Kitchen and pantry organization in 25 FC

[Piggy Bank]

Long story short, if all goes according to plan we are trading in our dinged up 22 Sport next weekend for a new 25 Flying Cloud. We decided that this incident was the logical point in time to get into a larger model big enough for us and our adult kids, as well as for us after retirement in a dozen years or so.

In the 22 we had a place for everything and everything in its place.

Everything is so different in the Flying Cloud.

Would you all be kind enough to play show and tell?

How do you organize you kitchen and pantry?

What do you keep in the slide out pantry and how do you organize it?
Where do you keep dishes, pots and pans, utensils, cleanup supplies, the bar, the food, glassware, and paper towels and foil and such?

Pictures would be great. Thanks in advance.

[lsbrodsky]

We have not camped for more than 5 weeks at one time, usually 1-2 weeks. Our pantry carries cans and bottles. Bread, crackers, and chips in the cabinet above. Under the stove is our small teakettle and frying pans. Bigger pots, drainer, cleaning supplies are under the sink. The cabinet over the refrigerator holds boxes of foil, clear wrap, plastic bags, etc. All of the silverware is in the top drawer, the lower drawers are dish towels, placemats, and other cooking tools. The cabinets over the countertop hold all of the plates and glasses. I bought some 2 inch foam to fit in the bottom and did cutouts to hold the stacks of plates, bowls, and individual cutouts for mugs and glasses. Works for us.

Larry

[wulfraat]

We converted a wardrobe into a pantry. Problem solved for us...

[Piggy Bank]

Originally Posted by lsbrodsky

Our pantry carries cans and bottles. Bread, crackers, and chips in the cabinet above. Under the stove is our small teakettle and frying pans. Bigger pots, drainer, cleaning supplies are under the sink. The cabinet over the refrigerator holds boxes of foil, clear wrap, plastic bags, etc.

Larry

I have some more questions. We are getting the 25 A so my layout is slightly different from what you have.

In the cabinet above the pantry, do you have any containers that you use, or do you just put chips, bread,and crackers in there randomly?

How much can you fit under the stove? We will gave both over and microwave so we won't have a cabinet over the fridge. For those who have the oven, do you use it for storage?

Anyone care to comment on paper towels?

Does anyone have a good system for keeping things in the pantry, like plastic baskets to corral items, catch drops and crumbs. Also storage containers that seal up.

Lastly (for now) how do you corral your plates and bowls? In the Sport I kept these stacked in our lower cabinet because they didn't fit in the uppers.

Thank you.

[Piggy Bank]

Originally Posted by wulfraat

We converted a wardrobe into a pantry. Problem solved for us...

Interesting idea. I may want to use the closet partially for coats, and partially for kitchen storage. How did your attach your shelves?

Thanks

[lsbrodsky]

In the cabinet above the pantry I just pack in boxes of crackers, cookies, a loaf of bread and bags of Cheetos. As I said, in the cabinet above the counter I put in some 2 inch foam with cutouts for stacks of plates and bowls, plus individual cutouts for glasses. Holds things fine on our travels.
Larry

[wulfraat]

Originally Posted by Piggy Bank

Interesting idea. I may want to use the closet partially for coats, and partially for kitchen storage. How did your attach your shelves?



Thanks

There are two Wenge pieces screwed into the wall and then the shelf itself sits on top and is lightly bonded using silicon. They can be removed if someone ever wanted to go back to a full or partial wardrobe....

[Tbeck11931]

A 3 tier hanging fruit basket stores your fresh items in a safe secure spot of your choice. Check them out on Amazon

[thiel]

Originally Posted by Piggy Bank

In the cabinet above the pantry, do you have any containers that you use, or do you just put chips, bread,and crackers in there randomly?

Anyone care to comment on paper towels?

Does anyone have a good system for keeping things in the pantry, like plastic baskets to corral items, catch drops and crumbs. Also storage containers that seal up.

Lastly (for now) how do you corral your plates and bowls? In the Sport I kept these stacked in our lower cabinet because they didn't fit in the uppers.

Thank you.

I'm with you: I feel like organizing these little spaces is going to be a challenge and I'll finally get it right a couple weeks before I die.

A couple things I've found so far:

-- Simplehuman paper towel holder just under the key hooks, with spare towels stored in the back under the sink (that odd shaped space is really only good for deep storage, I think)

-- My wife made the observation that we have TONS of storage in the bathroom (even with four of us) and so we made the decision to put ALL cleaning products in storage there. This seems like one of those things that seems to work so perfectly we won't look at it again.

-- For some reason, the little cabinet above the fridge seems perfect for hot beverages and their accoutrements: coffee filters, tea bags, cocoa mix, cuppasoup, small jar of honey, emergency non-dairy creamer, etc.

-- For the pantry, we found these things. They are a bazillion dollars, but they fit PERFECTLY: https://www.amazon.com/OXO-10-Piece-...dp/B00D78XB6M/


And that leads me to the more philisophical question of pantry organization: I'm finding that anything I can get OUT of it's original packaging is a good thing, but it's important to put them in a container that is big enough to hold a whole package plus a little (so that you can toss the packaging when you refill the container). That way you use pantry space most efficiently. For me, candidates for this treatment are staple items like rice, pasta, crackers, and cereal.

For some items, it' doesn't make sense to remove original packaging, so you have to leave enough empty space to jigsaw them in: pasta sauce is a good example, jiffy muffin mix or boxed pancake mix is the same story.

I've been thinking a lot about that crazy cabinet above the pantry and the best idea I have so far is to use the back of it for "overflow" items (extras of what I have in the pantry) and use the front of it for chips. Still noodling on it though.

For plates and bowls and such, we use this in one of the overheads and it works pretty:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VG7VZ7I/


I do have to spend the time to zip tie my pantry wires shelves onto their hooks. That might happen today or tomorrow...

[Dennisr]

If you text me I'll send you a video of how ours is set up. I can't figure out how to post on here. 214-837-9398

[Piggy Bank]

Originally Posted by thiel

I'm with you: I feel like organizing these little spaces is going to be a challenge and I'll finally get it right a couple weeks before I die.

A couple things I've found so far:


-- For the pantry, we found these things. They are a bazillion dollars, but they fit PERFECTLY: https://www.amazon.com/OXO-10-Piece-...dp/B00D78XB6M/


...

I have used one of those for the coffee st my office, so I know that they're nice.

Do all of the sizes in the set fit on the pantry racks, or only the skinny ones?

[Piggy Bank]

We had a great weekend camping and I have figured out a lot.

Decided to keep most food in the front streetside cabinet, as the front cabinets are deeper than the side ones. I have some bins from Ikea that fit in these well and can hold a lot.

For the pull out pantry I found that ours is really really narrow. But also that it can hold awkward slender things really well. So on the top shelf I have a couple of platters and metal trays that we use for dining and cocktails. Second shelf has salad bowls and napkins in a tin box. Third shelf holds coffee (the Illy espresso cans fit perfectly) and small jars of flour, sugar, popcorn (I like to use the Talenti frozen gelato containers). Bottom shelf has coozies, matches, baggies.

Above the pantry I stored table linens, and my 32 ounce thermos on its side. I stapled a single shoe organizer pocket to the inside of the door for the tablecloth clips.

Above the sink on the left I have dishes and paper plates and bowls. I used one of those wire shelf tier things to add a second level for bowls above the plates. Above the sink on the right I have cups, mugs, disposable cups, coffee pot and coffee filters, and our foldable toaster.

IN the sink I found that a large Ikea container fits well. Can put this in the sink and still have the cover on it. We have used these in our other Airstream both as a dish pan, and to lug things in and out when cooking outside. Nice to add a few dirty spoons or cups throughout the day, and then use for washing up.

For pots and pans, I put the bulk of them in the drawer under the dinette by the front door. Cast iron pan and skillet in the storage situated under the side sofa.

Pantry/Wardrobe closet is still pretty much empty, so that will be for overflow for longer trips, or for when our kids come along and need a place to stash their things. I did hang up a cut down shoe organizer on the inside of the closet door. This holds so much. Trash bags, cleaning wipes, headlamps, flashlights and batteries, whisk broom, windex, I just used a staple gun to attach.

[thiel]

Originally Posted by Piggy Bank

Do all of the sizes in the set fit on the pantry racks, or only the skinny ones?

There are some versions that are too deep for the narrow pantry shelves, but what's amazing about them is the the containers are sized in units, and the pantry fits exactly 6 units across its width... so you can go with three doubles, six singles, two doubles and two singles... whatever works. (see photo).

[thiel]

BTW... am I on the only one that wants the hall closet in my trailer reversed? (Hinges on the other side?). Right now it opens towards the front (bedroom) where I already have a TON of storage.

Any downsides to switching it to point the other way?

[Piggy Bank]

Originally Posted by thiel

BTW... am I on the only one that wants the hall closet in my trailer reversed? (Hinges on the other side?). Right now it opens towards the front (bedroom) where I already have a TON of storage.

Any downsides to switching it to point the other way?

That must be a difference between the front bed and rear bed models?

As you can see from my photo a couple of posts above, our hall closet opens so that you can most easily get into it from the bedroom (in the rear in our Airstream). This may help you visualize it.

The hinge side of the door IS where the stack up is for one of the pullout accordion doors that partition the hallway. Not sure if this might impact how the door hinges are attached.

[Piggy Bank]

Originally Posted by thiel

I'm with you: I feel like organizing these little spaces is going to be a challenge and I'll finally get it right a couple weeks before I die.


I do have to spend the time to zip tie my pantry wires shelves onto their hooks. That might happen today or tomorrow...

So I took your advice and took care of this. Thanks for the tip. They do have the tiniest baby zip ties these days.

[BAAMbi7]

BTW, I love to organize but I don't have pictures right now. Will post in a week or two.
OK: Here we go: 23FB FC

Kitchen: Above sink right: found two small shelves to make it double duty. On tops: a quilted bag with 4 corelle plates. Under that shelf 2 Corelle bowls and stainless drinking cups nested . On the other mini shelf: a zip bag with Aeropress and under that are 2 wine glasses(no stems/ rubber covered in original box and two insulated mugs. Between each shelf I have a plastic mixing bowl and the teapot in it. ( this is hard to describe.)

above sink left: one pot, one 8" skillet , glass lid in quilted bag. and one big plastic rect basket for chips, nuts, snacks and jarred items. Bread we keep in fridge or oven.

top drawer: silverware; 2nd: kitchen tools; 3rd: kitchen dishrags/towels and silver foil.

Pantry has most everything foodwise. I have old tupperware modular mates - ovals. They fit perfect cause I don't use the icky plastic for holding food directly anymore but great for S&P bottles, hot sauce, hot chocolate and oatmeal packets, small spice jars. OH and the best for taking up some veritcal real estate: take two Talenti brand Ice cream containers and glue the bottom of one onto the top of another . You can store small items like tea bags in one and other little things like sugar packets or small size ketchup , coffee, etc. They fit perfectly in the wire selves.

Above pantry is where I keep my long flat rectangle pan for the outdoor stove in a padded sleeve, some aluminum pans and cereal boxes and mixes.

Below the oven: a cloth bags with plastic bags, larger drinks like gatorade, the silver thingies from the oven,and a cake pan.

Above the fridge. rolled up placemats and some paper cups. Below the fridge: rags.

In the coat closet I keep hanging stuff and in the bottom is the sink cover in a bag, a small folding table, a Swiffer tucked in the back. On the shelf in the closet is a small Sterlite three drawer unit for misc crafts, hardware extras and those extra rectangle pillows.

Below the sink is extra paper towels and lysol wipes, a mini camping dishrack, usually chips and not much else. We do keep larger bottles of libations in the black trash can separated by soft rags or cardboard. I saw that on line. If heaven forbid they break , it's all contained!

Hope this helped. We are pretty basic and have alot of extra space. Yup, I know, we use an entire cabinet for rags. And I agree, lots of space in the bathroom for cleaning supplies, tp and drop-ins. And we still have empty space!

[Piggy Bank]

I like your idea for a small plastic drawer thing in the closet. That is a good idea for a "junk drawer"

To expende this topic, we didn't have an oven before. What pans do you all carry along for the oven? Do you have a pizza stone in the oven to even out the heat?

Thanks

[Jtom]

Hi, we just purchased a 2019 FB flying cloud. It had one previous, we bought it from an AS dealer and for some reason the previous owner took the wooden silverware trays from the drawers. Can’t find replacements on any google searches...anybody know where to source them... i even tried ASsupple.com and no luck ...thanks!