I finally tackled my pantry. The disorganization had been bothering me for a while, and I am so happy I finally took action.
Before I share how I did it, here is a quick backstory: We moved into this house a little over three years ago. It’s a rental. Shortly after we moved in, we were told they had plans to redo the kitchen cabinets. So I paused all plans I had for organizing my cabinets, and three years later, no new cabinets. So, will it ever happen? Maybe. Will I still live here when they get around to it? Who knows!
But I live here now. And I want to enjoy the space now as it is. So whether this kitchen ever gets new cabinets, I want to make the best of what I have now. So here are the ways I organized my small pantry and the organizational products that made it all possible!
But before I show you what I did, look at the before! Yikes!
BEFORE
PANTRY GOALS
I wanted my pantry to look nice and beautiful, but I also wanted it to be functional. In fact, my primary goal was for it to be functional. I also needed to find a way to optimize the space in these cabinets. The cabinets are deep, so it was hard to make sure items in the back were getting used before going bad. So, that was a big issue I was determined to fix.
So here is what I did.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
So before getting into the organizational part of the pantry, I did the below.
- Took everything out of the cabinet.
- I wiped all the shelves and gave the entire cabinet a thorough clean with warm, soapy water.
- I replaced all the worn-out contact paper. This time, I took my time applying it and also purchased a better-quality contact paper. Is it my favorite color and design? No. But this is what I have to work with, and I will just make the best of it.
- We went through all the food and tossed anything that was expired, or we no longer wanted.
- I grouped everything I was keeping into categories that made sense for my family. Once I put everything back in the pantry, categorizing everything will allow me to easily create zones for it.
- I measured the shelves to make sure I had all the dimensions when shopping for containers. I 100% recommend doing this always. You avoid having to return items that don’t work out.
Now for the fun part! Here is how the pantry turned out!
AFTER
As you can see, everything is in a zone. The same system I use in my refrigerator. Check that post out here.
TOP CABINET
In the top cabinet, I stored all my bulk items, extra items, and refillable items, which were decanted into these airtight containers. The refillable items are kept in this medium-sized white basket that I found at The 99 Cent Store.
I recommend assigning a hidden home for items such as the ones mentioned above. Typically, these are items that you don’t really want to keep front and center in your pantry, and they also take up a lot of space. Make a space for them where they can remain “hidden” but easily accessible when you need them.
In my case, this top cabinet is hard to reach, so it was not ideal for storing food items we would need to get to daily. However, it was perfect for storing all our back stock. Similarly, you can find an area in your pantry that may not work out for daily-used items but would be perfect for storing all the back stock/bulk items. Some ideas are behind larger baskets, inside large baskets, or inside closed cabinets.
BOTTOM CABINET – FIRST SHELF
This shelf is our canned item zone. And I added these white wire shelves to use all the vertical space. While there are many can organizational products out there, I wanted to keep this budget-friendly, so these dollar store shelves worked out perfectly for us.
However, I recommend taking into consideration the number of cans you usually have in your pantry. If it’s a lot, you can just stack them up and line them up nicely. Or, if you have a larger budget and prefer the can organizers, those are great, too! You can also use large, heavy-duty baskets if you prefer to keep them hidden inside a pretty basket. Really, the possibilities are endless. But this is an easy and affordable way that I found worked out really well for us.
BOTTOM CABINET – SECOND SHELF
I added one of these baskets from The Container Store for the lunch + dinner zone. These baskets are perfect because I can pull them out as you would a drawer, and I can easily see what I have in the back. NO MORE forgetting things in the back. I can finally see it all!
I used these containers from The Container Store to store the bread. However, they are perfect for just about anything. I used them everywhere in my home. I also got a few small baskets from The Dollar Store to store opened bread and other smaller items and keep them contained in this zone.
BOTTOM CABINET – THIRD SHELF
This shelf is our snack zone. Here, we keep items such as cookies, crackers, chips, and other snacks. I also used one of these baskets from The Container Store as a “drawer.”
I used these airtight food storage containers to store additional snacks that I decanted, such as cookies, pretzels, and other snacks. You can also use them for flour, sugar, cereal, etc.
BOTTOM CABINET – FOURTH SHELF
I am keeping all our small kitchen appliances on this bottom shelf, which will serve as our small kitchen appliance zone. I love that they all have a home, and the space is large enough to fit them all comfortably. No more keeping them on the counter, creating clutter.
I recommend finding a home/zone where you can fit all your kitchen appliances in one area.
TOP TIPS
Are you ready to tackle YOUR pantry? Here are my top tips for a successful pantry organization project.
- Purge – Take everything out of your pantry and donate or toss anything that is expired.
- Create Categories/Zones—Lay everything out on a table or a large counter space so you can have room to create groups/zones of similar items that make sense for your family’s needs.
- Take Pictures of Your Groups/Zones- You will need this information to refer to when purchasing containers and/or planning your pantry layout.
- Clean – Take advantage of the fact that your pantry is empty and thoroughly clean your pantry, shelves, cabinets, floors, etc.
- Measure the Space—Measure the pantry cabinets, shelves, etc. This is necessary. You want to make sure you get the appropriate-sized containers. Trust me! Just do the extra work beforehand; it’ll save you from having to make one million returns afterward.
- Decide on Color and Type—Using the pictures of your categories and measurements, determine how you want to store all your pantry items. Do you want boxes, baskets, containers, jars, or a combination of all? Also, decide on a color for the containers. I recommend sticking to one or two colors.
- Decant – Consider decanting as much as you can. Use airtight containers for items such as snacks, rice, flour, and beans. This saves you space, keeps your food fresh longer, and LOOKS AMAZING!
- Use Vertical Space and cabinet/Drawer/Depth—This is especially important for a small pantry. You need all the space you can get.
- Shop your Home – Once you know what you want, shop at home first. See what type of organizational products you may have at home that you can repurpose.
- Go Shopping—Once you’ve shopped at home, go shopping in person or online, whatever works for you. Keep the pictures and measurements with you so you can refer back to them when deciding on the container size and amount.
- Try and Try Again—When you put everything back in, I recommend moving things around until it looks just right. Live with it for a few days before making it final.
- Assign a hidden “Zone” – for bulk and extra items. Make sure you can still access it easily when you need it.
- Label Zones and Containers—I suggest living with your newly organized pantry for a few days before labeling, just in case you end up moving things around.
FULL LIST OF ALL I USED
- 2 Small White Basket – The 99 Cent Store or Amazon
- 1 Medium White Basket – The 99 Cent Store or Amazon
- 2 Wire White Shelves
- Airtight Cereal & Dry Food Storage Containers (comes with labels)
- Command Cord Bundlers
- 1 Multipurpose Bins
- 2 XX-Large Chancellor Baskets
And there you have it, guys! Hope this was helpful to you and that you found some good ideas that you can recreate in your home!
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