A Practically Imperfect Pantry

"She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks". -Proverbs 31:17-

This is my first blog post about a cleaning project so bear with me as I stumble through it:

While the boys are away this momma will play! By play I mean clean and get things done that couldn't be accomplished while they are at home. During this nice long weekend I decided that our pantry/laundry room needed some work! As much as I would love to transform it into a Pinterest worthy room, just a nice cleaning will have to do for now. 

Earlier in the week I had finally noticed how cluttered and messy the pantry/laundry room had become. Since the girls had been home I haven't paid much attention to it. The shelves were a disaster, the machines were messy and the floor was crunchy. Yes, crunchy, because it hadn't been swept in...a very very long time! 

First thing I did was remove everything from the floor. I swept thoroughly and then mopped like crazy. While the floor dried I watched a show with my wonderful hubby and spent some time with my girls.

After the floor had completely dried I chose the two most cluttered and unorganized shelves to deal with first: baking shelf and "catch all" shelf. I pulled everything off the shelves and put them on the dining table so I could easily see what all I had. I realized there some things that I could throw away, SOme I could repackage or place on another shelf. While doing so, I decided to make a snack corner for my boys. I put a plastic container on the bottom shelf and put items such as: applesauce squeeze pouches, granola bars and applesauce cups in it. I then grabbed some snack size ziplock baggies and filled them with goldfish crackers, pretzels, almonds and chex mix. Doing so allowed me to remove the boxes from the shelf to look more organized. 

I decided to make the left section of the bottom shelf a snack area. It includes the snack box and gallon Ziploc bags full of leftover pretzels and chex mix. In the middle  are our paper goods: plates and napkins. The right section holds all my baggies, cling wrap and foil boxes. 

The next shelf up is all of my baking supplies, breakfast foods like muffin mixes and Bisquick and then on the far right is all the breads (loaves, buns and tortillas).

Right above that is where my canned foods and other food jars are located. I left them where I had them before, just a little more organized. Cracker boxes and chips are beside them.

The second from top shelf is a bit empty right now. It currently holds rice, noodles, cereal, oatmeal and some cans of coke. Grocery shopping is on my to do list and the pantry will fill up a little more soon! The very top shelf holds my colorful Solo cups, table linens and our new waffle maker. More than likely in the next few weeks and months I will put more random items on the top shelf. 

Moving on to the washer/dryer machines. This part of the project was a little easier. The top of the machines just had clutter that I or somebody in the house was too lazy to put away properly. I straightened up the laundry shelf and cleaned off the machines. I am so happy with how it turned out!! I'm quite embarrassed with how messy and cluttered the room had gotten too! Hoping I can keep it nice and clean for a while!