the pantry has been cleared.

this pantry cleanup cleared out a lot of stuff!  i found myself using the pantry as a catch-all.  in doing so, the food storage area was becoming messy and disorganized.

phone station before:

phone station after:

- threw away several outdated papers

- hid the cords to the sound system

- moved all the appliance manuals to a basket

- donated 1 vase

three drawers after:

- top drawer is aprons.  donated one.

- middle drawer is the snack basket.  emptied all the crumbs.

- bottom drawer is reusable grocery bags.  got rid of 6.  i now have 8 plus 2 thermal bags.

 pantry before:  woa nelly!

it was getting out of hand.  just setting stuff wherever when i was in a hurry.

when in doubt, shove it on the floor.

okay.  get the picture?  very 'stackish, hodgepodge, whatever mess'.

so here is what your kitchen may look like if you too decide to clean out your pantry. notice, i cleaned mine out at night. daddy played with the children before bedtime and put them to bed so i could finish once i started without too many interupptions.  i did NOT want this mess in the morning!

oh yes.  soak it all in.

after:

- wiped down the shelves

- vacuumed the crumbs

- discarded old food.

- realized we had 3 syrups.  

as much as i would love a cutesy pantry with labeled baskets, it just isn't practical for how often we're in and out of here during the day.

food and dishes must be easily accessible.

i do keep popcorn supplies in a basket only because we eat microwave popcorn like twice a year :)