Sounds exciting doesn't it?

I know you are on the edge of your seat.

What will she wish for first?

Behind door number 1 is . . . *drumroll*

A new shelf! *applause*

Wait.  What is this girls obsession with shelves?!

Well here's the thing.  First off I have this idea that I really need more vertical storage in my home so I can have more horizontal space.  More horizontal space allows for more vertical storage.  Got it?  Simply put I have way too much stuff (shameless packrat married to another packrat) and not enough places to put stuff.  So, I need more stuff to store the stuff in.  I like stuff!

When we first looked at this house the kitchen was one of it's selling points for me.  I was living in an apartment with the worlds smallest kitchen.  Counter space?  What's that?  One of the great things about that apartment was the washer and dryer.  The downside to having a washer and dryer in your apartment?  It takes up space.  In our case it took up kitchen space.  Like where the pantry should be.  So, I had very few cabinets and those had to share space between dishes and food.  We ate out a lot.

When we saw the kitchen in this house (by comparison) it looked huge.  There was room for a table in the kitchen!  Lots of cabinets and a ton of counter space.  Or so I thought at the time.  A pantry didn't even occur to me.

Just ignore all those arrows.  This is the only "before" pic of the house I have.

Until we moved in.  We went from eating out all the time to eating at home all the time.  Which meant we had to keep food somewhere.

Now I could go on about all the issues with the kitchen.  Like the fact that while there is a space for a kitchen table there really isn't space for a kitchen table.

runs from the sink out a hole drilled in one cabinet . . .

and hung up over the doorway . . .

to reach the opposite side of the room where the refrigerator sits.

I am not kidding.  Let's just say that the kitchen could be laid out a bit better.

That's right.  My kitchen has no pantry.  I came up with (in my own humble opinion) a rather ingenious temporary solution.  This is my current kitchen pantry.

Quit laughing.  You know you're just jealous!

I also have a small shelf that serves to hold a few appliances since I do not actually have the vast limitless counter space I had originally perceived.

Yes, I broke the Crockpot.  That's what I get for washing dishes.

The rest of the food that doesn't fit in the plastic carts is piled on my counter tops.

Oh, wait did I say counter tops?  Because I have come to the realization that I actually only have one counter top in my kitchen.  It's currently covered with items that belong in the pantry I don't have.

I know it's a mess.  Hence the title of my blog.

Ok.  I guess I have two but I don't really count the second one which is barely large enough to hold a knife block.

I actually cleaned it off to take this picture. ;)

I thought about putting up one of my handy Walmart shelves in place of the small shelf but that would cover the power outlet.

There are only two outlets in the kitchen.

Ok.  Three.  But one doesn't count.  Because it's next to the door.  In a corner of the room.  On the other side of it is a window.  So what the heck would I put in the corner of the room between a window and a door?  There isn't even room for a lamp.  I have no idea what they were thinking with that one.  So, I really can't afford to lose one of the outlets that is (semi) usable.

Instead I need a shelf without a back.  

Look at it.  Isn't it beautiful?  Wouldn't it make a lovely addition to my kitchen?  I could put the food in plastic bins and pretty baskets.  I could keep the items I don't want the kids getting into up high and their snacks down low.  I could buy one of those cute little banana hangers . . . oops that's two wishes . . . but isn't it cute?  I can put my appliances on it and not worry as much that I am going to set something on fire if I make toast.  Maybe I could even get my counters clear enough that I could permanently relocate my toaster to a counter.  Ok, now I am just dreaming.

Anyway I think it would be a great solution to my kitchen storage problem.  At least until I can entirely tear out and rearrange everything in the kitchen and build myself a real pantry.  Now I'm really dreaming!  

Anyone else have clever storage solutions for a kitchen without a pantry?  I could use some ideas here!