Dealing With A Deep Pantry

Well... I am putting things together in the new house.  We've moved and I'm starting to find stuff in the mountain of boxes... unfortunately, my camera cord is not one of them!!!  So sorry in advance for the pics that are coming in the next few postings while I look for it.  But with Kevin's surgery over with and getting out of cramped quarters in the apartment, I'm finally getting my life back and into the swing of ORGANIZING the new home!!!  Needless to say, after such a long time of not posting, I have a few things to show you.  But I'm going to start with the pantry.

When we first purchased the house I had grand designs to turn this DEEP pantry into a step in-pantry by removing the shelving that is currently in there and replacing it with thinner shelving (going from about 20" shelves to 12" shelves).  There is nothing worse than a pantry that hides stuff because things get buried in deep shelving.  But after paying movers and buying window coverings and paying for landscaping, etc., the pantry was going to have to be dealt with on a VERY strict budget.  Luckily for me, the first step in my pantry make-over was already taken care of:  The Lazy Susans!!!

I've actually been utilizing lazy susans in my bathroom and craft room FOREVA!!!  And while we were living in that TEENY TINY apartment I was picking up extra lazy susans here and there  so that when we moved, that expense would already be handled.  And NOTHING handles getting into dark corners of a pantry with deep shelves like a nice lazy susan!!!  Because my shelves are so wide, the 16" OXO lazy susan works PERFECTLY!!!  Pictured is my collection of oil and vinegars.

Now I'm not sure, but I think THIS is just about the most brilliant storage solution that I've EVER come up with!!!  Not only are my pantry shelves deep, but so is the space BETWEEN shelves!  Anyone else have this problem?  I found neat baskets that suspend from the shelf above to create storage out of thin air!!!  Not only did this basket free up valuable real estate on my pantry floor (yes, my potatoes were in a bag on the pantry floor), but now my potatoes aren't touching ANYTHING in my pantry and have all the air they need until I use them!!!  Those awesome suspended baskets come in small and large sizes so I got a couple of each.

Now for the canned goods... I haven't perfected this yet, but this is what I have so far.  First thing's first.  I stock up on Cambell's Cream of Chicken, Cream of Celery and Cream of Mushroom soups for various holiday and party recipes so segregating (wow, that's a big word) those soups from the rest of my canned goods seems like a pretty good idea and the soda can dispenser I got from Home Goods fit the bill to perfection with a $5 pricetag!!!  Then I used an old three tiered spice rack I already had to display the rest of my canned goods. My family doesn't eat a lot of canned food, but if that should ever change, I'm gonna go to THIS baby:

So, here's my bottom line to "fix" my deep pantry... $60 for racks and lazy susans and $30 for the Closetmaid 18" Wall and Door Rack you see in the top pic.  I was originally looking at the Elfa Over The Door Rack from The Container Store, but that alone was going to put me over budget so I picked up the Closetmaid rack and it works like a gem.  The over the door hooks that came with the Closetmaid kit wouldn't work for my pantry door so I just screwed it into the door itself and it works PERFECTLY.   If you click on the top pic to enlarge you might be able to see how I attached it to the door.

That about does it.   My world is finally starting to come together.  I'm painting now, but will definitely have more fun pics to show on organization and decorating the new house.  I also promised to update you on the flower picture I altered.  I can't wait to show you where I put it!!!  It looks WONDERFUL next to the armoire!!!