Food Gift Tags.

In my old kitchen, I had what I referred to as the “open concept pantry”, which is really a fancy way of saying “everything is out in the open.”

Tired of open concept, I insisted on closed door storage for the pantry.  As luck would have it, I had an old hutch I had purchased on Ebay several years ago.  I liked the look of it and the price was right, so I bought it even though I didn’t have a place for it at the time.

Some cleaning up and a few coats of paint later, tah dah…it is a righteous pantry!  Right after the remodel, I pretty much just threw everything in there.  I knew I wanted to reorganize it, but wasn’t sure exactly how at that point.

Like most things with me, if I live with something for a while, I eventually figure out how to make it fit the way I do things.  The pantry was no exception.

Here are a couple of highlights:

• Chalkboard Contact Paper.  Found on Amazon, it comes in a roll and can be cut into any shape.  I used my die cutter and cut labels in a vintage shape for the bail wire jars that hold various staples.  I also sourced chalk pens and keep them handy for when I change the contents.  A simple wet cloth wipes the old chalk off so I can write something new.  For the pasta jars, I also have a chalkboard label on top of the jar that has a number in it to remind me how long to cook each kind of pasta.
• Bail Wire Jars.  I love these gems.  Found at IKEA, they are extremely reasonably priced and because the seal so tightly, they keep things fresh longer.
• Plastic Air Sealed Bins.  In order to get maximum storage efficiency, no shelf space was tall enough to handle a common cereal box; this allowed me to have more shelves.  The alternative was to use Better Homes & Gardens air sealed containers (found at Walmart) that were short and squatty, but large enough to handle the contents of a box of cereal.  Actually these are much easier to access and close than a normal cereal box.  And it keeps cereal fresh for alot longer than just a regular cereal box.
• Canvas Bins. For the lower cabinet, I  purchased (from Walmart), the white canvas bins, (3.99 ea). They help me access condiments, bread, extra baking items much easier.  Instead of mining shelves and moving things around to see what is in the back, I just pull the bin and I see everything I have….without disturbing the rest of the pantry.
• Vintage Enamel Trays and Basins.  As you  may know by now, there is a little bit (or a lot) of vintage in everything I do.  I used what I believe to be old medical instrument trays to organize the drawers in the hutch to keep things in place and I have an old enamel basin to hold fresh lavender that I use through out the house.  As a second benefit, the Lavender always makes the pantry smell lovely every time I open the doors.

The before and after pics are posted.  Remember to click on the pictures twice to increase the size.  Let me know what you think!

Love Always,

Cindy