I’ve always lusted after a Pinterest-worthy pantry and now I have one thanks to the DIY plan from Ms. Placed Professional Organizers.
I had the opportunity to work with Ms. Placed and received the DIY service
complimentary through an Instagram promotion. All opinions are my own.
I’ve never had a messy kitchen pantry. It was always loosely organized as in, I knew where everything went and everything had a ‘place’ but I often lusted for a Pinterest-worthy pantry of my own.
So, when I had the opportunity to work with the wonderfully organized ladies of Ms. Placed, who offer professional organizing services, I decided that rather than just organizing my pantry, I’d take it as an opportunity to truly revamp the space.
Ms. Placed Professional Organizers offers a few different organizational plans, the one I received was the DIY Plan which includes
- A 60-90 minute walkthrough in-person
- A customized plan delivered within 3 business days
- and follow up emails after 7 days and 30 days
Basically, Ms. Placed provides a full plan for the room and you’re left to purchase all the supplies and do the actual organizing.
I worked with Layne (owner) and Melynda from Ms. Placed. The first thing Layne had me do was share photos of my current layout and create a vision board for my future pantry. I found inspiration for my pantry on Pinterest (obviously) and shared my Pinterest board with Melynda, who ultimately created my pantry plan. My pantry inspiration was full of glass jars, wicker baskets and lots of chalkboard labels (sooo white-girl basic, I know.)
before // after
before // after
After sharing my board with Melynda, she paid a visit to my house to discuss what I wanted functionally from my pantry and to see my ‘mess’ in person. I explained that the pantry currently housed a lot of different items but I felt the space wasn’t working well and I wanted a way to store some of my larger appliances in the pantry in order to give me more cabinet space.
Melynda organized my pantry into a few different categories
- Canned goods
- Dry/Bulk goods
- Snacks
- Spices
- Dog
- Baking
- Drinks & Alcohol
- Utility
- Recycling
- and Appliances
before // after
before // after
Before she left, Melynda took measurements of all my shelves — width, height, depth and also measured the appliances I currently store (or wanted to store) in the pantry. A few days later, I received a detailed plan from Melynda instructing me on how to organize my pantry, where to put everything on each of the shelves and links to product recommendations for baskets, lazy susans, glass jars, etc. Each storage option had a recommended product as well as alternate products in a range of budgets. She also included a count of how many of each product I’d need and specific on sizes for jars, baskets, etc. Below are the products (or similar products) I chose:
In addition to the recommendations, Melynda also provided a sketch of the pantry that worked as a visual guide on how to set up the pantry once I purchased and organized all of my items.
And this is where I decided to make the leap and truly create a Pinterest-worth pantry. Rather than just organize it, I chose to repaint it all so it was not only functional but beautiful.
I again drew on my Pinterest inspiration. I wanted a space that was clean, bright and hid all the ugly packaging that most goods arrive in. I also wanted something that had a pop of color which in the end, inspired me to paint the back of my pantry a catching jade green from Benjamin Moore.
webster green // chantilly lace
In addition to the green, I also repainted the rest of the walls and the shelves a clean, bright white, previously they were more beige in color. I again used Benjamin Moore paint but their cabinetry paint (for longevity) in Chantilly Lace. With the bright white walls and shelves (and by swapping out my pantry lightbulb from a 60W to a 75W) I created a bright, clean space to showcase all of my items.
after
Also, to ensure the longevity of my pantry, I sealed the back walls and shelves with two coats of shellac. This ensured that as I slide pantry items in and out of the shelves, the paint wouldn’t scape or chip off quite as easily.
Lastly, I lined the bottom of my wicker baskets with felt, using a hot glue gun to secure it all in place. This might have been going a bit overboard but if I was giving my pantry a makeover, I was going to do it right! Like the shellac, the felt ensured the baskets wouldn’t wreck my newly painted shelves and would more easily slide in and out.
wicker basket with DIY felt bottom
As I was nearing the finish line of my pantry project, the last thing I had to do was sort through all the pantry items — toss what I didn’t want, donate items I’d never use, and categorize everything according to the plan Melynda gave me. When it came time to put it back together, I followed Melynda’s plan almost exactly, changing the placement of just a few items to align with how often I actually use them.
after
Overall, I love love love my pantry!
Even though it was a TON of work — I estimate it took about 30 hours in total to hunt down all of my supplies, choose paint, remove items & sort, clean the pantry prior to painting, paint the pantry, seal the shelves, wash the new containers, glue on felt, organize my goods, and put it all back in place!
PHEW!
That’s a lot just to type. But seriously I love it.
In fact, I often find myself just standing in the pantry door staring at everything. Now, I just have to ensure it stays that way!
Have you ever created a Pinterest-worthy room? How do you organize your pantry?
