When we chose this house, many jokes were made about the kitchen having a walk-in pantry. Storage for car parts or books, a spare bedroom, or the dog's room were all suggestions.
I was skeptical that I would use it much. I have found myself, and the others, to be wrong. I use it a lot.
I enjoy knowing at a glance what we have or need. Looking at this picture, taken a few months ago, it looks like I had just been shopping. If we took a picture today, it would emptier. It's midweek after all.
The OCD likes the pantry as well, as evidenced by the baskets. I use those to corral chip bags, picnic supplies, bread, etc. Prior to the baskets, the shelving made me a little crazy at first because things kept falling over or worse yet, falling through. Luckily, I had many baskets left over from our seven-weeks-to-the-day of living in Kevin's garage to make this organization possible.
Something else that originated from living in the garage is storing Missy's food in a laundry hamper. It works so well and prevents the 20 lb bag from falling to the floor & spilling. Missy enjoyed the spilling, me not so much.
It just occurred to me that I don't have any pictures hung in the pantry. Hey, I have them in our closet! I might as well. I will work on that over the weekend.
I do have to work to make sure the pantry doesn't become a store-all. Every few months or so, I will open the door and begin flinging things out. Plastic grocery bags are kept in a container, an improvement as they were kept in a broken dishwasher in the old house. Newspapers and magazines are in a tote. Kevin's barbecue tools lay on the bottom shelf which makes me nuts. I had two dormant lily plants in there until last weekend. And a broken - or so I thought - water/candle thing that Kevin's mom gave us. To my dismay, Kevin resurrected it and now I have to find a place for it. And find the rocks that are supposed to go around it. Meanwhile, it still resides in the pantry.
I think mostly the pantry is a visible comfort. We have food, supplies, most anything we need in one place. I do find myself a little anxious when I see it begin to empty.
Do you have a pantry? How do you stock it? Are there cans from 1993 or do you keep it current?
2 comments:
We have shelves in the basement that we use. I LOVE it: if I find a sale on peanut butter or whatever, I can go right ahead and buy a million of them. I do have to be careful not to Overdo It. But I love being able to "go shopping" in the basement.
alas i have no pantry, but i would love one. love it. mine would not look as neat as yours though, as the three people i live w/ are pigs. as it is when i go grocery shopping the first order of business is to cull through the cabinets because the boy thinks if he leaves an empty cracker box or chip bag in there then he technically did not eat the last of said product. when my mil died several yrs ago and we were cleaning out her kitchen for my fil we found canned goods in there at least 10 yrs old. oy vey.
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