Winter has truly arrived and it is literally FREEZING outside…no bad winter precipitation, but frigid temperatures make going outside brutal. So inside where it is toasty warm is where I have been for the better part of the last week!

I started working on my awesome pantry and this week I finally put up some board and batten in the entry. The latter I will share when the paint dries and I am able to reset a few things.

The pantry…MAN OH MAN!!!

As I mentioned HERE I don’t need a lot of upper cabinet space because I have a super awesome walk in pantry.

As organized as my pantry seemed to be (for ME) I decided to give it a little “facelift”….more baskets, some storage containers, labels…all the froo-froo stuff I normally don’t even bother with. But again, I am “semi-retired” now and looking for things to do until I can’t go outside and dig in the dirt!

In my last house I only had a small cabinet pantry and didn’t see the need for all the bins and boxes and “stuff.” But since I store more in this pantry, everything from food to serving dishes to cookware, I decided I wanted to get super organized.

The first thing I did was pull out everything I wanted to put in containers and baskets. Everything that wasn’t going to be put in a basket, container or bin was organized. (I also took the time to wipe down all the shelving even though it had only been 6 months since it was last cleaned!

Here is my #1 tip for organizing ANY space…figure out what storage containers you need for the items you have FIRST, then go buy your storage containers…don’t go buy a lot of baskets and bins and containers.

In my case, I already had a few wicker baskets…perfect for holding chips, storage containers and lids, seldom used sweeteners, seasonal dish towels, cookie cutters, etc. I had 7 but based on the stuff I knew I wanted to store in them, I needed a few more. Fortunately I got them at Lowe’s and they still have them!

I love these little chalkboard labels I got HERE….super cute! They have a little string but I tied the string in a bow and just hot glued them directly onto the basket.

I have a lot of different flour…almond, coconut, gluten free, pancake mix, etc. I knew I would need proper storage for the flours and such.

My initial plan was to put everything in the Heritage Anchor Hocking jars…I just LOVE the look of a pantry filled with glass jars. But here’s the deal…they are heavy…and I am getting too stinking old and clumsy to be lugging around 1 gallon glass jars filled with flour.

So I wanted pretty to serve my purpose….

I found some nifty OXO storage containers at Home Goods…similar to these. I love them….I bought different sizes for the flours and mixes, baking soda and powder, cocoa powder, cornmeal, nuts, etc. The varying sizes stack neatly.

I also bought three sets of labels…small for the spice jars and medium and small for the pantry containers….I got them HERE! (I went a little over board labeling the actual shelves…I’ll probably take those off.)

The can food rack is a nifty little gadget to store canned food…in theory. In the picture on Amazon it shows that it holds four cans in each section…but it really doesn’t without one of the cans being all womper jomped…meh…whatever…it will do for now!

I bought a few clear containers… the baskets are great for hiding open chip bags and random storage containers and lids but I wanted clear bins for things I use daily like cat food, bread, and a few odds and ends.

As you can see I store a lot of stuff on the floor…bulky items like crock pots and big bags of animal food! I had some wire baskets I originally bought for my holiday wrapping station…perfect for holding water bottles, thermos’, potatoes and critter treats.

The left side of the pantry is for cooking ware…casserole dishes, mixing bowls, appliances and spare pots and pans…