Reader Space: Pantry Label Love

What can I say?  I am a sucker for labels!  Today's reader space is another example as to why iheart them oh so much!

Lucretia wrote:

Hi Jen,

I love your blog and I love organizing.  My cousin, who's also a huge fan of yours, insisted I submit my pantry overhaul to possibly be featured on your Reader Space.  I'd love it if you'd take a quick look, you can see the original post here on my blog .

It was a budget redo and I was limited on what I could do since we rent the house, but it was in desperate need of help.  I had some things on hand, like paint and adhesive vinyl for the labels, but purchased a few organizing things:

•  $30 on the can organizer at Amazon {similar to this one} 
• $30 on the coordinating Rubbermaid containers at Target 
• $40ish on the 4 red boxes, 2 plastic "baskets" on the door, and the spice rack at IKEA

 So for around $100, I feel like I totally revamped my kitchen and eased the prep work for every cooking experience.  In the process, I made myself stop and think about how I was organizing my entire kitchen.  Was I using the right cupboard space for boxed goods, canned goods, spiced goods, etc?  Were the most used items easily accessible?  Did I really need all those gadgets?  {Yes, I do!}  I rearranged a total 3 cupboards plus the pantry and just made things more intuitive.  Now when I open up that pantry to figure out what's for dinner, the cheerful red gives me a boost, the smell of spices gives inspiration, and I grab....the nicely organized and tightly sealed new container for Cheerios for my daughter.  Just kidding, we grab the Cheerios a lot, but not for dinner.  But in all seriousness, it is just fun to use my kitchen now.  I love it!  I hope you do to.

Best,

Lucretia

And I did LOVE it!  But first, lets take a look at what she started with:

She began by removing the contact paper on the shelves and giving everything a quick coat of paint.  Such a difference already!

And adding spice storage to the inside of the pantry door:

She used a Silhouette to create oodles of lovely vinyl labels for everything.  I am swooning!

She used the red boxes to conceal all of random packet and snack item packaging, which gives it a simplified feeling!

I love all of the space the can organizer creates!  It is such a smart piece of pantry storage!

Making for another before and after happy ending!

 

• If you read her blog post, you will learn that her before picture is actually after she finished her first try at organizing the pantry.  This is another great example that organizing is a process and if at first you don't succeed, try try again!  I do it all the time, and I love that she did too.  Now, she has a super simplified and lovely pantry that is much more easy to maintain and enjoy, because she didn't get discouraged and give up.
• She painted the pantry to freshen it up a bit.  It's amazing what a little paint can do to give any space a brand new feeling.
• I see pantry updates every day, but it's the ones like this, with extra attention to detail, thought out space planning and going the extra mile to create a cohesive look, that really make my heart race.  
• She didn't just settle for the shelving provided by the closet, she added in her own organizers to make it more functional and to expand her storage even more.  
• She utilized the door for spices and to hold baskets!  That is a lot of storage gained by using vertical space!  Smart thinking!
• I adore that she used boxes to conceal all of the mix and matched packaging.  It gives the pantry a streamlined look and keeps like items corralled together.  Win win.
• I love labels.  Simple as that.  And she did a great job designing pretty labels and using a cohesive style on all of the storage in the pantry to give it a unified look.  Of course the main benefit is that now everyone knows what is what and where everything belongs.
• I adore the pops of red, it is so unexpected and fun!
• Just comparing the before and after makes me know that her time in the kitchen has gotten easier and more fun.  The functionality of her pantry has increased by the boatloads.

I am so glad that Lucretia wrote in and shared her great makeover!  It is so inspiring!  I also love that her cousin encouraged her to do so, it is so fab when we can share in excitement over organizing!

Who else has been playing with vinyl labels and loving the result it provided?  Any recent pantry overhauls or closet painting going on?

ATTENTION!!  Want to be featured in a Reader Space edition?  Have an awesome organizing story to share?  I am looking for projects that have made a positive impact to your life.  Please submit your story and photos here and I would heart to feature them right here, on the blog!!  Photos should be high resolution and unedited.  Please include a description of the project, including any costs, inspiration, and how it has changed your life and routine for the better!  Oh, and no worries my friends, we will NEVER judge "before" pictures because that just wouldn't be nice!  Only love goes on at this blog!