Can I tell you how shocked, humbled, appreciative and inspired I am by all of your comments on the downsizing post?! Really, they’re amazing. And just what I need. Would you believe me if I told you that I had fear of rejection after putting all that out there? Well, I did. I half-expected to get comments about how I wasn’t doing the right thing and that I should consider an attitude change as opposed to a career change. But that didn’t happen. You all are so kind and encouraging. I can’t thank you enough. Ever. If I could make all of you chocolate no-bake cookies and deliver them to you straight from the pot, I would. I am so grateful for your support {I know, I’m sounding like a blubbering beauty queen cliché right about now} and it’s just further confirmation to me that I can do this. THANK YOU. From the bottom of my design-lovin’ heart.
As you might’ve guessed, things are pretty hectic around here. Handy Hubby and I are in the process of listing our home. We are going to try and sell by owner. We listed and sold our first home {a starter home we had in Illinois…the home we lived in before buying this home to be closer to family} by owner, so we have some experience going that route. Although, that was 3 years ago when the market was just starting to roll downhill. We aren’t oblivious to the fact that real estate isn’t exactly flying off the shelves right now. But two homes have sold relatively quickly on our street within the last 6 months, so we’re hopeful. It will be a lot work – mostly leg and paper – but we’re prepared to do it. We know our home will sell just not sure for how much or when. It should be interesting.
Today I started whittling things down in the pantry. Prepping and staging your home for a sale is much different than decorating. Potential buyers are looking to buy the house and all it has to offer…not the stuff in it. {Not to say we aren’t opposed to bargaining off decor if that’s what would get us a sale.} It’s necessary to edit decor to show off the best things about the house. The large, walk-in kitchen pantry has been one of my favorite things about this house. I can stash all kinds of stuff in there, close the door and no one’s the wiser. In fact, other than spices and cooking oils, we don’t have any food items in our kitchen cabinets. And since I knew I needed to start somewhere, I felt like conquering a small room first would get my purging and packing wheels rolling. Here’s what the pantry looked like before…
And here’s what it looks like now…
…after a little decluttering and reorganizing. I ended up with 3 piles of stuff that didn’t make the final cut. Recycle: broken down packaging, expired coupons and old recipes. Donate: odds & ends we don’t use. Gift: items I’m hoping a neighbor can use. Wine, anyone?
My goal was to get most everything up off the floor and onto the shelves. Cereal, vinegar and toilet paper overstock were the only things that wouldn’t fit onto the shelves. Then I faced {if you’ve ever worked in retail you know what facing is} all the food items and tucked everything nicely into its respective basket or bin. Some of you have asked about how I have the pantry organized, so I guess now is as good a time as any! I try to keep all the heavy and canned goods on the bottom shelf. That way if I or my kids drop them, they don’t have that much momentum crashing into toes. Plus, they’re some of the healthier things in the pantry that I like my kids to see as a choice. {Desserts, treats and baking supplies are kept higher up…out of kid sight…to keep them from being snuck into. I’m mean, aren’t I?}
The other food items are categorized into baskets and bins. There are breakfast, snack, bread, pasta, rice, gluten-free {Handy Hubby has been gluten-free for nearly a year!}, baking and treat baskets right now. I like using loose bins to organize that way I can tweak things week-to-week as our inventory changes. I just got groceries yesterday, so this is as full as it gets unless we’re hosting a big get-together.
The perpendicular wall of shelving holds items in the household category….kid art supplies, batteries, flashlights and a few cleaners. Hopefully, keeping a few bins empty will let potential buyers see how much space there really is in the pantry.
On the third pantry wall {behind the open door} there is a dry erase calendar to track family events and work schedules, a hanging stepladder which conceals some large drawing paper pads and a rack system for storing the broom, vacuum extension hose and a small electric sweeper.
I’ve been spoiled by this large pantry. There’s no doubt that downsizing our home will probably result in downsizing our pantry too…if we’re lucky enough to get a pantry! That’s okay. I’m up for a kitchen organization challenge. I like sorting things almost as much as I enjoy interior design. I plan on editing the contents of our kitchen cabinets before we move anyway. Maybe tomorrow?
Oh! And I’d like to mention I did all of this while talking to several banks about getting pre-approved for a home loan. Let’s just say I could hear the bankers’ eyebrows raising over the phone when I told them our plan to downsize from a home that we ‘can afford’ to a home less than half the worth of our current home.
images: 1) Make Your Own Invitations all the rest) Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
DIY, inspiration, organization