We lived in an old house when we were first married and it had a pantry. I loved pantries from that moment on. They hold so much and keep lots of clutter from the kitchen. This old pantry had a window, shelves on three walls and a trap door to get into the basement.

I knew someday I would have my own pantry. When we built our new house we made sure to have a pantry in it. Our friend who did our plans for us told us no one had panties their just a waste of space. I disagree and a pantry went into the plans.

Now we have an old farm house and we made sure when we remodeled to have a pantry. The pictures on this hub are pictures of our pantry.

My first item to get for a pantry is jars. Any kind that will hold pasta, rice,sugar, flour and other items. I believe in removing from the box and putting in jars keeps any kind of bugs out and keeps items fresher longer. Be sure to label and date items in the jars. I have forgotten to do that. It's not easy to always figure out what the item is in the jar if you don't use it often. A pantry needs to be well lit, it's nice to have a window so that during the day you don't have to turn on lights and fresh air can be let in.

I try to keep my pantry well organized but believe me it gets away from me at times. So every so often you have to go through everything, dust, reorganize and check dates on everything.

Floor space can also be used. We keep dog food in a container on the floor. Basket for chips, pop corn, and lunch chips. Very large jars and cans go on the floor but I do try to keep them out of my way so I can get to shelves.

Don't put so much in the pantry that you can't move. It won't work if you do. You want to be able to move around easily. If you don't have a big or small closet to use for a pantry try an armoire if you can find one on the cheap and have a place for it. They can be found more often now because so many people are buying the new televisions and getting rid of the armoire. It can be reworked and shelves added and it can really be a cute pantry.

Items that need to be in the pantry in case of a blizzard or something else:

• Canned Soup and big cans of soup broth, vegetables, canned sauces, tomato sauces
• Jelly, jams, gravies
• All things for baking spices, flours, baking powder and soda, salt, pepper, all sugars. raisins, chocolate chips, nuts I put in the freezer.
• Canola oil, olive oil
• Pasta, rice, anything you think you can add to soup. Dry beans, peas,
• Mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard etc. whatever you like to use and with a pantry you can keep extra
• Syrup and pancake mix which I put in jars
• Bread, cereals, cake mixes, frostings
• Paper towels, napkin, wax paper, plastic wraps and trash bags. We're trying to get away from paper products ( going green)
• I have a place in the pantry for soda and water
• Cookbooks, hot pads, cutting board and dish towels
• Always a Rachel Ray garbage bowl ( I bought mine on ebay before she had one to sale). I was using a garbage bowl way before Rachel! When I think of all the Melamine I got rid of and wish I had back.

Shelves for food and smaller shelves for spices. We put the knifes on the side because no room on our counters for them.

We also put a counter-top in this pantry. Good for putting groceries on and unloading. We also keep our small appliances in here, coffee pots, bread machine and mixer. You can't see it but we also have our microwave in the pantry.

When my family had to sell my grandmother's house after she passed away I had them take off one of her old diningroom glass doors for me. I put that glass door on my pantry. My grandmother also had a pantry in her small house. It was a small closet beside her big red stove.

I also keep some of my collections of kitchen antiques in my pantry. My husband builds shelves around the top of the pantry to put items on and we hang things on the wall and on the shelf in front of the window. I also hang baskets in the pantry.

I use jars for most of my flour, sugar etc. because of the pesky little monsters you see at right. It doesn't matter how clean your house is these things can be brought in from the store or anywhere for that matter.

Always keep your toaster clean. They love bread crumbs.

Keep cereal in something they can't get into.

I'm very careful with bird seed, dog and cat food always put them in a plastic container. Bird seed is the worst for pest.

The link above can explain all the bugs much better then I can.