Operation Organization - PANTRY PALOOZA!

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Remember when Shelley Smith

turned the world on it's ear with her

fabulous pantry makeover?

{Check it out here.}

Shelly proved that even a small pantry

can be a decorative feature

in your home.

Well, I've been inspired ever since & 

I finally took on my own project.

I'm calling it PANTRY PALOOZA!

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. 

Let's go back to what my poor pantry 

looked like before . . . 

Yuck!

First I emptied everything out.

What a scary mess!

{Some things that I seldom used were moved to my 

food storage closet. I'll talk about that in my next post.}

My shelves were quite dirty & beat up,

so I cleaned & painted them. 

I used a professional oil-based paint.

I have a tip about using oil-based paint . . . 

IF YOU WANT TO BE HAPPY,

DON'T USE IT!

Ha ha!

It is stinky & messy, but it sure does

give you a hard-as-a-rock finish.

SOO much better already.

I was tempted to leave it like this -

just clean, simple, & white.

But I decided to 

add a decorative feature on the "focal wall".

The blogosphere has been buzzing with

talk of the new Martha Stewart stencils,

so I thought I'd give them a try.

I got mine at Michael's crafts.

IMPORTANT: These stencils are made from

a thin plastic & they will warp if left in your hot car.

Don't ask me how I know ; )

BTW, I got the idea to make "chalkboard labels"

out of vinyl from the Decor Chick.

 {Click here to see her awesome pantry makeover!}

I experimented a bit on poster board  & then 

propped it up in the back of the pantry to get 

some idea of the color & pattern I wanted to use . . . 

As I mentioned earlier,

I used an oil based paint -which takes days to cure.

By the time I could stencil over it,

I couldn't bear to use oil paint & stink my home up again.

Everything I read on the internet said 

you can't put latex over oil.

Guess what, I'm a free spirit, 

so I did it anyway!

AND IT WORKED!

Another fun way to decorate your pantry

is found at Amber Lane Living.

Danielle mod podged pretty fabric

onto contact paper. Brilliant!

Here's a close-up of my stencil work . . .

Now for the FUN part!

SHOPPING!

It took me about six trips to Ikea to get what I needed. 

Note to self: just buy more than you think you'll need!

I put all the food I could into nifty containers.

The uniformity makes everything feel orderly.

Cooking instructions for some things are taped

to the inside of the lids.

POST SCRIPT -  I have gotten a few questions about these large jars, below. Apparently Ikea has discontinued this large size.  :{

Walmart does carry some big glass jars, though. 

Here's a link if you want to check it out.

{Apparently, I'm a fan of vinegar.}

I also have lots of spice packets 

& Jello flavors.

{I do live in the Jello capitol of the world!}

These went in these cute tin containers . . . 

I won this marvelous burlap sack from Rose Petals & Rust

{Thank you Stefanie}.

I'm going to do something great with it,

but for now it looks pretty cute with my potatoes in it.

Shelley also taught me that you don't have to keep

your cereal in those big bulky boxes.

This takes up so much less space & it's prettier.

{My wire baskets are from the thrift store- SCORE!} 

I just love these pretty white baskets from Ikea

to hide things in.

I keep re-usable shopping bags, extra paper goods, etc. in them.

Since my family constantly leaves our pantry

doors open, I'm enjoying how pretty it looks now.

AND it's so much easier to find everything.

WAHOO!

I feel like a new woman.

{CLICK HERE} to see the follow-up post about how much I like my pantry two years later!

{CLICK HERE} for my next project - the spice cabinet 

{CLICK HERE} for my Walk-in Closet organization project - From Crappy to Happy!