Blisshaus #4: Mill Valley Magic

[3.5 minute read] 5 years ago, we sorted this pantry.  This month, we went back to take a peek at how it's going. Turns out, our system is easy to maintain! After 5 years, the pantry still looks stunning and has transformed a family's way to cook, eat, and shop - all for the better!   The family: This family of three lives in the Oakland hills with their lovely daughter. When we first sorted their kitchen, she was 11 and starting to bake on her own. Our Blisshaus sort was the perfect opportunity to set up a dedicated baking section for her and make room on the counter for the standing mixer Santa was about to bring. The kitchen: This pantry wall sits right off the kitchen in the laundry room. Limited to 1 1/2 walls of shallow shelving, keeping the foodstuff organized was near impossible. Bags and boxes were crowding each other out. It seemed easier just to buy all ingredients from scratch for any given recipe rather than searching for what was on hand.  5 Years Ago - Before Blisshaus   The makeover: We started with a deep-clean of the space. All food came out. We scrubbed every shelf. Next, we decanted the food. We checked that everything was still fresh and labeled each jar. The shallow shelves were perfect for Blisshaus jars. We need only 5 inches for a single row of jars and 10 inches for a double row.  Thanks to this efficient set up, we managed to get loads of food into the pantry with room to spare!   The special surprises: We created a dedicated baking section for the daughter. The row of sugars looks especially beautiful.For dad, we created a happy-hour shelf up high. Mom's most beloved jars are in the snack section where she and her daughter like to hang out and catch up on life.   5 Years ago - After Blisshaus Makeover 5 Years Later: How's the pantry holding up?    We were curious how the jars were holding up after 5 years.So we called to check-in. The timing was great because a new puppy was about to arrive. What better time to add in a few jars for puppy kibble.We arrived and WOW!  Everything still looked so good!  5 Years Later - Before Blisshaus Refresh   The Blisshaus Refresh:    The pantry still looked so beautiful. The baking pantry was still in its spot and all the core pantry jars were in tip-top order.  We cleaned up the jars and shelves that needed a wipe down,  switched out a few labels and jars that the family had outgrown and nudged everything back into alignment. What a delight to see that the Blisshaus way of life is simple and easy to maintain.Mom shared with us that their shopping routine was transformed thanks to the Blisshaus pantry.  "Our shopping shifted from random runs to the store to a lovely routine with one-stop a week at the butcher and produce stand. Then, every month or so, we go together to the bulk bins to stock up on whatever is running low. It's so easy to see what we need because of our lovely jars."  5 Years Later - After Blisshaus Refresh   What do you love most about your Blisshaus pantry? "We always loved to cook. The Blisshaus kitchen made this family activity even more special because clean-up is so much easier without all the clutter.  Plus seeing what food we have in the house makes it easy to cook what we have. We waste less food and have so much more fun in the kitchen. We LOVE being a Blisshaus family!" Mia B. - Oakland

The broom closet-turned-pantry in this San Francisco home is narrow and small.  We used Blisshaus magic to make it brilliantly functional and tidy.   The family: With two little boys and one big doggie, this San Francisco family was super-busy with school, sports, and hikes to the park. They cooked a lot from scratch and were frustrated with their cluttered pantry that just seemed too small for their needs.   The kitchen: Their 1920s home is a classic San Francisco Victorian with high ceilings, original carvings, and loads of charm. The kitchen is a mix of original, 100-year-old cabinets, and an island updated in the late 1970s. Back in the 70s, the broom closet was converted into the pantry closet. Narrow and dark, the small space was bursting with foodstuff for the family.   It was difficult to find ingredients in the closet, as bags, cans, and boxes with tea, rice, beans, crackers, and all sorts of goodies were squeezed onto shelves. The food even overflowed onto the floor.       The makeover: We knew that this broom closet pantry was going to be tricky. When we started the project, we weren't sure how exactly we would fit all the different food into the space. The boys love their cereal. The big dog needs loads of kibble. And mom is a fabulous baker who makes conventional and gluten-free goodies. Add to that the tea collection, a broad set of spices, and the assortment of essential oils for aromatherapy, and there was not much wiggle room in the kitchen.     The breakthrough: Our big ah-ha moment came when we discovered that the Blisshaus jars fit perfectly lying flat on their sides on the shelves in the pantry. This allowed us to keep all the food in one space and maximize the utility of the pantry closet. Sliding in the jars was such a great moment. The little closet magically turned from a dusty, cluttered nook into a neat, clean pantry.   The white labels brighten up the tiny room and make it easy for anybody to find the food they are looking for. We knew the family was going to love it.   We also decided to declutter two junk drawers and convert them to dedicated spice drawers. This allowed us to use the side shelves in the pantry closet for teas and extra jars.     Spices Before:   Spices After: The reveal: The kitchen was a big project. We emptied all shelves, scrubbed them down, decanted all the food into jars, labeled them, and sorted them into the pantry.After 30 hours of work, our reward was the grand reveal. We had created special spots for every family member:  The boys got their own cereal shelf with all cereals in jumbo jars on a shelf low enough for the boys to reach.  Mom got her baking pantry in the overhead cabinet by the counter she uses to bake. Dad loves the two drawers of spices. And the dog food now was no longer in a big garbage bin that smelled of kibble, but in air-tight jars that make it easy for the boys to feed the dog.   What is the best part about this Blisshaus kitchen? Adding Blisshaus jars and logic to the tiny closet added tremendous functionality and that oh-so-coveted feeling of an organized pantry to this old house. In the end, you might not need a big kitchen remodel to improve the flow and feel of your space. Start with a Blisshaus makeover. That way you know exactly what space you'll need when it's time for updating your kitchen.

A family of 4 cooks & bakes all the time - to keep the wood-fired oven churning out pizza and bread and their 3 coffee houses serving up amazing dishes.