Week 3: Pantry and Kitchen Nook

Week two of the 14 Week Home Organizational Challenge was the pantry.

Of course I am taking it slower and using two weeks for some of the rooms, so I did the pantry in week three.

The "before" pantry wasn't terrible, but can always use a good clearing out. 

First, we pulled everything out. Since I just cleared this out last year, there weren't too many expired items, but still some we had to toss. 

Then we wiped everything down, including the baseboards and floor. It seems as if this pantry collects dust bunnies as they scurry across the tile floor and get sucked under the door. 

After everything is culled and cleaned, you can sort the food into categories and replace back on the shelves. 

Our "after" doesn't look terribly different. It was a lot emptier, but then we went to Costco. And yes, those are chocolate covered potato chips from Costco that you see. Dear Husband (DH) snuck those into the cart when I wasn't looking. Can't say I'm complaining. 

The other area I looped in to the pantry was the kitchen nook. The kitchen was a big enough task in itself so I put the two smaller tasks together.
Here is what it was before, cluttered with all our kitchen cleaning bins.

It started with dusting things like ceiling corners and the ceiling fan (thanks to DH for tackling that one!) Then washing the windows, window frames, table, chairs, and baseboards. I also spot checked the walls for any scuffs that needed a magic eraser. Then to wax all the wood trim.

I had gotten down to cleaning the floor, and this is where I got stuck:



Yep, the vacuum cleaner decided to go on the fritz. Six days before we had 20+ people over for a Super Bowl party. Awesome.

So here is where the nook stands for now. All clean except for the floor. Somehow I doubt the vacuum can get fixed in less than 5 days. DH, bless his heart, was already having a crummy day and still tried to take it apart and fix it for me. Be still, my heart.







Due to preparing for the Super Bowl party, we took a week off of the deep-cleaning so we could get everything else "good enough" for guests.