Top shelf: I have arranged things closest to where they are used. Here are spices in an industrial metal tray from Goodwill and serving pieces (espresso cups) I bought used. A magnetic spice bag holder (re-purposed office mail holder) on refrigerator wall behind shelves holding packets of stevia and bagged spices from our natural food store..
Second shelf: oils, vinegars in a re-purposed wood crate so they don't tip over, staples in antique canisters inherited from my husband's parents and glass jars we bought containing other food, canning jars with tart pans for lids, rice cooker. Small crockpot on counter next to shelves.
Third shelf: canned goods, some kitchen-emergency foods, jars, small recycling container.
Bottom shelf: large vinegars for household use, soup pot, bread maker, wines made by a
friend, empty jugs. Cloth bag of donations to the needy on floor next to shelving.
This is my pantry. Or, technically since it is not a room, these are my pantry shelves. When I figure out where I am going to put the rest of my things I will post more pictures. Right now they are covering the tops of our counters and the dining room table.
So, what is a pantry? Okay...I Googled it. "Pantry" is from the Latin root word "panis" meaning bread. In Medieval Latin it became "panataria" which was a room where the servant who had charge over all the food slept. In the 14th century the French borrowed it, changed it to "panterie" denoting simply a bread room. Somehow the servant disappeared with the bread and it came to mean just a room where non-perishable food was stored. I wish the servant hadn't left with the bread, but, oh, well. I am thankful I now have shelves! Someday, I hope to have our originally-planned walk-in pantry with our freezers and other stored items inside.But for now this will do nicely and I am very thankful.
The shelves do not hold all that we need them to hold and they do take up precious space in our kitchen and due to our poor planning make the total use of one cabinet and one drawer difficult since they won't open all the way. Things can still be gotten to but with a little bit of agility and contortion.
Today I am working again on the reorganization of the kitchen, trying to figure out how I might re-purpose some free-standing small shelves and an old nightstand that were used in the kitchen before we got the shelving unit. This will be temporary and no longer needed once my husband has time to build a small island with shelves and we can afford a range top to replace the still-present old stove.
Re-purposing requires me to imagine the piece I am working on backwards, sideways, on its side or up-side-down or cut up and more than likely in a different color. I love doing this but with such a small kitchen this is a BIG challenge. I may end up putting the items in a different room or relegating them to my husband who always can use more storage in our basement-turned-garage. What I am striving for right now is simply reasonable-looking order so that it is easier to work in my kitchen again.
Right now I am working on a white back-less bookcase previously used for canned goods, a soup pot and small appliances. I imagine it spray-painted black to match other items in my gold, red and black kitchen. I will put it on it's side on the counter top which is now too crowded with cereals---oatmeal, granola, my 7qt black crockpot and some other things. I will put the crockpot on top with a set of knives so they are out-of-reach for little grandchildren-hands. The jars of staples should fit nicely on the counter next to the bookcase. And I will put muffin tins, cookie sheets and other metal baking items in the cubicles.
Not sure about the repainted, re-purposed (yellow-gold) nightstand that held our spices in the oven-hole. It was one of two white particle board nightstands that were thrown in free when we got our youngest daughter's bedroom set which is made of nicer stuff. It was white with painted ugly metallic gold around the edges to try to match the white bedroom set. I took off the metallic gold drawer pull and painted the whole stand a yellowy gold, screwed a bright red wooden chili pepper that I found at Goodwill onto it instead of the ugly pull and used the whole thing for spices in the oven hole. My husband then installed a painted-to-match shelf to the top of that adding more room to store staples in our oven hole. I don't know if I will find a use for the nightstand-turned-spice storage unit.. I am hoping something comes to me while I am working on the above. The other ugly nightstand was put in one of the upstairs bathrooms. I spray-painted it white, replaced the pull with a metal (silver) decorative leaf pull that I also found at the second-hand store. The drawer holds shampoos and the shelf holds rolled white towels.
My husband just came in for a minute before he and our son-in-law head out to work on a project and he had ideas for the nightstand unit. Wow, nice!
I hope this gives you some ideas regarding how to reorganize and re-purpose items you have. Doing the best with what you've got is so much fun!
More pictures will follow!
Bottom shelf: large vinegars for household use, soup pot, bread maker, wines made by a
friend, empty jugs. Cloth bag of donations to the needy on floor next to shelving.
This is my pantry. Or, technically since it is not a room, these are my pantry shelves. When I figure out where I am going to put the rest of my things I will post more pictures. Right now they are covering the tops of our counters and the dining room table.
So, what is a pantry? Okay...I Googled it. "Pantry" is from the Latin root word "panis" meaning bread. In Medieval Latin it became "panataria" which was a room where the servant who had charge over all the food slept. In the 14th century the French borrowed it, changed it to "panterie" denoting simply a bread room. Somehow the servant disappeared with the bread and it came to mean just a room where non-perishable food was stored. I wish the servant hadn't left with the bread, but, oh, well. I am thankful I now have shelves! Someday, I hope to have our originally-planned walk-in pantry with our freezers and other stored items inside.But for now this will do nicely and I am very thankful.
The shelves do not hold all that we need them to hold and they do take up precious space in our kitchen and due to our poor planning make the total use of one cabinet and one drawer difficult since they won't open all the way. Things can still be gotten to but with a little bit of agility and contortion.
Today I am working again on the reorganization of the kitchen, trying to figure out how I might re-purpose some free-standing small shelves and an old nightstand that were used in the kitchen before we got the shelving unit. This will be temporary and no longer needed once my husband has time to build a small island with shelves and we can afford a range top to replace the still-present old stove.
Re-purposing requires me to imagine the piece I am working on backwards, sideways, on its side or up-side-down or cut up and more than likely in a different color. I love doing this but with such a small kitchen this is a BIG challenge. I may end up putting the items in a different room or relegating them to my husband who always can use more storage in our basement-turned-garage. What I am striving for right now is simply reasonable-looking order so that it is easier to work in my kitchen again.
Right now I am working on a white back-less bookcase previously used for canned goods, a soup pot and small appliances. I imagine it spray-painted black to match other items in my gold, red and black kitchen. I will put it on it's side on the counter top which is now too crowded with cereals---oatmeal, granola, my 7qt black crockpot and some other things. I will put the crockpot on top with a set of knives so they are out-of-reach for little grandchildren-hands. The jars of staples should fit nicely on the counter next to the bookcase. And I will put muffin tins, cookie sheets and other metal baking items in the cubicles.
Not sure about the repainted, re-purposed (yellow-gold) nightstand that held our spices in the oven-hole. It was one of two white particle board nightstands that were thrown in free when we got our youngest daughter's bedroom set which is made of nicer stuff. It was white with painted ugly metallic gold around the edges to try to match the white bedroom set. I took off the metallic gold drawer pull and painted the whole stand a yellowy gold, screwed a bright red wooden chili pepper that I found at Goodwill onto it instead of the ugly pull and used the whole thing for spices in the oven hole. My husband then installed a painted-to-match shelf to the top of that adding more room to store staples in our oven hole. I don't know if I will find a use for the nightstand-turned-spice storage unit.. I am hoping something comes to me while I am working on the above. The other ugly nightstand was put in one of the upstairs bathrooms. I spray-painted it white, replaced the pull with a metal (silver) decorative leaf pull that I also found at the second-hand store. The drawer holds shampoos and the shelf holds rolled white towels.
My husband just came in for a minute before he and our son-in-law head out to work on a project and he had ideas for the nightstand unit. Wow, nice!
I hope this gives you some ideas regarding how to reorganize and re-purpose items you have. Doing the best with what you've got is so much fun!
More pictures will follow!
Kathi~
.....
