We couldn't resist sharing this pantry, featured on Design*Sponge, as Kitchen and Bath Month winds to a close. Emerson and her husband, Ryan, designed this to-die-for open pantry where everything's on display in lovely jars. They eat no processed ingredients, so the design is perfect for their lifestyle.
Putting something like this together would, of course, take a pretty serious initial investment of time and energy, but imagine how easy cooking meals would be with a pantry this beautifully organized! The jars lined up on the narrow shelves are so pretty, too; of course it might be hard to keep them that way, but no matter how you slice it, this is a more attractive solution than a traditional pantry stacked full of boxes and cans.
Here's another shot from Emerson's kitchen. We like the use of open storage here as well. With mostly white and glass dishes, the display doesn't look messy or cluttered, and it makes setting the table and cleaning up much easier.
What do you think of an open storage pantry? Could you make something like this work in your own kitchen?
To see the full tour of Emerson's home on Design*Sponge, click here. Also do check out Emerson's company, Emersonmade, and the amazing fabric flowers she designs and creates. Gorgeous!
(Images: Design*Sponge/Emersonmade)
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When I saw this pantry on designsponge I gasped out loud. Seriously, DREAM pantry ::sigh::
That is a dreamy pantry! It makes me think of an old pioneer home or Anne of Green Gables, which I love.
These guys do not live on the west coast, I am thinking, as there is nothing to stop all those beautiful glass vessels from hitting the floor during an earthquake. Would be easy to remedy, though- a little lip on the edge of the shelf and not stacking the small jars 2 high would do it.
Really lovely, though, seismic issues aside.
There is a broken link here: Emerson's company, Emersonmade">Emersonmade,
Are these guys aware that sunlight causes all the vitamins to leach out of the foods? I actually do store my stuff in glass jars like this. They are bug proof and airtight, but not moisture proof.
All these foods and spices should be stored in a pitch black pantry with a door. Long term storage of dried fruit, which is even more sensitive to light, should be in opaque ceramic or dark colored jars, or with paper bags around them, or in a covered box.
Spices should NEVER be stored over the stove (too hot), over the sink (too moist) or in bright light in the open. They are better stored in drawers or a always closed pantry or cabinet. The darker, the better, for everything in this picture.
The brightly lit pantry shown is almost the worst of all worlds for actually preserving nutrition in foods. The absolute worst would be brightly lit, well heated room. Dried fruit and canned goods can actually lose months or years of storage life due to heat. A cool dark place is best.
Hmmm, can't we just look at the pantry and say "wow! that's fantastic" instead of critisising every part of the pantry. Seeing they don't eat any processed foods, I would imagine their stocks are depleted before they lose any nutritional value....
I for one think that pantry is amazing - it must have taken alot of time, money and effort to set it up.
I have pantry envy Emerson and Ryan!
What a beautiful pantry. To be able to eat like that AND make it look good..fabulous!! I wonder how much better I would feel if I ate unprocessed foods...yeah would probably feel amazing. :)
It's lovely and organized, but for all of us flipping through pictures looking for ideas for our own homes, it is truly helpful to have the drawbacks pointed out too. I don't think it's wrong to be reminded that the primary purpose of our food is nutrition, not decoration.
(but it sure does look good!)
blue eye is right though as fun an inviting as the layout is the covered and enclosed pantry is that way for a purpose. this would work in a commercial kitchen cafe but this domestic situation means the inhabitants would never get through the food fast enough
It *is* very beautiful, but as Blue Eyed Snack pointed out, not very functional from a nutritional standpoint. Unfortunately, that makes it a seriously flawed (i.e., failed) design... However, if they were to door it all in, that would be a different story.
When I saw it, I had the same sort of gasp that I reserve for tea shops that display all their teas in large glass jars (the same ones, actually)...
How about a compromise of sliding barn doors to cover the shelves? That would absolutely make my heart stop.
We eat almost no processed food, either, and have a shelf of jars like these folks do. I can vouch that you go through it pretty quickly. Some folks with more storage than us (such as people with a basement!) might be able to store bulk beans in the basement, but I bet they sit in the open-to-light bins at the whole foods store way longer than they sit on my shelf.
I'd do this in a heartbeat.
But Dallas10086 has a great idea too... I'd probably put in a library ladder, and those high shelves would get my pressure cooker and wok. The cabinets would get the appliances.
Just a caveat: this open storage probably works best in kitchens with vent hoods! I have to clean my jars regularly (which right now are open storage by necessity, not by choice) in my no-hood kitchen. If I only had a hood, it'd be that much better.
And I would put the herbs and spices in opaque jars (stainless steel) but that's just my own preference.
I recently did all glass jars in my bathroom cabinets to find things easier. We buy bulk a lot so our jars are filled with cotton balls, Q tips, & even travel soaps for our guests to use that we've collected over several trips. This has by far been the easiest way to organize my bathroom & I'm not ashamed to open my cabinets anymore to show people. (Cabinets are waist & eye level)
I got all my airtight jars on sale at Hobby Lobby.
I have serious pantry envy!
The pantry doesn't appear to be getting direct sunlight and the overhread lights look pretty dim (beautiful fixtures by the way).
Let's say I want to do something like this....
Any ideas on a source for a truckload-o-jars?
Ideas for alternative containers would be good too... lexan, unbreakable plastic, stainless, aluminum, etc. I noticed they have some baskets or bins on the bottom shelf... seems like there could be LOTS of variations on this theme... wouldn't have to be limited to the "glass jar only" route.
World Market has a lot of these jars in different sizes if you're looking for matching sets. You can also hit flea markets and thrift shops, since they're glass, and a scrub with salt and once through the dishwasher will do it. They cost next to nothing used.
Most of the time, you can get replacement rubber gaskets in hardware stores or where they sell canning supplies. Ace Hardware usually has them.
FYI, it doesn't take months or years to deplete the vitamins from sunlight. Milk in an opaque paper carton can actually go longer without spoiling, and nobody stores milk for 6 months. I don't know of anybody who's going through 5 lbs of lentils or a bottle of turmeric in a couple weeks, unless you're eating the same thing every day.
If you want to eat this way, check out some sites about safe long term dry food storage. Insect eggs can come in the flour, dry beans and grains you buy, and can contaminate everything if you don't prepare food for storage properly.
Sorry if I'm a bummer, but people used to know this stuff, when everybody ate this way. Now that we all have prepared foods and store everything in the fridge, we don't. Mormons have a web site about long term food storage, as well as many others. Not a Mormon myself, but they know how it's done.
I agree, the pantry is gorgeous, but when I tried to do this myself, and found out about the storage issues, I just couldn't justify spoiling the nutritional value of food for the looks.
"eat no processed foods" hit me at once. Being someone who cannot tolerate most food preservatives, I love the idea. Just no room for it, but I do the best with what I have. Just came back from the farmer's market with lots of goodies.
Yes, it's very pretty, but I agree with Blue_Eyed_Snack here. Decorating isn't like a pretty painting; your home has to FUNCTION, not just look nice. Good decorating has to balance the two needs, and this is why I get so snarky about the all-white kitchens and the impossibly minimalistic rooms that AT sometimes features.
Apart from the nutritional aspects of this, I look at it and all I can think about is dusting all those jars. And why isn't anything labeled?
their pantry is bigger than my kitchen. sigh
I think the pantry is lovely and if I could figure out how to do the same in my apartment I would.
@ Blue_Eyed_Snack, I've never read that food needs to be kept at archival levels - but there is always something new to learn. I would love to know more about your sources of this information.
I keep my spices in clear glass jars on open shelves because of space (60 sf kitchen with no pantry) and fuction (as in easier to use so that I actually cook with what I own). I also assume that these spices will lose their flavor and nutritional value more quickly because of that - but then I'm not buying them to preserve them for all time so every year I clear out old spices. that I haven't managed to use up. I really don't think the world is going to come to an end or I will suffer from malnutrition because I do this.
@STH - I don't have labels on the face of my glass jars either. In general, I can recognize what's inside. but to help me find things I organize alphabetically and write the name of the contents on the bottom of the jar with a sharpie. It's a system that works remarkably well for me - although I can see how not everyone would find it so.
This is gorgeous! We eat only bulk foods as well and keep all of our food in jars in a pantry cabinet. While really beautiful, I would caution people to use something with doors and get earthquake latches. In January at 6 quake hit our area. My cabinet doors came open and all my pretty little jars came tumbling out. That wasn't much fun to clean up. =)
I also wanted to add that if you have a co-op in your area you can buy in bulk and only buy what you'll use up in short amount of time. This ensures that everything stays fresh!
Labels?
I am sure that someone as bright, imaginative and driven as Emerson (as noted by all of the articles I have read about her and her company) researched food storage methods before creating this pantry. Great previous comments for those of us looking to emulate her creativity, but in her case, it seems obvious she knows what she's doing and would not compromise her healthy eating habits for the sake of design.
I have serious kitchen pantry cabinet