Kitchen pantry organization doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. With just a few easy tips, you can get your pantry cleaned out and organized in not time!
I’ve seen tons of beautifully organized kitchen pantries on Pinterest and different blogs, and they all seem to have one thing in common…you have to buy a bunch of containers to achieve the super organized look, and you must label everything with beautiful printed labels. While that does appeal to me visually, it just doesn’t work well for what I need in a pantry. First of all, I don’t always buy the same things, so buying a bunch of containers and labeling them would mean that I would have to wash them out and re-label them on a continuous basis. Also, if you use those containers to store things, how do you refill them? I mean, you should use what’s in them first since it is older instead of putting new food in the container on top of the old food, right? It just seams like a continuous cycle to me. Instead of spending a lot of money on containers, and doing all of the extra work, I use a few easy tricks to keep my pantry organized. These simple tips will help you keep your kitchen pantry clean and tidy without breaking the bank!
The first step is to empty out your pantry and discard any food items that are expired. If you have items that are still good, but you don’t want any more, put them in a box and donate them to your local homeless shelter. There is no reason you should be keeping foods that you or your family are not going to eat. They just take up space and will eventually go bad any way. Once you have cleaned your pantry out, give it a good wipe down, and let’s get it stocked back up!
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One of the best things I ever did was add some elevation to the area where I store my canned goods, sauces and pasta. I did buy a pantry shelf, but you could easily stack some 2X4 pieces of wood or use some old boxes to create the same effect. The key is to be able to look in and actually see what you have on hand. I place the things that I will most likely use first in the front, and place the items that will most likely be used later in the back. I stored my pasta and rice beside the stacked shelves all together so I know where to find them quickly.
I try to keep all breakfast items together so that in the mornings, the kids can quickly find something to eat instead of having to search around. As you can see, I also store our bread close by just in case anyone wants toast.
Cereal containers are one of the only containers that I actually use, and that’s mostly because my family members aren’t that great at closing cereal bags and I don’t want our cereal to get stale. I store extra boxes of cereal and oatmeal behind the containers so that I can refill them when they are empty.
I try to keep all of the quick grab / packaged snacks in the same area as well. This makes lunch packing so much easier, and it’s also easy for the kids to grab a snack without making a huge mess. They can see what is available and grab it without having to rummage. This also allows me to see what we have on hand and what I may need to refill on my next trip to the grocery store.
I do store some baking supplies behind the snacks because I don’t use them often. If you bake often, you would probably want to make room in your pantry for baking supplies and try to keep them all in the same place so you can easily access them when baking.
In the bottom of our pantry, I keep all of our food storage containers. This makes packing meals, snacks and leftovers so easy, especially when we need to pack something to go!
The bottom line when organizing your pantry is that you need to make your food items easy to find, easy to access and easy to use. By placing like items together, you are more likely to spend less time looking for them. Keeping your pantry organized will also help to keep you from purchasing multiples of things you may already have. Let’s get those pantries cleaned out and organized!
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I have stuff everywhere but organized. In the dining room I have a tall wicker covered hamper with all kinds of
noodles and pasta. Another wicker covered hamper with toilet paper. lol Only limited by your imagination.
I love hidden storage, Mary! We live in a small house and use lots of little secret hiding spots for things!
I was looking at your organization tips for the pantry and noticed your containers in a photo on the right side. They look like they are the snapware containers. Can I ask where you got them? And if they are not the snapware brand, what brand are they? I’ve been trying to find some like that, but the ones that I tried (not snapware) didn’t work. The snaps kept breaking off. Thank you for your time on this.
Hi, Tracy! I’m not sure what the brand name is, but I love them, and have had them for years. I bought them at Costco. Hope this helps!
My pantry is made up of wood baskets/shelves that slide out. I can’t put anything in them that raises the items or they will block the shelves from sliding. Any tips for those?
Hi, Donna! Try a canned goods storage system…I love these -> Canned good storage