Pantry Makeover

I have seen a ton of pantry makeovers in bloggyland lately. Like this one and this one. Mine will certainly not take the cake, but I'm so glad I finally tackled this!
Here is my pantry as it looked a couple of days ago...

Not too terrible as far as pantries go. Not so great either. I knew where everything was, but I was sick of answering "Hon, where's the soy sauce, I can't find it!!"
"Um, second shelf up, right hand side, behind the worchestershire sauce"
"Huh? Where? Behind the what?"

Hopefully this will clear things up... POOF! (are you sick of that yet?!)



Ahhh... I can't tell you how it relaxes me to open the pantry now and see this...

Neat rows of matching labeled containers.

I searched all over the place (I mean I seriously left no stone unturned) for inexpensive, big, flat-sided, clear containers with tops wide enough to easily scoop out a cup at a time without making a mess. I would have loved big glass ones, but couldn't find any that didn't totally break the bank. Then I came across this post and I was sold. I bought a slew of these large square plastic containers from Wal-Mart. A 2-pack costs $2.13. They have a 16 cup capacity. They are exactly the right size for a 5 lb. bag of flour.

I also bought 6 of the shoebox-sized totes from target for $1.99 each. I had planned to buy something similar at the dollar store, but all of the dollar stores in my area were out of them due to back-to-school shoppers (daggonit!) so I sucked it up and spent an extra $6. It darn near killed me, but I'm very happy with the results. The Target totes are definitely sturdier than what I would have purchased at the dollar store.

I also papered the shelves with a roll of wallpaper (you can't tell in these pics but it's actually a really pretty damask design) that I got for $1 at a local wallpaper shop. Whenever a roll gets a little dirty or dinged up on the edge they sell it as a "craft roll" for a dollar- woot!

When I finished my pantry I stepped back to take a look and I was distracted by our big old ugly green trash can and recycling bin. I was not going to spend $50 on a new stainless trashcan, so instead I did this with some of the leftover paper (I still have a ton left, how much is on those rolls anyway?!)

And I am satisfied with the results...

Hmmm, the inside of this pantry could really use a coat of paint...



Oh, and I also papered my magazine boxes. See, way up there?

Yeah, right there...

I bought them a while ago in the dollar spot at Target and they function well, but they had weird little birds all over them (okay, I know there is a certain affinity for our winged friends around these parts, but just trust me, these were scary-weird). Bye-bye birdies!

Ah, a little piece of heaven...

And here's how I made my DIY chalkboard repositionable labels. I already had a can of chalkboard spraypaint, and I bought a roll of repositionable contact paper at the dollar store. It happened to be Disney Cars contact paper, but that didn't matter one bit since I was going to spraypaint over it. I simply unrolled the contact paper and gave it two coats of chalkboard spraypaint (outdoors, of course)

Once it was completely dry (the directions said 24 hours, but I was too impatient) I colored over the entire sheet with the side of a piece of chalk as the directions indicated. Then I erased the chalk, cut the sheet into the shapes I wanted (I used a refrigerator magnet as a template), peeled off the backing and stuck them on my containers and shelves.

Of course after I did all this I found out here that you can buy chalkboard contact paper for around $7! Ack! Oh well, if I had ordered it I would have had to wait for it to arrive. Again, impatient!! Perhaps someone else out there has a can of chalkboard spraypaint and some random contact paper (doesn't matter what print it is as long as it's not textured) that they'd like to use...

I love that the chalkboard labels allow me to relabel easily as my pantry supplies change and I can peel off the label when I wash the containers and stick 'em back on afterward.

And here's a little sneakpeek of tomorrow's post...

I'm participating in the Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick! Make sure to stop over and check out all the great B & A's!

Love,