Rebecca Underly is the owner of Del Ray Cakery, a home-based business that specializes in cake pops, decorative and wedding cakes, and other sweet treats. A mother of two young children as well, she uses her kitchen for her business and as the center of her family life.
It’s a wonder that every surface isn’t covered in thin layer of sprinkles, flour, goldfish crackers and pretzels. Some days this may be the case, but Rebecca has found a way to use dozens and dozens of mason jars to manage her baking inventory and keep life running smoothly in the snack department as well.
Behold her open pantry, a floor-to-ceiling set of neatly arranged mason jars.
In addition to her Del Ray Cakery business, Rebecca is also a recipe developer and food writer, which is why she says she has ”so many different kinds of things in those jars.”
Rebecca has a method for organizing the mason jar pantry:
- She marks the purchase dates of the dry good on the tops of jars containing bulk items.
- She follows a “first in, first out” motto. The newer items go in back so that the family will use up previously purchased items first. Rebecca likes that she lets nothing sit unused and forgotten.
- She keeps the sweet treats, like M&Ms and cookies, on the highest shelf to keep little people from helping themselves.
- The next shelf down has items she doesn’t use every day like dried beans, lentils, various grains, nuts and dried fruits.
- The next two shelves down have the jars with items the family uses almost every day like crackers, more dried fruits and veggies, pasta, protein powder, whey, oatmeal, ground flours for waffles and pancakes, and rice.
Rebecca’s go-to resources for mason jars:
Shoppers Food Warehouse
Target
Hollin Hall Variety Store
Craigslist and Freecycle
Rebecca’s floor-to-ceiling open shelving is one of the most attractive pantry storage solutions we’ve seen yet. And even if you don’t have enough room in your kitchen for a full pantry, here are a few examples of how local residents have embraced the open shelving concept.
Glass jars containing cereal and dried goods along the backsplash:
Open and easy to-access spice collection and a built-in wine rack:
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