I’m a sucker for a great pantry makeover…I’ve been begging my sister to let me rework hers for months.  I see mountains of cans and overloaded shelves and my fingers start to itch for organizing tools.  I’m not sure this exact system would work for me or my sister, but I thought the ideas were inspiring.

You should hop on over to her site (House of Smith’s) to see the full re-do but here are a few of my favorite touches …

I was a big fan of the color choice and the cool, open vinyl pattern.  I never would have thought to do that.  So clever.

store packaging is so ugly and bulky in a pantry.  I love that she ditched the store packaging for more attractive options.  Her use of varying containers to house everyday items made a big difference in the overall look.

I keep all our cereal in Ikea jars (like the ones she uses for her pasta) but I thought her cereal stash basket was another great alternative.

Here’s the link again…there are lots more pictures to enjoy in her post.  Enjoy the organizing eye candy.  Have a great weekend, everyone.

It’s Monday again.  Time for a recap of a few fabulous ideas from around the web.  All of these sites were featured on my Facebook fan page last week so, if you haven’t had a chance, you should check them out.  If you liked them as much as I did, take a minute and let the content authors know. Bloggers love comments; so share the love when you stop by their sites.

Remember, if you’d like instant access to the links I love and a few other tips and tricks, you can sign up to be a follower on Facebook by clicking the Facebook icon at the top of the page or by following this link.  Here are the links from last week…

The Little Green Bean

Attention crafty Moms with cluttered craft rooms! Need a cheap and easy way to keep excess fabric organized? Check out this simple trick. Sew very smart.

The Lettered Cottage

Don’t you just love it when you find a post loaded with helpful DIY tips and ideas? If you love before and after photos as much as I do you should take a minute to browse the design solutions offered on this helpful post.

Becky Higgins

Who knew that gorgeous hardwood drawers would be a smart addition to a family pantry? This mega-crafty Mom, that’s who. Check out her cool before and afters here…

I used to have a normal pantry, but it caused all kinds of problems. First off, I found myself buying extra stuff all the time because I could never remember what I had. Now I can do a quick scan of the bins and make my grocery list. I also hated that my family couldn’t seem to grasp my invisible system. Most items had a basic location in my mind (you know, bread here, cereal there, etc.) but no one else seemed to be able to keep it up.

Now, my 6-year old can unload all the groceries and put stuff in the right bins. Another annoyance with the old system was that I found myself making several trips to the pantry to get various ingredients for whatever I was making. Now if I’m making cookies, I grab the whole Baking Supplies bin and bring it to the counter. Before the bins, I used to find M&Ms and chocolate chips spilling all over the shelves. Now if something spills, it’s contained so it’s tons easier to clean.

I started with just two bins, but found them so handy that I quickly filled up my shelves with a dozen or so. I’ll list them here:

Treats: Candy, popcorn, marshmallows, etc.

Beverages: Hot chocolate mix, Crystal Light, Kool-Aid etc.

Dessert Supplies (I have two of these): Chocolate chips, pudding mix, frosting, sprinkles, cupcake liners, nuts, birthday candles etc.

Baking Supplies: Baking soda, vanilla extract, baking powder, Crisco, cocoa, etc.

Pasta: Boxed pasta, soup noodles, etc.

Lunch Supplies: Mac & Cheese, Ramen noodles, peanut butter, etc.

Dinner Supplies: Rice, bread mixes, seasoning packets, bottled marinades, etc.

Canned Soups: Soups

Canned Produce: Canned fruits and veggies

Snacks: Chips, raisins, fruit snacks, sack lunch fillers

Baking Products: Bags of flour, sugar, salt, yeast etc. (whatever’s left in the bag after I fill the containers in the spice cupboard)

These cheap bins have lasted 6 years now. I change the labels every few years, but the bins have never needed replacing. I have a pretty large pantry now, but in our smaller apartments I used the lids and stacked the less used items under the more common ones to conserve space.

As an added bonus, they also made moving from one place to another a breeze. I just put the lids on, stacked them up and taped them all together with packing tape. Simple, cheap and easy to maintain! Just thought I’d pass it on.  You can find the free file download for the labels below.