There is a reason this pantry was such a mess. See the drawer slides below? Crap. They are crap and cannot hold any weight. These shelves fell all the time and I had to organize my pantry by weight. I am a very mild mannered person, but these shelves falling down made my blood boil. I would be balancing a shelf full of dry goods in my arms and wanted to curse the person who didn't realize that people would put soup cans and boxes of pasta in a pantry.
My hubby saw my distress over these shelves and finally replaced them with these 100lb heavy duty drawer slides. My mom purchased them for about $17.00 a pair at Lowes and my handy honey installed them. Thanks, babe!
Ahhh...much better. Now I can actually organize by type. Amazing!
I also organized other cabinets and drawers - including my spice drawer, our game and craft cabinet, and...
...the cabinet where I store some of my serving pieces. This was a broken dish waiting to happen. Every time you opened the doors an avalanche of plates, platters and bowls came down. I hope this was inspiring to you to do some organizing of your own. Here are some tips to keep in mind when you're looking at the mountain that is growing in your garage or the closet that is over stuffed.
Some easy organization tips:
1.) Work on one small area at a time. Don't try to tackle a room or closet mess that is huge and overwhelming. Every little bit will add up to a functional space.
2.) Talk to your stuff. Ask it questions. "Do I love you?" "Do I use you?" "Does something else I own do your job better than you do?" "Do I have room for you?" If the answers are no, no, yes, and no...get rid of it. Give it, donate it, pitch it, sell it. Let it go. If you are not good at this, ask a friend who will help and be ruthless.
3.) Let your family know what you're trying to do and ask for their help and encouragement.
4.) You don't have to buy fancy bins and cartons. Use shoe boxes, disposable food containers, and ziplock bags. You can buy the pretty boxes when you can afford them.
5.) Don't get discouraged. I am very neat and organized and I still have messy, disorganized, and junky places all over my home. We all do. So, go easy on yourself!
Make sure to visit the post below and link up your favorite furniture posts from 2009. It's open until tonight at midnight.
