Bucket List

I have always been a fan of buckets, and the cuter they are, the more I like them.  I use a cute blue and white bucket as my office trash can, and a red bucket holds utensils on the kitchen counter.  There are various buckets serving as containers for indoor plants all over our house.  So, ever since I first saw the fintorp wall storage units at Ikea, I have wanted to incorporate them into my home somehow.

After suffering through a certain amount of disorganization in my office, I knew it was time to take the plunge.  I didn’t want to move forward, though, until I hung some beadboard wallpaper.  That was a project that had been on my to-do list, but once that little task was completed, I headed to Ikea and bought myself some buckets.

 

 

In case you are new around here, my office is also my pantry/bake station.  It is right next to the kitchen through a frosted door, and it measures 8.5 feet by 9.5 feet.  It is probably bigger than some big-city apartment kitchens.

 

 

One-fourth of the room is devoted to all things office, and the remainder is devoted to the preparation of baked items and the storage of food, cookware, etc.

 

When the office starts creeping into the pantry, or the pantry starts creeping into the office, I have organizational nightmares.

 

So, in addition to adding some cuteness to the office area, I now have a place to store some things for easy access.  They also help free up the drawers a little bit and get some things off of the counter.  Now there is room for my printer to have a nice resting spot in the corner.  Mr. Right hung the brackets that hold the bucket storage system, and it only took him about 15 minutes.  He had to drill some holes twice because I measured incorrectly, but that didn’t even slow him down.

 

If we pan out, you can get a better idea of the set-up.  Once I turn the corner where the printer sits, I enter pantry country.  The shelves under the cannisters hold the bread machine (am I the only person who loves and uses these things?), the Keurig, some food magazines, and my antique French potato crate.  The shelves behind those cabinet doors hold all of the baking sheets, cake and pie pans, etc.

 

 

For all of you teapot fans out there, these pots are all made by Hall.

 

 

I assemble all of my baking concoctions here before taking them to the oven in the kitchen to bake.  It’s a nice expanse with a mini sink.  The counters in here are laminate and not as high-maintenance as the Carrara marble in the kitchen.  So, I don’t have to be as careful.

 

 

As we continue to circle around the room to the right, these are some shelves that Mr. Right and I added.  Of course, I measured wrong, and he had to hang one of them twice.

 

One more turn to the right, and here is the great pegboard wall.  I love this way of storing pots and pans, etc.  Julia Childs knew what she was doing.  If I only had a Paul to draw circles on it so each pot would have its own little spot.  Maybe some day I will take the time to do that.

 

A little step to the right, and we are back where we started with my office and its buckets.  This pantry/office is not pretty like all of the pantries on Pinterest, but it sure does work for me.

 

Take care.