Do you have that one place that is heaven on earth to
you? My fiancé’s is the Augusta National
Golf Club. I graduated from the
University of Alabama, so I know plenty of folks who believe Bryant-Denny
Stadium is heaven on earth. There are
plenty of places I’ve been to that were awesome: Amsterdam, Hawaii, Monte Carlo. But I’ve never really understood this idea of
heaven on earth; until July 10, 2013.
The day I stepped foot inside The Container Store in Atlanta. The sliding doors opened and the air was as
pure as angels’ breath. I stepped on the
escalator, and as I slowly ascended, I could hear the faintest sound of a
cherub choir. I took my first step off
the escalator and at that very moment I understood what it was like to enter
the pearly gates of heaven. I spent the
next little bit wandering aimlessly down the aisles, absorbing all that I
could, all of my senses at maximum capacity.
Occasionally I would wipe away a tear of joy that had trickled down my
face. I have never felt pure joy and
bliss like I did at that very moment.
Two hours later (yes, I spent two hours inside of a store
smaller than your local Bed, Bath, & Beyond) and after spending more money
than my monthly mortgage, I was on my way home with a new lease on life and a
new project in store: to build the greatest pantry the world has ever seen.
My pantry had always been a bit of a nuisance to me. Of course it had the basic builder grade fixed
shelving and of course I hated it. In
addition, the floor of the pantry was utilized just as much as the shelving,
meaning the puppies liked to trap themselves inside and scavenge for treats. I have tried different ways to organize
it. I had certain shelves designated for
certain areas. I’ll give you three guesses
on how well the fiancé stuck to that plan.
Then I went out and bought bins to keep the different categories of
products in; again the fiancé found this terribly complicated. So I blocked it out of my mind. That is until one day, during hour 22 of
Pinterest scanning, I ran across this picture.
It was love at first sight.
I had to have it. It consumed my
thoughts, my dreams, my life. (I’m not
really a drama queen. However, I am
extremely obsessive).
I tracked the picture down to The Container Store website,
for their Elfa products. I remember Elfa
from the plastic crates back in the day.
You remember the ones:
Honestly, I didn’t know the company was still around. Well, they are and they have some fantastic
products. After drooling over their
website for days on end, I found the starting point for my new dream pantry:
pantry drawer kits.
I was able to live chat with someone off the website and
make a few modifications to the set they had online. I needed them to be taller than the set on
their website and thankfully the units came in a taller size. In addition, I added three adjustable shelves
above the drawer kit. I am not much of
an internet shopper; I need to touch and feel things before making
purchases. Unfortunately (or fortunately
for my checkbook), there is not a Container Store in my area. The closest one is in Atlanta, 2 hours
away. So, I checked my calendar and
found a weekend that I could make the drive.
However, the organizing gods were on my side because the next day at my
day job I was told I needed to go to a meeting in Atlanta at the end of the
week. And just to give my faith a
little bump, I discovered that a new Container Store had just opened across the
street from the office I was going to.
Across the street!!
So, I made it to my meeting in Atlanta a little early so I
made a drive by to check out the Container Store. I couldn’t see in, but I could tell it was
GLORIOUS! I battled through my two hour
meeting in the office and literally skipped across the street to The Container
Store. I cannot stress to you how
awesome it was. I have a very severe
case of OCD, but even if you only have a slight infliction, you must go check
one of these stores out. Now. You can finish reading this blog post
later. It won’t hurt my feelings.
So, I checked out the drawer kits I had looked at online and
they were fantastic. So, I made my
purchases and with the help of a friendly Container Store employee (everyone I
interacted there was awesome, to add) my SUV was filled to the brim. And I was off to battle rush hour Atlanta
traffic.
That night when I got back to my house, I took no time
clearing out my pantry and ripping down those god forsaken fixed shelves. My fiancé was kind enough to patch the
massive holes created the next day while I was at work (even though I could
tell he thought this entire project was ridiculous) and I spent the evening
sanding and building the drawer kits. I
have put together many an organizing product and this was by far the easiest
ever (those Swedes are brilliant). I had
the entire kit together in less than an hour and only needed a small rubber mallet. No screws = Awesomeness.
The next morning I prepped for painting and then painted the
ceiling, walls, and trim of the pantry (this is where friends and family got
concerned, but I couldn’t put that gorgeous organizational product in a dingy,
dirty, drab pantry). After literally
watching paint dry, it was time for install!
I got the drawer kits in the pantry and the shelving hung (another
brilliant product that took no time or effort to install). Then the real fun began – loading my
beautiful new pantry. I designated each
drawer to one category and started filling them up. I stored pasta and cereals in canisters on
the shelf created by the drawer unit, along with a basket for our overflow of
bottled water, and the fiancé’s protein shake supplies. I then used clear turntables by InterDesign on the first
shelf to house all canned goods and stored my beloved crock pot on the second
shelf along with our stash of sodas. On
the top shelf, I stored a few items that I don’t access very often: paper products, lunchboxes, and miscellaneous
small appliances (like the electric knife.
Who ever uses an electric knife? And why can’t I get rid of mine even
though I’ve never used it??).
The last step, of course, was making labels. Oh how I love labels. Labels for each drawer. Labels for the canisters, labels for the
baskets. Labels, labels, labels. It’s amazing how small pieces of paper with
common English words printed on them can make me so full of joy and happiness.
And with that, I present to you, the greatest pantry the
world has ever seen.
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