organize – Designing Goldilocks

5 steps to pantry organization

So I finally organized my pantry. Yes, after one year in the new house, I finally completed the project I thought would be done by now.

I had originally planned to line the shelves the first weekend in the house. I had liners in two colors so that I could have options.

I thought I was being smart, you know. Thinking ahead. I would line the shelves while the pantry was still empty before that first big trip to the grocery store.

Wrong.

The pantry fell by the wayside. With all of the busyness of moving into a new house, lining the shelves got pushed down the priority list. Way down.

But it always bothered me. Every time I opened the pantry door, I would see a project that wouldn’t have taken much time at all.

The pantry is small. Like linen-closet-size small. There was no excuse not to get it done. And it wasn’t that the pantry was messy. The items were already neatly arranged in zones that made sense: soups, spices, cereal boxes, cookbooks.

I could have easily left it that way. And I did for one year. But rather than seeing labels when I opened the pantry door, I wanted to see one cohesive color or pattern across all of the shelves.

So one day I cleared the calendar, threw away the excuses and got to work. It took me a couple of hours, start to finish to organize the pantry. And that included stopping for a quick lunch.

I’m happy with the results, and even more happy to share with you 5 steps to a tidier pantry:

Discipline

Before tackling the pantry, or any space in the house, ask yourself why you want to organize it. The obvious reason may be because you want the space to look nice when you open the door. That’s a given. But organization also takes discipline. What I mean is, you have to consciously put items back in their place. You can have all of the storage bins in the world, but they’ll do you no good if the celery salt gets lost between the large cans of crushed tomatoes.

Appearance

Picture an organized pantry. What do you see? Is it solid or clear containers? Do the containers have labels or no labels? Do you want spices on turntables? Do you want to keep cereals and pastas in their original packages or transfer them into containers? The options are seemingly endless. And quite overwhelming. But choosing the containers also is the fun part. And it’s almost easier to find the bins you like first and then decide to organize the space. And that’s often how organization starts. You see an awesome system at the store and then get the brilliant idea to organize your house just so you can buy the pretty bins. But again, do you have the discipline to keep it organized?

Other considerations

It’s not necessary, but lining the shelves may add an extra touch to the space. I chose a brown non-adhesive liner that is both durable and washable. I chose to line the shelves because sometimes I like to take the bins out of the pantry and place them on the counter as I’m prepping to cook. The liner protects the shelves from being scuffed up in the process. If I truly had been thinking ahead, I would have painted the interior of the pantry to match the kitchen walls. There’s always next week.

Organizing

Now comes the hardest part, and yet I found this part to be quite therapeutic. Because my pantry was already organized in zones, all I had to do was remove the items shelf-by-shelf and then place them back on the shelf in their dedicated bins. This was also a great time to throw away items that had expired. When I placed the items in their bins, I organized them by date. What I mean is, for the bins that have 3 jars of spaghetti sauce, I put the newer jars in the back and the older one in the front so that I was sure to use that one first. I also placed the items I use frequently at eye-level (spices, peanut butter, oils and vinegars), the items I rarely use on the top shelf (cookbooks), and the bulky items at the bottom (bottled water and paper products).

Enjoy

I’m happy to have an organized pantry and I think you’ll be too should you undertake this project in your own home. It’s nice to open the door and see one cohesive look. If there is a drawback, it’s that the bins themselves take up real estate that reduces space for pantry items. But it’s not enough of a drawback to go back to the way it was before. In fact, I’m already eyeing John’s pantry in the loft. Now THAT would be a lot of fun.

*Storage bins can transform your pantry, giving each item a de*dicated space and the pantry one cohesive look. Photos by Cindy Hernandez

Anxiously Goldilocks

I’m sitting here, thinking about what to write.

The news is playing on the TV.

States across the country are instituting curfews – Arizona being one of them – and preparing for more destruction tonight and in the days ahead.

I’m tired.

I stayed up past midnight last night. I couldn’t peel myself away from the news. And yet, I haven’t stopped all day. I keep busying myself with mundane things.

I placed a grocery delivery for today. Paid bills. Put said groceries away. Prepped fruits and vegetables for the week. Cleaned out the refrigerator.

I made scalloped potatoes from scratch. I never make scalloped potatoes. I put a load of laundry in the washer.

I gave the kitchen sink a good scrubbing.

I wiped down the kitchen counters.

I’m writing this blog post even though I already had a post scheduled for today. I’m not sure what I want to say but I feel I should say something.

I texted my parents and asked if they needed anything before the curfew went into effect. Anything to help. Anything to keep myself busy. Anything to feel that I’m helping others. Taking care of the ones I love. Making a difference.

Even as I write this post, I have gotten up twice to serve scalloped potatoes to John. I’m finding busy work within my busy work.

This weekend marks 1 year in the new house, and this is not how I expected the occasion to go. This is not how I expected 2020 to go.

John and I followed news of the coronavirus late last year and knew it would eventually surface in America. But we didn’t know to what extent nor did we anticipate self-quarantines and stay-at-home orders.

We happily obliged. John falls into the high-risk category due to underlying health conditions. We didn’t leave the house for 2 weeks in March.

Even now we only leave the house when necessary. And when we do, we wear masks and gloves. We use hand sanitizer and wash our hands repeatedly. We wipe down surfaces. We have turned our bar room into a makeshift receiving room for deliveries.

I’m anxious by nature. And the launch of this blog couldn’t have come at a better time. It gives me an outlet to channel all of this energy.

I believe that is why I enjoy interior decorating so much. It keeps me occupied. It allows me to create order and to minimize chaos. It helps me to feel I have some control in a world where I have absolutely none.

The new house couldn’t have come at a better time either. Because there is so much to decorate and organize. So many plans to make. Even if those plans never come to fruition.

In fact, John and I reflected on the past year this morning. We talked about the things we thought we would have done. Like hosting family and friends more. Now we wonder if we’ll ever be given the chance.

But we are happy to have the house and each other. We couldn’t imagine living alone in our respective condos during the quarantine.

Nor could we imagine living alone with riots and destruction happening around us. And now this curfew.

We will happily oblige. John and I are homebodies by nature. We don’t understand the appeal of running around town for the sake of running around town.

Nor did we understand the reopening of the state in early May when cases of the coronavirus and related deaths were going up. So we made the decision to limit our time in public for the rest of the month and take a wait-and-see approach.

And now businesses are being ordered to close early because of the riots. And the virus has an increased chance of spreading because of the crowds.

But just as I said in my post, “Paralyzing Goldilocks,” March 26, 2020, staying at home by choice and staying at home to save your life are two very different realities.

My anxiety was at an all-time high over the coronavirus. And just when I was starting to accept a new normal, the riots begin.

I’m still not sure if I said anything in this post – but thank you for reading – other than to capture my thoughts at this particular moment in time.

What will the country look like when I wake up tomorrow? What will my state look like? My town? My neighborhood?

Because as we all know, the landscape is changing by the hour.

Organizing tips

It seems everyone is organizing these days. They’re passing their quarantine time getting their house in order.

Closets. Pantries. Garages.

I’ve been organizing my house since the day we moved in 10.5 months ago.

It helps that I had a clean slate. The house was brand new, it came with plenty of storage space, and all of my belongings were boxed up. All I had to do was find spots for items I wanted to keep, donate the items I no longer wanted but were still in good condition, and throw away the rest.

If you’re unmotivated to organize your house, allow yourself to buy storage bins that add style and functionality to your home.

Choose bins in the same color or pattern for a cohesive look behind your closet doors and cabinets.

Settle on bins that come in a variety of shapes and sizes for large and small items and spaces.

If you have to clean out a space before you can organize it, set out three empty boxes – 1 for items to keep, 1 for donating, and 1 for throwing away.

To make organizing less daunting, tackle one space at a time. For example, take on the linen closet and only the linen closet before moving onto a new space.

For larger tasks, set aside a block of time. For example, allow four hours on a Tuesday afternoon to make a dent in the master closet. When those four hours are up, stop. Then set aside another block of time the following week.

If you’ve organized a space in the past year or so, give it another scan. You’ll likely find more items to purge that didn’t make the cut last time. On the flip-side, if you’re undecided on an item, keep it. It just might make the cut next time around.