functional and warm, you will

want to be there.

as a stay at home mom, my home is where i spend nearly all

my time. it's important to me that it makes me smile.

this week i decided to tackle my pantry/laundry room.

it's been in process since we moved in so it was time to finish

it up.

as i mentioned, our pantry is tiny. here are some

before pics. . .

there it is, right through that door. like i said. small.

the day after we moved in i took the bi-fold door off to

let light into the kitchen through that great floor to ceiling window.

this is the washer side.
lots o clutter. i put up the shelves on the right a month

or so ago in an effort to provide a bit more shelf space.

this is the dryer side. there are two cabs above which i have left alone.

the top of the dryer has become a major dumping ground for just about

anything you can imagine. we have meds, dapp putty, random tools,

pie crust, lunch boxes. a mess!

i don't have a before shot but the overhead light was just a bulb hanging out of  the

ceiling so i knew purchasing a fixture was on the to-do list.

apart from that, my goal was to spruce up the space without

spending any money.

here it is now. de-cluttered and much more functional.

i pulled all my canisters i could find around the house to sort

dry food, cleared off the area on top of the washer of

everything except detergents, and hung

up a couple vintage food charts, framed a verse from

deuteronomy and put it in an old frame i painted yellow.

the dryer side was decluttered. i have a red locker basket

with the boys lunch boxes and a tray for medicines. on the wall to the

right are hooks for grocery bags and some of the boys' art.

and i now have a proper light fixture. this is meant to be an outdoor

light but i like it here.

a wreath i had stuffed in our hall closet was pulled up to add

 a little pretty to this highly used space.

all in all, it's much better. i can't stop  thinking about that red screen door up above, though.

that would be the perfect solution here, no? it would let the light in and be awfully cute!

i'm linking up at domestically speaking for maryanne's "let's organize" party.