I'm not going to lie, I'm having my ups and downs with the January Cure. I'm going to share my ups with you, but I gotta say, the downs are that this is harder than it looks. And there is a reason (I'm going to start pointing fingers now) — my family isn't entirely on board. Most specifically the kids.
Sure, they liked the idea of getting things in their rooms fixed up, and hopefully we will get to that, but as I read about this landing strip thing, I suddenly see the cure project spiraling out of control. I have a landing strip — it is a whole mud room devoted to this very thing — and if I am going to be honest, it is pretty functional. But kids walk into it and explode and the shards of the explosion have this way of ricocheting all over the house.
It really is a backpack and school paper and project issue. I have my mail under control (for the most part) and a place to put keys, take off boots and outside clothes. And if it were just me, this day #9 thing would have been a piece of cake, as in already done. But it is those backpacks that give us trouble. If they open up — watch out. Am I the only one that needs a kid cure?
But back to the ups — my daughter and I tackled the chaos in the pantry as part of the weekend kitchen cleaning. I took the 'before' picture and instantly experienced the magic of 'before picture' photography. Why is it that the moment you take a picture of something you see it in a whole new way? I can't explain it, but it is a universal truism — if you want to find new solutions, design new spaces, see things differently and for what they really are, look at them in picture form.
In this case, my immediate reaction was shame. (How did we let this pantry get that bad? Can I share this on Apartment Therapy and live to tell about it? Ugh!). But we worked through it. And it got worse before it got better — that middle image is when Zippy, our dog, had to jump in and help after a container of oatmeal on a high shelf toppled over us and spilled everywhere.
In the end, we, rather embarrassingly, removed 3 trash bags of stuff (not all food) in addition to storing a few less needed items away in the attic to arrive at a wonderfully cleaner and more organized pantry. I discovered that there are some items that I need not buy for a long time (there were 3 or 4 jars of pasta sauce that I unearthed, a couple bags of brown sugar, and ridiculous numbers of canned beans in all varieties). And now I can actually think through dinner options in a much healthier and sane way. Next up is the fridge — it needs the same.
Some of my other happy upgrades — the flowers. I love the greens in this grocery store bouquet. I was actually able to make one bouquet into two — now I just need to stop my cat from nibbling on them and constantly knocking them over (again with the family working against me thing).
Also, the cure inspired me to buy some room sprays from a new local business. They are wonderful — the lavender is (of course) relaxing as can be, but the jasmine puts me in a whole new state of mind. I had a jasmine plant next to the sofa when we lived in London. It is where my daughter was born and where I cared for her as a newborn. The smell of jasmine takes me right back to that warm nested newborn feeling and time. I am really enjoying having it here in this home… it has me thinking that even though this room spray is lovely, I might need to get a new real jasmine plant. More Cure ideas!
(Images: Rochelle Greayer)
Must-See Small Cool Homes: Week Two
Beth's Romantic & Retro Residence
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Shaw's Original Fir...
How To Make Perfect Bacon in the Oven
How To Cook Tender, Chewy Wheat Berries on the Stovetop
Kudos to you and your family. Many would never have the courage to post the before pics, but you did. Keep up the good work! You have motivated us to keep chipping away too!
Love this! One of my biggest insights of the January Cure has been that lighting candles in the late afternoon/early evening when I get home makes me incredibly happy. Tealights are cheap and abundant and look great in small multiples on the bookcase in the bay window. Sitting with a cup of tea on the sofa as they glow in the failing light makes my week feel manageable. Thanks for this series!
Looks great! I feel like kitchen organizing is the most satisfying kind of organizing.
I did my fridge a few months ago and we had a whole boat-load of condiments and bottled stuff, many of them doubles. We consolidated as much into single bottles as we could and I arranged all the bottles and tubs on a tray and put the tray on the least handy shelf in the fridge. Now, when we need something we can slide out the whole tray to find stuff. It's much easier to sort through than trying to push bottles out of the way to find something pushed to the back. The second fridge tip I have is to set aside the most visible shelf for leftovers. If the leftovers are the first thing you see when you open the fridge, you're less likely to forget about them.
Great job! And high paw to Zippy for "helping".
Haha, Zippy. It's amazing what you find in the pantry when you just dig deep. I also have a jar of pasta sauce that was unearthed, but I actually threw it out (it was unopened) because it had expired. I'm pretty sure it's something that's moved from home to home for a few years now, a leftover from my first or second apartment.
Go Zippy! It's your oatmeal birthday!
My husband (love of my life, light of my soul) fully admits that for the house to ever be organized, he would have to leave and take all his stuff with him. :) He's definitely not on board with this Cure but I'm trying. Little steps that will hopefully help get him organized (my goal project is actually a simple organization system for some of this treasures that is neat and easy enough for him to keep doing). The toddler is so enthusiastic about helping--hopefully he picks up my habits rather than his father's. :)
Zippy looks like a great dog! I think you could use 2 more shelves on the left hand side- that is, only if you want to store more cans/ boxes. Your pantry is lovely in the after photo. I have yet to tackle my 3 small pantry cabinets.
At first glance I thought zippy was a lamb or goat...Iol...great job with the pantry. I fully understand how difficult it is to keep it organize. I think elves live in mine and knock stuff off the shelves for fun.
hahaha the dog. I wish I had a pantry of any sort! but nicely done and brave.
This is endearing! If it makes you feel any better, I'd be happy to have a room for a pantry in my house period.
I'm inspired to tackle our pantry when I get home tonight...I hope the feeling lasts! Where did you find the slide out wire "drawers" in the photo? I think something like that would be very helpful for my setup.
A word of advice on keeping your pantry and fridge clean: if you only shop 1-2 time per week for groceries you can create a menu (walk into that neatly organized pantry for inspiration!) make a shopping list (I have the "Shopper" app on my phone, it's a real lifesaver!) and go to the store. When you get home start unloading groceries into the fridge and clean it out as you go. I can buy a week's worth of groceries and it looks like we have no food in the house because the fridge is always cleaned out. Once you start the habit it's easy to keep up.
Correct me if I am wrong anyone but I always thought that those little white flowers in your bouquet, babys breath I think they are called, are extremely dangerous to cats?
Wow, nice job! I bet it feels amazing every time you walk in there. A newly organized space can feel so liberating.
Congrats the pantry looks great. We did our pantry on the weekend and I was horrified at the amount of food that was out of date. Horrible waste. So I made a list of what we had and I've set a reminder for six months down the track to do it again and hopefully that will help.
Nice work. Now, do you find yourself peeking back into the pantry over and over to see the nicely organized space? That's what I do every time I finish an organizing project. Dorky, but true.
Did the same over the new year weekend. Two days to get it all together but what a joy! Every friend who comes over gets to see our "new" pantry. It's on the calendar again for next year. Now, if only I had a dog and a daughter to help and to entertain!
Well done! I have a similar problem with buying certain goods over and over again (I'm forever forgetting that I have PLENTY of vinegar).
I love Zippy. I too thought he was a lamb or goat.
Jen -- yes I do find myself going into the pantry -- over and again -- and leaving the door open. I want every place in my house to be this put together.
Gypsymomma911 - yes - toxic - thanks for the reminder...but I am not too concerned...it isn't that he really wants to eat (or actually does eat) any thing -- he likes to topple flowers for the water - always has water, always wants the water I don't give him. Cats.
Hammond.design - thanks for the tip -- will give that a try.
MPcoady - the shelves and drawer where a Home depot standard product (nothing special) that I bought and installed about 7 years ago. (not sure if they still carry it).
When I had a pantry with wire shelves like you do (and which I am missing a lot in my new place!), things tended to topple over all the time until I placed plastic placemats on the shelves. It made a big difference.
Rochelle,
What a wonderful memory associated with Jasmine!
Enjoy!
Thank you for your post and link!
Nikki
Nice work on your pantry! The fridge ... for me, the dreaded fridge. Something I must face soon too. I will check back for inspiration on your inspiration fridge fix!
You and your daughter did and great job I love the look of the new pantry. I want my closet to look as organize as your pantry does now.
I have been stopping in the middle of my kitchen and just staring at my clean counters since this weekend. Glad I'm not the only one doing this ;)
Oh man. I've got three roommates and they might as well be 3 children. I'm definitely the homemaker in the group. The apartment is somehow MORE messy than at the beginning of this cure...although that might have been from us all being out of town for the holidays.
Nice job! Projects like this one can seem so daunting, yet when we actually do the work of it, it rarely takes very long to fix and it provides exponential energy to fix other problems in our spaces. I adore the picture of your goat/dog :) -- it's refreshing to see those sort of keepin' it real pictures here at AT. And the jasmine memory is delightful. Thanks for sharing.
Great job!!!! Thank you for the before, and for all befores. because I realize I need not have shame!