Welcome to the monthly edition of Where Bloggers Live. It’s kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…Bloggers! Who doesn’t like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes and lives? Every month a group of six bloggers share their work-spaces, homes, towns, and more!

This month we’re sharing our kitchen pantries/closets/what have you.

I am, and have always been, pantry-obsessed. Back in the day when it seemed like we were always looking for a new house, a pantry, or the lack-thereof, could be the deciding factor for or against a house.

In our first house, it was just a regular closet that we lined with shelves. Nothing really to write home about, but it did its storage job.

Our second house didn’t have an actual “pantry,” but it did have a charming original built-in cabinet. It was prettier than House #1 but I couldn’t hide as much as stuff away in it. Fortunately, the laundry room backed onto the kitchen, so I was able to store things on wall shelves and keep them out of sight.

Not my house, but the built-in hutch looked like this…except that I remember ours being prettier in some way 🙂

I remember looking at one house between House #1 and House #2 that had an actual butler’s pantry that connected the kitchen to the dining room. Now THAT was a dream. It had beautiful soapstone countertops and a mix of glass-front cabinets and solid door cabinets, so you could have both pretty and practical. I have no pictures of that, but…I can picture it perfectly in my mind’s eye. It was a dream.

It was not this elegant, and there was no sink…but the concept is the same…a 6’ish hallway connecting the kitchen and dining room, with countertops and upper and lower cabinets, so tons of storage and work space.

In House #3 I finally got my charming kitchen pantry. It wasn’t giant…but it was large enough to walk in. Two walls were lined with deep wooden shelves, so there was a ton of storage. It had a little window facing the backyard so there was good light. We put a half door on it to allow that little bit of window light to come into the kitchen. I had a giant mouse-hole shaped opening cut in the bottom of the door, so the cats could go in and out for their food and litter box…but the dog couldn’t. It was useful & charming. I hung an old wire planter on the wall and used it to hold bottles of oils and vinegars. I think of that sweet little pantry often. Sigh.

The pantry with the half-door is on the left. Sadly, no picture of the mouse-hole opening for the cats. It was really cute!

Now…no charm but lots of storage space that is hidden away. In the hallway between the kitchen and bathroom, there’s a large closet (you know, the two sliding door kind). One side is kitchen stuff, and the other side is bathroom. Lots of deep shelves.

I started clearing stuff out awhile back. Look at me with an empty shelf, woohoo. I did a TikTok about cleaning off a shelf (scintillating content right here!) if you’re interested in that. Obviously I still have a ways to go. It, like everything else in my life these days, is a work in progress.

Pantry Shelf Cleaning Part 1

Pantry Shelf Cleaning Part 2

That’s my lookback at Pantries I Have (and Have Not) Loved. Make sure to check out my friends’ larders today, too:

Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Em at Dust and Doghair
Iris at Iris’ Original Ramblings
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Leslie at Once Upon a Time Happily Ever After
Sally at Within a World of My Own