DEBORAH CROMBIE: We've lived in this old house thirty years as of last August, and while our butler's pantry is a lovely vintage feature, the bottom half of it has always been a storage nightmare. There are two big deep cabinets with no shelves, and while we considered putting in a shelf either side, that wouldn't have solved the problem of not being able to see, much less get to, the things in the back. Added to that, when we remodeled our kitchen (I can't believe that's been more than fifteen years ago!) we tore out our original walk-in pantry and, while the kitchen is now much more functional as far as cooking, there was really no way to replace that lost storage. (Too many windows and doors...)
Fast forward to April last year, when I ordered (after measuring really, really carefully) these very cool, stainless units with pull-out shelves. Then my back went out, and the project got put on the back burner, with the shelving boxes sitting in our dining room, until we tackled it last weekend.
I should have taken a before picture! Although I really don't think we'd have wanted that photo popping up first on blog previews--just believe me, it was a horrible mess.
After clearing all the junk out, Rick installed the shelves and we organized what was left. This is the result.
Rick even installed a motion sensitve light in the center! I have to keep opening the doors to admire the fabulousness!! I can pull out my Instant Pot without breaking my back! I can find things! Things don't fall out on my feet!
I don't know about everyone else, but there are three things that need constant replacement in our kitchen: stock, canned tomatoes and tomato sauces, and canned beans.
Since the majority of our storage had been in this incredibly inconvenient cabinent by the fridge--
I could never see what I had and was always buying more of things that were buried in the back. This is what we ended up with:
Have you ever seen so many cans of beans??? We are ready for the apocalypse!
Now those cans of beans and the tomatoes are labeled so it's easy to keep track, and without all of the stuff that is now in the new shelving, the kitchen pantry might be a little more manageable.
There was a nervous moment (much too late to return the shelving if it didn't fit) when we put in the first unit, but after a little manhandling, the doors did close. I wasn't kidding about measuring carefully--there was zero extra space. Whew.
Now, of course, the top half of the pantry needs to be cleaned out and organized--but not for a week or two!
So, dear Reds and readers, do you have a #1 spring project on your list?
P.S. The only downside is that there now nowhere to put my paper sacks!
