I moved about two weeks ago and one of my first priorities (after getting rid of all the boxes) was to get my kitchen set up. Since the pandemic began, I have been cooking a lot more than usual, so I knew I needed my kitchen functional first thing. I will be sharing more home updates and room reveals over the next couple of months but wanted to start here!

I am so grateful to have a bigger, more modern kitchen with an island to make cooking a little more fun. However, this kitchen lacks one thing and that is pantry space. If you feel like your kitchen doesn’t have a big enough pantry, what I’m about to share might help you. 

The Pantry

Instead of getting a shelf and taking up space in the living room, I turned the biggest cabinet into a functional pantry. Here’s what’s inside:

• A lazy susan on the higher shelves: this allows me to easily find what I am looking for without having to dig through my entire cabinet.
• Only the necessities: so often we have a lot of excess food that goes bad or gets stale. Because this is a smaller space, I am being thoughtful about what goes into the pantry and not filling it with stuff I know I won’t eat. 

Spices and Baking Supplies

The next project I needed to figure out was what to do with all the spices that are in my kitchen. There wasn’t a great cabinet to put them in and the drawers didn’t offer enough space. I did some research and found these acrylic shelves to put on the outside of a cabinet. Since my spices were going to be front and center, I decided to make my spices look uniform. I bought these jars and these labels and I LOVE the way they turned out. P.S. These labels can be customized and mine came way faster than the estimated 3-4 week delivery. 

I also transferred my flour, sugar, and other baking supplies into glass jars (small size and large size here) and used the same labels on them. 

New Pans You Need

My favorite addition to my kitchen are the pans I got from Caraway. I had been eyeing these pans for a long time. If you are anything like me, you have some pans in your home and they do the job but they are probably beat up, maybe they don’t even sit correctly on your stove, etc. I reached out to their team and they gave me a discount to shop their pans, but I have to say these pans are worth the full price. The pans are ceramic coated, which means they are both non-stick and non-toxic. I could go on and on about these pans but here’s what I love about them:

• They clean like a breeze.
• They look beautiful.
• Easy to store with their pan and lid racks. 

I highly recommend investing in these pans. 

Coffee Station

If you are a coffee fanatic, then this section is for you. I got this tray to hold all the coffee items I have so that I can easily move it and clean the counter. Here are all the items I got for this station:

• Rose gold reusable straws
• Tray
• Glass mugs
• Vanilla Syrup
• Pump for syrup
• French Press
• Coffee Bean canister
• Nespresso Latisima
• Pod holder

Space Savers

To save some space, I got a paper towel holder that goes under the cabinets, leaving more counter space available. I also opted for an under sink trash. Make sure to measure how much space you have ahead of time. 

Now onto all the miscellaneous items in my kitchen that I think everyone should have. 

• Wood cutting board
• Rose gold silverware
• Salt and pepper grinder
• Dish pad
• Soap and brush 
• Strainer hung on the wall
• Utensil organizer
• Measuring cups
• Spoon Rest