Larder Makeover: The Big Reveal

Ok... So its only taken 3 years of daydreaming, months of planning, weeks of Pinterest scouring, 2 trips to IKEA and a trip to B and Q, but finally... It's done! And I'm SUPER-pleased with my newly organised larder makeover. Remember how it looked before??

Yuck!!!

Drumroll please!

Ta-da!

I have dreamed about one of those gorgeously organised Pottery Barn style larders for years and we picked this one up at our local antique shop three years ago. It's been perfectly pretty on the outside, and perfectly practical on the inside (in that its done its job in storing our food) but I guess I could see some hidden potential in the depths of its shelves that needed to be unearthed.

So I drew myself a plan on a bit of scrappy paper, measured up and decided that it was time to use the space a bit better. A little explanation... I've actually managed to get MORE in the larder than I had before, even though it looks like there's less!

So here's a little guided tour!

The doors: This was the bit I've been day-dreaming about for years! Down the left hand door, I painted the upper panel in blackboard paint. My plan is to put the meal plan up there every week. I also hung up an onion basket I bought for a bargainous price in Norway this summer. Down the right hand door I screwed up 4 IKEA spice racks and have packed them full of tea, coffee, spices and condiments!

My next step was to sort out the top shelf - the larder had brackets for a shelf (so there obviously used to be one) so all I needed to do was measure it up and buy a piece of wood to create the top shelf. However, I'm not particularly tall, so I decided to build a half shelf to make my baking items easier to reach. The shelf is half the depth of the rest of the larder, but just perfect for storing all my baking goods...

Yes, I know, I need to re-label. These labels have been on for about 2 years and they need an update, but hey - there's only so much a girl can do!

 Boxes that are easy to pull out and store all those half-full bags and packets and bottles!

You just can't beat good old IKEA for storage solutions - I'm loving these plastic 365+ cereal containers. And the jars...

And I finally have somewhere to keep my washing powder and my recycling! Again, IKEA came up trumps!

So there you have it! My new and re-furbished larder. Let's just hope it stays that way!

Someone else rather likes it too...