Grand Plan - Pantry

I was going to do updates for everything I've organized/decluttered in one post.  If I did that, it would be one VERY picture heavy post and really? I need SOMETHING to blog about this week.

So I'll start from the beginning. The pantry was week 1 (it is week 7).  I've since had to go back in there and rearrange it.  There is still some work to be done in there.  I need to get more baskets and purge more stuff off the shelves.  I also really need to hang the art that is being stored everywhere at the moment.

'Pantry' Before

The pantry was the unfortunate dumping ground for everything I had in holding.  Yeah, I was holding on to too much!

'Pantry' First Try

This first try was by far the best.  There was NOTHING on the floor and I loved it.

'Pantry' Second Try

I did a bookcase shuffle for the second try. The screen and our DIY window shade made their way into the pantry.  The girls games and books also got a shuffle and wound up in here.  It is so much easier for Turtle to get to her art supplies now.

Items to Clear;

folding screen - am I REALLY going to use this?

girls books - they can be purged, or at least downsized

artwork - I need to get some 3M hooks and replacement glazier points so I can hang all the art again

cleaning supplies - I'm going to put those back in the coat closet with the laundry supplies

Things to Add;

labels for the girls books

storage for Turtle's art supplies

baskets/lazy susans for baking and pantry staples

hook for broom

Grand Start to the New Year

I'm sure you have all read Organized Home's New Year's Cleaning Grand  Plan? You haven't? Well! Basically, it is fourteen weeks of cleaning your house room by room, area by area. That's the basic premise.  I was interested in doing a twist on this last year, but time got away from me (or was it my motivation?).  I kept my plans/ideas for it and when November rolled around I made an editorial calendar* of what I'd like to post on the blog and when I'd minimally like to post on the blog.  Putting my plans back in play for participating in my version of the NYGCP worked well for the editorial calendar so I pencilled it in.

Yesterday, while Frog was napping, I attacked the pantry. 

Yes, that was really what greeted me when I'd open the door!

We've only been here three months and it already looked like that! Not to mention I couldn't get to anything I wanted at the back of the closet and half of it was buried!

So I pulled all the bags I'd shoved in there out, hauled them into my bedroom (for just in case babyproofing) and organized the rest if the closet. By the way, is a three by seven room actually a 'closet'?

Several hours and a lunch break later, the pantry looked a little fuller than this, but not by much.

That flooring is really, REALLY ugly.

You'll see I even have a shelf for empty storage containers, definitely inspired by Laura!

And so my New Year's Grand deCluttering Plan begins!

*this isn't where I first found out about the editorial calendar but it's a nice short post to start you on the right track!