Pantry Refresh with Lovely Life Home

Things that make me happy: an organized home. Things that actually happen in my home: good intentions go astray and everything ends up jumbled. #realtalk My pantry in particular had seen better days and I just didn’t have the time/drive/knowledge to make it better. But then I met Shauna Brasseur from Lovely Life Home! She specializes in home organizing, de-cluttering and design. I jumped at the chance to work with her for a pantry refresh and the results are just wonderful!

I don’t have a before shot (trust me, you’re welcome) but imagine these drawers completely overflowing. Things were somewhat organized – a drawer for breakfast foods, a drawer for spices, etc – but they were just too crowded. I didn’t even know what all had been pushed to the back and it took me a long time to find things. I knew I needed help but I wasn’t sure how to start. Enter Shauna. She chats with you about your needs, gets any necessary photos and measurements, and plans how to get you organized! In my case, this meant adding baskets, clear trays, and a lazy susan. (More on that later.)

When Shauna starts, she takes EVERYTHING out. Nothing stays behind. This allows a clean slate for her to work her magic. She does so much more than just de-clutter. She really thinks about how you use your space, and works to make it easier for you. Case in point: my pantry is in a narrow hallway off the kitchen. When the doors are open, you can’t walk past them. So while in the left half of the pantry, you are blocked from accessing the kitchen. Getting back and forth between the two involved a whole lot of opening and closing. I had bread and dinner prep items on that side, which Shauna pointed out are frequent trip items, and they should really be on the right side where I can leave it open as I move around back and forth. Such a simple way to make something so much more user-friendly!
We threw out a trash bag worth of expired food, opened food that was stale, and things that no one was ever going to eat. Shauna added two baskets to store all my breads and baking items, both of which can be pulled out in one fell swoop so you have everything together in your kitchen workspace easily.
Kid snacks and adult bars get taken out of boxes and stored in easy to grab clear bins, spices get their own bin for easy access, the list goes on.
She also reclaimed the cabinets above the panty for some extra food storage. By taking everything out, it was clear that some items up there sat there for months and months going unused. Those items were relocated to basement or attic storage, where they get pulled out just once or twice a year. Such a better use of prime pantry space.
And of course everything gets a label in it’s new home!

Finally, the lazy susan. Such a genius idea. We reclaimed a little cabinet space by getting rid of toddler items (my older two have moved on to using the adult plates and bowls) and made room for this lazy susan. It sits right next to the stove and keeps all my most-used items like salt, pepper, olive oil, honey, etc. Now I don’t even need a trip to the pantry for those items! They’re right there! Shauna’s knack for making a space more user-friendly is just fantastic.
I encourage you to reach out to Shauna if you have any organizational needs. She does it all – junk drawers, playrooms, basements, shelf styling, the list goes on. In chatting about her work, she told me that many of her projects come from repeat customers. That does not surprise me one bit because after my pantry came out so lovely, I’m already plotting where she can help me next!