Billy Bookcase Pantry

Since my “pantry” was long over due for a clean-up, I thought I would share how I created a pantry from an Ikea Billy Bookcase.

Like most living in small homes a kitchen pantry I something I dream about.  Don’t even get me started on Butler’s Pantries!  Some pantries I have seen are pretty much the size of my entire kitchen!

We are fortunate enough to have a hallway that connects the back door to the kitchen.  Our coat closet is in this hallway as well.  Our solution was to create a Billy Bookcase pantry at the end of this hallway.  It is just a few steps outside the kitchen and doesn’t interfere with traffic flow.

Here is a look at the very scary pantry before I got to cleaning it out.  I should mention at this point that the key to good storage is keeping it neat and organized!

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I love the idea of baskets to corral like things together. I have to admit I have no idea what is even in some of these baskets at this point.  With the volume of baking I do at Christmas, I kind of lost control of things.

If I wasn’t already embarrassed enough at the site of my pantry, I am now after showing you the contents of one of the baskets.  I had no idea what I was going to find deep beneath all those plastic bulk store bags!

Since I am in the mood for spring cleaning, and really couldn’t stand it if I bought one more bag of spice from the bulk food store only to find one already stuffed into a basket, I decided to tackle our “pantry”.

I actually found 3 bags of icing sugar.  Ironically the icing sugar canister was sitting empty on another shelf.  I found 2 very large unopened packages of corn starch, and countless baggies that I have no idea what the contents was.

By the time I was done sorting, I had only about half the amount of stuff to put back.

Once I had emptied the shelves onto the kitchen counter, I decided I would paint the back of the shelves with some left over paint from the living room project last year.

With the paint dry and the shelves all back in place it was time to put everything back in its place.

What a breath of fresh air!

The basket on the very top holds extra packages of unopened spices.  The dark basket beside the blender contains disposable plates and cups, party supplies like birthday candles and cupcake liners (which I have way too many of!), and some other party supplies. 

The other baskets hold various types of vinegar, marinades, gravy mixes and such.  All of my spice jars I purchased at the dollar stores and I have ordered some round labels for the lids to identify each one.  Right now the contents are labelled with a marker on each lid.

I love these jars for holding sugar, flour and other staples.  These Weck jars are perfect for storing bulk purchases of smaller things like lentils, nuts and seeds!

My ice cream maker, slow cooker and rice cooker also get a spot in the “pantry” as I use them enough to keep them close at hand, but just have no room in the kitchen.

I have to admit our ice cream maker rarely makes it back to the pantry in the summer time!  I love whipping up fresh ice cream like this Mexican hot chocolate or honey lavender!  You can find the same one here.  We have had ours for more than 5 years and it is still going strong.

The Billy Bookcase pantry is a perfect solution to create extra storage in small kitchen.  It has a small foot print at only 11 inches deep by about 31 inches wide, doesn’t take up much floor space, but at almost 80″ tall it makes room for a lot of extra storage.

Until next time…