I knew the kitchen in my seasonal angler’s cabin wasn’t a perfect setup—clearly designed for summer fishing and winter snowmobiling my pantry situation needed a rethink.
Here’s the problem: My pantry opens up right underneath the sitting bar, on the same side as the stools. 🤯 So every time I need something, I have to ask my guests to move. Not exactly ideal when you’re in the middle of cooking.
And if you saw [Part 1], you know I also have a completely dysfunctional nook next to the fridge—a wasted space with an oddly placed desk and a junk drawer.
Instead of fighting with my existing pantry layout, I decided to use that awkward nook to solve the problem.
New plan! Move all my most-used pantry items to an open pantry setup—something accessible, functional, and, most importantly, doesn’t require me to shuffle people around just to grab some flour.
But because this pantry is right at the entrance of the cabin, I also needed it to look intentional and aesthetically pleasing.
Over the holidays, I thrifted a bunch of baskets from Savers, and ended up using them to store produce on the porch. And after building this rack I thought why not use them to compartmentalize produce, dry goods, snacks, and other things I use often!
I’d love to install wooden shelves one day to really make this Pinterest-worthy, but for now, my chrome rack from WebstaurantStore will do just fine. Plus, I love that this isn’t permanent—when I eventually jack up and level the cabin (a project for another day or year lol), I can swap it out for wood and reuse the metal rack for gardening or in the garage.
Budget Breakdown:
Thrifted Baskets: Less than $20
Metal Storage Rack: About $100
Total: Under $120 for a complete pantry transformation!
For now, this works. And honestly, I kind of love it. All my things have their own little home!
For now, I’m really happy with how this setup turned out. If you struggle with getting through produce before it goes bad, I highly recommend trying an open pantry system for fresh fruits and vegetables!
There’s just something about seeing produce beautifully displayed in baskets that makes you want to eat it and cook with it more often. ☻
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