One Room Challenge: Week 7
The end is almost in sight, and we are actually going to get there early! After a lot of back and forth, I decided that I wasn’t going to be painting the cabinets, both because I couldn’t make up my mind about the color (why is it always harder to make decisions about your own house?), and also because it was a lot of work. Mainly, because it was a lot of work that I didn’t want to do. So - we moved on to the organizing.
Now, I love an ASMR moment of organization - think The Home Edit - but I’m also very realistic in that there is absolutely no chance I will be able to keep it that pretty for any extended length of time. The whole idea of having to repackage everything into the space seems so unpractical to me. I do have three tips I would like to share that are both practical, and aesthetic:
1) Use large baskets for items that need to be stored, but that you don’t need access too regularly. On the top shelf, I used large baskets to store disposable plates, bowls, utensils, cups, napkins out of sight. I can still easily access them, and these are items I am willing to look for when I need them. I found the ones in my pantry at HomeGoods.
2) Use turntables (lazy susans) in the corners or when you have smaller items (such as spices) that need to be stored away. It makes it much easier to find what you are looking for, and you don’t need the “push and pray” method. I used these from Amazon.
3) If you are going to repackage items (which I do for rice and pasta), use clear, airtight containers like these OXO pop options. Even though they are dried goods and shelf stable, the airtight keeps them fresher longer, and the clear plastic lets you easily see how much you have left.
An additional tip is to used closed storage (meaning you can’t see into it) for anything you want to avoid - such as deserts or candy - there is something true about the whole “out of sight, out of mind” thing and you will find you tend to gravitate towards items that are on display over those tucked away.
Next week is the final reveal, and I’ll share some of my favorite snippets of the pantry as well as some of my other favorite projects. You can check out all the projects over here at The One Room Challenge in the meantime!
