I woke up one morning in December with one thought: I hate my pantry.
It had the original metal shelving that had drooped with age. I had put in extra shelving to maximize the space. But items were constantly falling behind it. I had also added labels to aid organization, but they were dirty and worn. Removing them would require gobs of Goo Gone and even more elbow grease.
That reminds me of a funny aside. A friend told me that she asked her dad about removing something sticky from her dorm room wall when she was in college. He said, “I think you just need some elbow grease.” She said, “Okay, where do I get it?”
That's kind of where I was with my pantry. Where do I get the solution to this sticky mess that isn't the price of a college education?
I had had success with stand-alone shelving as an option for my master bedroom closet, so I started looking for shelving that would work in our pantry. I found this unit on Amazon that seemed like it would fit. I got my husband's approval and ordered it. Then I ordered wire shelf covers. I didn't even know they made such a thing, but they give the appearance of custom shelves. I took a chance that they would fit and ordered covers along with the shelving unit.
To organize the shelf contents, I also ordered bamboo can organizers, baskets, canisters, and two kinds of labels (basket, canister). To be honest, I was sweating it. If the shelving unit didn't fit, it would be cumbersome to return. Same with the shelf covers.
Putting It Together
My husband said there was no way we could complete the project before Christmas. But when the shelving unit arrived early, he agreed to remove the metal shelves and paint. My daughter and I put the unit together and were amazed by how perfectly it fit in the space. In fact, the margins were much closer than the measurements had led me to believe. We used the baskets to help us set the shelf height.
We couldn't believe how good it looked. In fact, it looked so good that we realized we could return the expensive shelf covers. Cumbersome, but my husband agreed to help. I originally thought I had purchased too many canisters, but I ended up having just enough to contain my ingredients on the shelf. The basket and canister labels worked well too.
The only thing was that the canisters were a bit wobbly on the wire shelves. So I ordered a roll of shelf liner. It wasn't a hard plastic piece that made the surface smooth, but it was an improvement.
We liked looking at the finished pantry so much that we started wondering about leaving the doors off. We asked everyone who visited what we should do. My husband said a drawback of leaving them off was having to store the doors. Most people suggested that keeping the pantry looking tidy may be tedious. Before we decided, I had my husband install a motion-activated light. With no doors on the pantry, it is activated frequently. Another drawback.
After continuing to struggle with a decision, we came upon the two-word solution: try it.
We decided to try having a pantry without doors. The first thing we discovered had nothing to do with the doors. Sliding the baskets across the shelves was causing them to shed onto the floor and the shelves below. I had plenty of shelf liner left, so I added it to the basket shelves. Problem solved. So far, we feel that going without doors makes our kitchen look bigger. It makes everything more accessible. And keeping it tidy with only three of us living here hasn't been a problem.
We can measure, get reviews, and ask for advice, but when we want a perfect decision, the best thing to do may be to try it! That's why it was so important to me to give homeschoolers free samples of the curriculum I created. (Get a free sample of Grammar Galaxy here).
“Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.”
Ecclesiastes 11:4
What will you try to get over your perfectionism?
Subscribe to get homeschool sanity in your inbox.
