Pantry party

I'll never forget my first pantry in the first house we purchased. *sigh*  I still drool over it to this day because of the space and storage that pantry provided. Every house since that time has had to measure up, but let's just say that not all pantry's are created equal. If you have a large pantry, small pantry, or even no pantry at all, there are solutions to maximize your space.

First thing I'm going to address is the no pantry house.... gasp! I know, I know, but believe it or not, not all houses had a pantry because there really wasn't a need. Think about it- very few things were pre-packaged back in the day. Grocery shopping was done almost daily, still is in some cultures, and the meals prepared fresh. The need was more for refrigeration and freezing than dry goods storage.  If you happen to live in a house with no pantry and you really want one, I suggest using a piece of furniture for something other than it's intended purpose. Or even a piece of furniture that can also double as another work surface if you're lacking counter space too. Friends of ours have used a neighboring coat closet and turned it into a pantry since in the south, coats aren't needed as often. I personally thought this was brilliant.

Carolina Panache

Magnolia Homes

When we first moved to South Carolina, we rented a townhouse until we figured out where we really wanted to live.  Let me tell you, it had the TINIEST pantry. (You done been shrunk tiny pantry.) It was narrow and made it very difficult to navigate around and that's when we had to get creative with our space. The first thing we did was empty the pantry completely out, bought new containers for food we bought all the time, and labeled everything. We also utilized shelving racks to split spaces in half and provide more storage.

Before

That's a lot of stuff!

All done

The new system made use of the limited space while allowing us to see exactly what we had at all times. No more guess work, moving things around to get food, or forgetting that we had certain items.

When we moved to the new house, our pantry didn't get a whole lot bigger, but we used the same system and two years later it's still working. The exception is with the new house that the pantry door is big enough to utilize the back of the door as storage as well. Adding hooks keeps the girls lunch boxes within quick reach.

Back of the door

Labels are key! Chalkboard labels are my favorite!

Just a few of my favorite containers.

Ta-da!

When we get back from the grocery we like to break everything down. Food that can come out of their packaging they are put them in their proper containers or baskets. That alone makes putting the groceries away a breeze; everything has a home. It also takes the guess work out of knowing if we're out of something or getting close and need to add it to the grocery list. (Who hasn't had a box of disappointment when they reached for their favorite snack only to find the box empty?)  The wire racks are a standard in most houses and to make ours more of a flat surface, we used left over floor tile from when we resurfaced cabinet floor under the sink. It provided a sturdy surface for our canned goods.

Something else unexpected, we turned a magazine holder into a aluminum foil/wax paper/ cling wrap and paper lunch bag holder.

The plan is to group like things together and putting them in their spots based on the frequency of use. I'm vertically challenged, aka short, so having items in front of me that I use all the time makes more sense. Items we don't use as much go higher in the pantry. We also put things like the kids snacks at a level that helps them to become more self sufficient. (And helps me to not constantly be fetching the kids snacks.)

Now, for those that are able to have the mecca of all pantry's, I bow to you. Think big rooms, with shelving and drawers. Let's take a moment...

So pretty!

Dreamy pantry

The shelving, the space, the multifunction of it all! A girl can dream can't she?!?! I am extremely envious of people who have this, but even though there is a lot of space to play with, it's just as important to be deliberate so it doesn't become the dark hole for lost things AND food.

No matter what your situation is, the most important piece of advice I can give is think outside of the box, or in this case, pantry. See through containers are especially helpful and labels are their best friends. Use all the space up, down and sideways to get the most out of the storage that you can have.  

Selling your home while trying to keep your sanity.

Once upon a time we bought our very first house when I was minutes away, not really, from delivering our very first child.

Love at first showing.

It was everything we had hoped it would be and was enough of a blank slate to allow us to put on our own personal touches. We brought not one, but two babies into that house and when the time came to put it on the market, it was NOT an easy decision. We sat down with an agent and we discussed various things, but we were so emotionally invested in the house that the information fell on deaf ears. For the next 11 months and 90 showings later, yes 90, we FINALLY sold.

Here's what we learned from that experience:

1) Staging is everything.  Potential buyers need to be able to picture themselves in your space. This is also a great time to disconnect yourself and start looking toward your new place.
     -Take down as many personal pictures as you can.
     -Declutter either by packing up your stuff, purging/ selling the items you don't want any longer.
     -Neutralize paint colors if possible, buyers often have a hard time with seeing past paint.
     -Rearrange or use smaller furniture to give the appearance of more space.

Before

After- Changing the layout of the sofa and removing the chaise made the space feel larger.

2) Do any necessary repairs. If it's something that you know needs to be done, do it. Most buyers would prefer a house that is more turn key than not. Even if you're in a starter home, most first time home buyers are intimidated by taking on even what may seem like "easy" projects. We found out the hard way that old caulk around the top of our cabinets scared off first time buyers. They didn't know if there was an issue with the cabinets coming away from the ceiling, when really it just needed to be redone. A simple 15 minute project pretty much cost us a sale.

3) Before you go to bed, tidy up. We would do this just in case we were at work the next day and had a showing while we were gone. It gave us peace of mind knowing we didn't have to worry about last nights dinner dishes still being in the sink or laundry piled up. Each night we would put stuff away, wipe off counters, and finish up the laundry. Mornings were hectic enough trying to get 2 adults and two babies out the door, let alone getting your house show ready.

4) Less truly is more.  I can't say this enough. If your cabinets are stuffed to capacity or your closest can't handle one more article of clothing, you could scare off a potential buyer. They WILL open up drawers and doors because they want to know there's enough storage.  Even if the reason you're moving is because you want more space, you don't want them to figure that out as well. Purge, pack, and even sell your items to reduce the amount of stuff in the space. Also, this will help you when it's time to move; it's a win-win.

5) Listen to your Realtor.  Understand that while they want to make money off of your sale, in order for them to do so, they have to actually SELL your house. Your Realtor will come armed with prices from the recent sales in your area, comps, look at them and be honest with yourself. Don't be like us and have such big emotional blinders on, that you sit on the market forever with unrealistic expectations. We survived and sadly sold it for way lower than had intended. Had we listened to our realtor and not been so stubborn, we could have saved ourselves heartache and frustration.

Cards from the Realtors who showed our house, right before we burned them at the new house.

6) Listen to the feedback. This can be one of the hardest pills to swallow, but it could be key information for ways to help your place along. If you hear something over and over and it's something you can easily fix, do it. This could range from painting a room, to maybe even changing out carpet.  For us, it was replacing our kitchen table with a smaller one because the buyers kept saying the eat in kitchen was too small. Unfortunately, there are things you cannot help, like the size of your back yard, or even the state of your neighborhood.

Smaller table and cleared off counters...aaahhhhhh.

Selling your house can be a potentially stressful time, but it doesn't necessarily need to be as stressful.  Believe it or not, through the long process of trying to sell our first house, we still utilize some of the things we did to maintain a "show ready" house.  I like to think of it as the birth of my love for organizing.  (Don't get me wrong, our house is not reminiscent of a hospital, but items having their own home as well as tidying daily allows our space to not feel overwhelming.)  Selling our second house to move to South Carolina was a much easier process, sold in three days, because we paid attention to the struggles we had the first go around. Keep it realistic, have a plan, and keep the end result in mind.