HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR PANTRY & ADD CHARM – 11 SIMPLE TIPS
It’s that time of the year when we want to start fresh with a clean slate…and a clean kitchen! Organize your pantry using these simple tips and feel happy and accomplished every time you open that pantry door! I’ll show you how to use some simple organization items to completely transform and organize your pantry, hide clutter, maximize space, and know exactly where everything is!
IN THIS POST:
- Pantry Organization Video
- Why pantry organization is important
- Where to start for a beautiful and organized pantry
- Helpful items for an organized pantry
- Adding Charm
- Clean Pantry Hack
- 11 Smart Pantry Organization tips that actually work
How to ORGANIZE YOUR PANTRY VIDEO
Here is a video I put together detailing the process of organizing and improving my pantry. You won’t believe how much stuff fits in this 4’x5′ pantry!
WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO ORGANIZE YOUR PANTRY
The pantry has a way of becoming a little disorderly over time and is a great place to spruce up because we use it daily.
BEFORE
When it’s clean and pretty, every time we open the door, it’s a breath of fresh air and a boost to the day!
Conversely, when the pantry is a mess, it can slow us down, and frustrate us.
It is very discouraging when we cannot find what we are looking for, don’t know what we need to get at the store, and find stale food AKA wasted money because bags have been left open.
These pantry organization tips will solve these problems and you will love your pantry again!
When it’s done, you might even just peek in there randomly throughout the day to feel a “win”, maybe even hang out in your beautiful space, get some alone time, have a leisurely snack while you admire your pretty pantry… or maybe that’s just me?
WHERE TO START FOR A BEAUTIFUL AND ORGANIZED PANTRY:
The first thing you need to do when you organize your pantry is to clear EVERYTHING out.
Clean the shelves, sweep the floor, and wipe down any containers that are going back into the pantry.
HELPFUL ITEMS FOR ORGANIZING YOUR PANTRY
CANISTERS
If you want your pantry to be pretty as well as organized, I highly recommend putting some items in glass containers or canisters.
Some items that are great for storing in clear glass airtight canisters:
- Flour
- Sugar
- Pasta
- Rice
- Oatmeal
- Baking Soda
- Cinnamon Sugar
- Pancake and/or biscuit mix
- Nuts
- Alternative flours like gluten free, almond, coconut, etc.
Glass containers allow you to see how much is left so you can easily make your shopping list with just a quick glance.
Plus, canisters are much more aesthetically pleasing than a bunch of mismatched open messy boxes and bags.
The other food item I like to canister is chips and pretzels that have been opened.
My kids never put clips on bags and so to prevent these items from going stale and wasting money, I put them into airtight containers.
We aren’t cereal eaters, but if we were, I’d keep it in these containers as well.
Here are some nice-looking Canisters:
BASKETS:
Baskets help you organize your pantry and hide the clutter!
I have 2 larger baskets in my pantry.
One basket holds boxed food items, and the other holds bagged food items.
Additionally, I have I basket for each of my kids where I put their favorite snack and lunch items.
This helps reduce fights over who ate all the treats, because they each have their own.
Also, I have 2 round baskets that sit on a lazy susans in the corners which hold canned food. I just think it looks nicer than seeing all the labels.
Here are some baskets like the ones I use:
PLASTIC BINS
These white bins are perfect for organizing your pantry items because they have handles, are just the right size, and they’re easy to clean.
I have them categorized and labeled to keep myself and my family organized.
Keep the most used items closer more reachable, and lesser used items can go on the next shelf up.
Some Categories for Bins:
- Baking
- Oils
- Vinegars
- Condiments
- Spreads (peanut butter, jelly, Nutella, etc.)
- Sweeteners
- Extra canned goods
- Sauces
- Extra Spices
- Bread and tortillas
Here’s a link to these bins:
LABELS
Labels are very important for helping you and your family put things away where they belong and to find things easily.
I love these labels HERE because they are on clear plastic-y sticker that can be cleaned and they come off without tearing to shreds.
LET’S TAKE IT FROM FUNCTIONAL TO CHARMING AND ORGANIZED!
If you implement the above tips and organize your pantry items into canisters, baskets, and bins, your pantry will be completely TRANSFORMED and so much more pleasing and functional.
But if you’d like to add a bit of charm to your space, keep reading!
HOW I ADDED CHARM AND IMPROVED MY PANTRY
- First, I added a shelf at the top of the pantry to relieve some space issues. My pantry wasn’t bad when I started this cleanout process, but it was clear that we needed a little more space and so I added one more shelf at the top.
- Next, some cute wood brackets add both charm and support for the shelves.
- Then, I changed out the spice racks. The ones I had were allowing people to put items there that didn’t belong. These are only big enough for the spice jars and nothing else. I love that I was able to get the jars, labels, and racks as a set so I knew they would all work well together.
HERE IS A LINK TO MY NEW SPICE RACK, JARS, AND LABELS.
- Finally, to really make this pantry be a charming extension of my kitchen, I added a skirt at the bottom. It is cute and hides some less attractive stuff that looked a little cluttered.
More about the Skirt
The skirt is made from a drop cloth. I love the neutral color and casual utilitarian canvas fabric.
My mom sewed a little sleeve at the top to run the rod through.
I just used a tension shower curtain rod to hold it up.
There’s an opening in the center, between the 2 skirt panels, to access the items behind.
A skirt is a great way to hide items that look cluttered at the bottom of your pantry.
I love how it turned out!
Since you can see into my pantry through the glass door, I want this space to always look nice and neat.
Bonus: Clean Pantry Hack
Lastly, I have to mention our EyeVac. You just sweep crumbs up to the base and it sucks them up automatically.
If you hate dust pans, bending over, trying to get all the bits again and again and you can never get ‘em all, then you’ll love this thing!
It’s so easy to use, even my kids can sweep up after themselves and not just spread crumbs everywhere.
11 SMART PANTRY ORGANIZATION TIPS THAT ACTUALLY WORK
- Have a designated bin or basket for each child’s favorite snacks and lunch items at an easy-to-reach height.
- Use turntables (AKA lazy Susan) in the corners
- Label bins by category
- Have a 1-2 larger bins or baskets to contain bagged items like chips, pretzels, etc. (because they don’t sit nicely on shelves by themselves)
- Have clear airtight containers for opened food bags like chips. (Pour the rest of the bag of chips in the container and toss the bag.)
- Have a bin for small Items you use when baking, like vanilla, baking powder, chocolate chips, etc so when you’re baking you can grab that one bin and have everything you need.
- Keep a step stool in the space or nearby to reach and properly put items away.
- Store backstock and bulk Items at the top.
- Keep a broom and dustpan (or EyeVac) handy.
- Make it pretty so you and your family will take care of it. When things look nice, we tend to treat them with more care and respect.
- A fabric skirt can hide a lot of clutter at the bottom of the pantry.