Entre le pot rack

We are fortunate to have a good sized house. Plenty of space for 2 adults and six kids, I love my house.

However, our pantry is not very large. And it is, in fact, the same size as the pantries of other houses in our neighborhood that have less bedrooms and less square footage.

But I will not complain. My friend/neighbor Laura is always reminding us not to complain about our nice, new houses. And she is right. And I try to do that. But my pantry just can't be improved upon simply from liking my house. It's just not big enough for a family of eight!

Here is proof: (Ignore how unorganized and empty my pantry is, I'm going shopping today!)

I started thinking of ways to increase our pantry space. The only thing that kept coming to mind was to use some of our cupboards. But I'm already using my cupboards, for other stuff!

But then I was over at The Nester, and I saw her pot rack. Just a simple little thing to keep pots. And a light went on. What if I moved my pots to a pot rack, and used the cupboard they HAD been in for other stuff?

So true to my nature, I had to have it, and have to have it immediately! I scoured the internet looking for pot racks. The racks in my price range were simple and a little boring for me. But the ones I really liked were waaaay out of my price range, and all I could do was drool over them.

So then I started looking on craigslist. And I found it. A beautiful, iron, hooks welded on, star pot rack. And it was only $60!!!! But the problem? It was two hours away! The gas alone would cost more than the pot rack, making the good price suddenly not so good.

But being optimistic, I emailed the gal and asked her if she could meet me halfway possibly? She emailed back and said, "Hey, we're going to be in Enumclaw tomorrow (that's 15 minutes from me!!!!!), do you want to meet there?" Um, yes!

So Jeff and I went together, for safety folks, ALWAYS be smart and safe when using craiglist.

And when I saw it, I squealed in delight. Truly. Ask Jeff. I squeal with excitement over good finds!

It was a tad rusty from sitting in their barn. So I just took the grill brush that we aren't using because our bbque is broken and scraped all the loose rust off. Then I washed it with soap and water, let it dry, then gave it a coating of Rustoleum high gloss spray paint in what can only be described as fire engine red. And then my darling husband (who wasn't totally sold on the idea of a pot rack) hung it for me. And he might of had to replace the pendant lights with canned lighting as well. So really, none of this was possible without him. Jeffy is my right hand man when it comes to many of my redo's, decorating notions, and furniture move arounds. I couldn't do it without you darling!

And the results?

Let me just say, that it took some getting used to. And I had to put some doors back on my open cupboards because it was all of sudden much to busy in there. But I love the pot rack itself. I think it's loverly!

But the best part is the space it opened up. This is where my pots used to go:

These pull out drawers sit under my baking center. So it seemed smart to keep all of my cooking/baking food items and needs right here. And all those containers, and the big bag of flour and sugar I normally have that take up so much room in the pantry, can now go here.

Which makes more sense anyway, and now I don't waste time going back and forth and opening and closing the pantry door just to make muffins!

I love it!

What space saving ideas do you all use? Even though we have plenty of room, I'm always looking for more ideas on how to keep the stuff that 8 people need at a minimum.

Ooh, ooh and tomorrow, I'm showing you the MIRROR. My dear friend Frances gave me a mirror. And oh how I adore it and get happy every time I see it. I'll show you that tomorrow!

Now I'm off to fill my sort of empty pantry. See ya!