Pantry Client Needs & Consultation
This young family of 4 with one year old twins reached out to me to help them with their pantry. They had recently moved into a new home build over the summer of 2020 and upgraded to a huge walk-in pantry. Both parents work full time so they needed help getting their pantry organized and set up with a system that allowed them to easily see what they had, while being able to maintain the system.
Through the consultation, the client identified certain shelfs of the pantry that needed to store the twins food and supplies as well as the husbands snacks and lunch items.The client had a few clear bins and wanted to continue using clear as well as wire bins to be able to see what she had. She also wanted storage on the floor for reusable bags, backstock and recycle.
Process & Products
The first thing I did was pull everything out and discard expired items, separated items with like items on the kitchen counter so we could see how much we had of similar items like pasta.
The pantry had some shelves with liner and so we helped them by finishing the rest of the shelves with liner. Next we removed all bulky outside packaging that took up space on the shelf and then decanted pastas, sugars, and baking mixes into airtight containers. We cut cooking instructions out and placed on the back of the containers for the client. We mixed in these Glass Food Containers- Set of 3 with some glass containers the client already had to contain all their pastas which made it not only beautiful but functional.
Utilizing Clients Existing Storage Products
The client already had 1 turntable for condiments and a 3 tier expandable shelf for her canned goods but needed a couple more to really organize her items. We used the 10” and
15” White Turntable and another 3 Tier Expandable Shelf from Target.
This client had a lot of snack items and toddler pouches (because twins and you need 2 of everything) so we made sure to contain them in clear bins and wire baskets that would keep them straight and easily seen. We used several Mdesign clear containers like these Stackable Storage Containers- Set of 8 and these Pantry Storage Bins as well as these awesome Black Wire Baskets from Amazon as well.
Coffee Bar Set Up
They LOVE coffee and had backstock spilling into the pantry from their coffee bar set up in the kitchen. They needed better storage for coffee pods which we provided with this Counter Storage Container for their Nespresso Pods. We also switched out their under counter items to the pantry with like items so they could store coffee supplies from the pantry under their coffee bar set up. Having like items together makes it easy to know what you have and to not over buy.
Favorite Features
The floor of the pantry provided ample space to store all their recyclable bags in this pretty
Wire Storage Basket from Target as well as backstock in the awesome Rolling Canvas Storage Cart from the Container Store. The client loved being able to easily roll out and see what backstock items she has while having it contained in a large storage system. They also
needed a recycling system which we suggested this Recycling Bin from Ikea. We placed this Step Stool on the floor for quick access to reach items on the top shelf. (show pantry floor photo) 9.
One of our favorite features of this pantry was displaying the clients cookbooks, including her vintage Julia Childs on the top shelf next to some of her beautiful serving ware.
Project Review
This project was so much fun and really helped create a sustainable system for this family of 4! The client’s investment of a full service package in addition to purchasing products will allow her to maintain this system for her family. The total time spent on this project was 9 hours which included the pantry reorganization, shelf liner, as well as the coffee bar set up.