Finally a place to store food

When we first moved into our house a little over a year ago, we've struggled to find a place to store food.  I mean when we first moved in one full wall of our kitchen looked like this.....

As you can see we used the built in china hutch to store small appliances, cereal, and other food.  It's not like I have fine china to show off.  I mean I love my square plates, but they're nothing to display to the world.  And my bread machine ended up on that little breakfast bar.  Where else was I supposed to keep food?

Granted we did take down one upper cabinet, but even before we did that, I still had no place to put food.  Where did the previous owner keep her food?  Is there a secret place that I don't know about in the kitchen somewhere?  Then J reminds me that not everyone is into cooking like I am.  Not everyone has a billion kitchen gadgets that need homes (and they are all used and used often).  Okay, so maybe I have a few kitchen items.

So out came the built ins. Now we had no food storage. Yes we lived out of big plastic bins for a while, then plastic storage shelves from the basement. Then we "upgraded" to this.  Hey it maybe ugly, but it kept our food safe and sound.  But then we moved the fridge to this corner. So what should we do? We discussed building a pantry over where the fridge use to be. But then we came up with a better plan. And enter new lower cabinet.

This not only added storage, but also added much needed counter space.  It's so nice having a counter next to the stove.  Then after the new back splash goes up, we plan on adding open shelves above the counter and keeping the upper cabinet (not seen in this picture).

Then we have to pick up a few organizers for the lower cabinet.  This baby is pretty deep and will hold a bunch of food, but it's nearly impossible to get to anything in the back right now.  I mean I picked up baskets at Target, but they only take up half of the shelf.  There is a ton of room behind them.

So we had something like this in mind.  We found them at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and really like them.  And the best part, I can use my 40% coupons on them.  The pull out and should go all the way to the back of the cabinet, if our measurements are right.  I plan on buying one or two at a time.  You know to reduce the shock of how much they will cost in total.

My mom has some of these in her new kitchen and loves them, so I'm hoping we'll enjoy them as well.  Now we just need to get that back splash up and the new doors made for the cabinet and things will be starting to look complete.

Have a great weekend everyone.