Welcome to Day 29 of my month long series “How to Organize Your Kitchen Frugally in 31 Days”. Every day during the month of October I will be sharing an organized space in my kitchen with you. My goal is to inspire you and give you ideas on how you can organize your kitchen.
If you missed it, you may want to read why I’m embracing my outdated kitchen. It might give you a little perspective on why the pictures of my kitchen organization won’t be “magazine worthy”, but helpful for real life organization.
Yesterday I showed you how I organize the food in my pantry. Today I’m going to show you how I organize non-food items.
When I redesigned the storage space in my pantry to make it work effectively, I deliberately left space on the lower left side as well as on the floor in the center. I don’t like storing food close to the floor and this is a perfect space to organize non food items.
Instead of listing everything I store here, I decided to label the picture. I wish I could tell you where I got the plastic stackable organizer, but I’ve had it forever and can’t remember. It’s perfect for keeping “extras” organized.
I keep kitchen trash bags and large black trash bags on the top shelf so we can grab them easily. I have been know to change the arrangement of my furniture on a regular basis, so I like to keep my furniture movers in an easy-to-grab location. My hubby would probably like to toss them. 😉
I also keep the dog food in a small trash can (bought just for the food) so the kids can reach it easily. We assigned each of our kids a day of the week to feed the dog. It works for us and they love taking care of him.
I installed this battery organizer low in the pantry because my 8 year old son is a master at changing batteries and loves to do it. It’s easy for him to reach so he can make sure every toy is in working order. 🙂
I keep a small kitchen fire extinguisher in an easy to grab spot in case of emergency. I also have a flashlight tucked in the corner of the bottom shelf so it’s easy to grab when the power goes out. I installed our plastic baggie holder low so the kids can reach them, if needed.
Way up on the top shelf I keep my Get Better Bin in case of sickness. We are always prepared with sick foods, just in case. Next to that I keep a large plastic bin that contains paper plates and plastic cups. It’s a great, easy to reach spot for when we want a meal with a quick clean up.
Next to that I keep a wire rack with plastic disposable food storage containers. I never mix these in with my regular food storage containers. These are here specifically for sharing food with guests or making dinner for someone in need.
So there you go. Effective pantry organization on a budget. I hope you’re inspired to organize your pantry!
I must say, I love reading your seeing new and interesting ways to organize around the house! The problem I face is never having much time to implement your awesome ideas.
This series is, by far, my favorite! AND it couldn’t have come at a better time!
I’ve hated my kitchen for years. It has always been the bane of my existence. It’s been so hard to keep clean and my husband never puts anything away in the same place twice, so finding things has always been a challenge. We have so many little gadgets that are always all tangled up in a drawer with their parts, while others have parts in one drawer, parts in another and other parts in a random cabinet! It’s always been so hard to find anything I need, so I simply just don’t cook anything that requires me using the gadgets whose parts I can’t find!
Recently, my husband let an old friend, who was down on his luck, move in with us. Unfortunately, this friend brought a bunch of disgusting little “friends” with him and they quickly took over our kitchen! After throwing out most of our dry goods and emptying every cabinet for the professionals to work their magic, I now have the perfect opportunity to re-organize my kitchen into something workable!
Much as I HATE the circumstances, I’m definitely looking forward to having the chance in the next week, to refill my pantry and my cabinets in a more efficient manner! Terrible as it is, maybe it was a blessing in disguise 🙂
I’ve really enjoyed your 31 days sharing. It’s inspired me to think through things in my kitchen as well as other parts of my home. Are you going to share how to make the pockets that you used inside the cupboard for your command center?
That’s really funny–I’ve had those same stacking shelves for years, too! Some of the places I’ve lived, I’ve found the perfect use for them, some places, not. I’m not sure the place I have them right now allows me to get the full benefit of them. You’ve done a great job with them, however! Missed your post today. I hope you’re feeling better soon!
I just wanted to say thank you for sharing all these wonderful ideas on organizing the kitchen with us. You have some terrific suggestions, many of which are completely new concepts, at least to me. I hope to incorporate many of these into my own kitchen re-organizing project over the next couple of months. Thanks again!
I have been following this “Organize Your Kitchen” series. I love that it’s “realistic.” It reassures me that I don’t have to spend a lot to get organized and stay organized. Thank you for sharing your insights! 🙂 P.S. I am totally in love with the battery organizer. Didn’t know such a thing existed! 😡
I’m sad to be near the end of this series. I hope enjoyed it greatly! Thanks for the posts!!!
I have a storage space in my home, that starts off a normal size, but then turns, and goes under the stairs. I tend to throw all kinds of stuff in there, clean it out, then, a month later it looks worse than before I cleaned it out. It’s so oddly shaped and I am at a lost as to what to do. Any ideas? Is there anyway to send you a picture, so that you can give me your thoughts?
Thanks in advance!
What do you keep in your get better box?