Design: How to Organize a Pantry in an Antique Armoire

By now, many people know that I’m collecting antique armoires for our new home. I have a beautiful Italian armoire in my office that I use as my bookshelf. In the kitchen, we recently added a large French armoire (one of the ones that come apart…a knockdown armoire) to use as our pantry (which replaced an open bakers rack that came with the house). This very old piece of furniture has travelled from France to Switzerland to Guelph and now it has a new home with us in Waterloo.

It brings me joy.

You know what else brings me joy?

Organizing it!

After a bit of inventory analysis, I stocked up on supplies at Homesense (yes, this kind of organization system is an investment of time and money). I opted for white plastic baskets to house categories of items (e.g., pasta, crackers, tea & coffee) and OXO Pop containers for decanting items (e.g., flour, sugar, oatmeal). Then, of course, I labelled everything!

yes, I know, we have a lot of vinegar and oils

On top of all of this goodness, we have made friends with the previous owners of this armoire. What joy!

Two for Tuesday: Perfect Pantries

I’ve been taking part in Apartment Therapy’s January Cure clean-up and organization challenge on a sort of regular basis this month. Buying flowers was easy, cleaning the fridge was completely satisfying, and donating boxes of extras was freeing. While I haven’t been able to keep up with the daily tasks, I think Apartment Therapy’s month of chores is well-planned and well-organized. It’s a good way to kick start the year!

So this brings me to the idea of organization. Check out these two pantries. Aren’t they beautiful? Yes, a beautiful storage area for food. That’s luxury!

via Zillow (this stunning house has sold!)

via Hayburn (house is beautiful)