Pantry Organization
Our pantry is a space that I have never been really excited about. Luckily, it is a great size but unfortunately it is currently not being used to its full potential. It only has three wire shelves that were installed by the builder, leaving much of the bottom space open.
I find this space to be frustrating because the corners of the pantry are really deep and food just seems to disappear in it. In the future, we have plans of removing the wire shelving and installing wood shelving top to bottom in order to better utilize the space. But since we are focusing in other areas of the house, we are putting our pantry wishes on the back burner for now.
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After a few years of living with the wire shevling and no organizational tools, I finally broke down and headed over to the Dollar Tree. I got tons of plastic organizers in the same color in order to keep the look consistent. Below are links to similar products:
Want to know how I transformed my pantry for less than $20?! Keep reading!
Take out everything.
I know, this doesn't sound like fun but believe me that it will pay off in the end!
Clean.
Make sure you take advantage of having an empty pantry to clean everything. I wiped down the shelving liners that I had installed when we first moved in so stuff wouldn't fall through the cracks of the wire shelving. I also vacuumed and steamed the floor.
Organize your food by type.
I actually did this step as I was pulling the food out. I made sections all over my kitchen. This not only helped me see what I have but also helped me decide what bins to use for what food type. For example, my husband likes canned soups so we tend to have quite a few cans of those on hand.
Decide what size bin to use for your different piles.
Below are the piles that I made for our family. This made it easy to help in deciding what size bin I needed for each pile because I could clearly see what we generally have a lot of and other stuff not so much.
- Baby Food
- Coffee
- Tea
- Grains
- Breads
- Chips
- Snacks
- Baking
- Soups
- Vitamins
- Pasta
Label, label, label!
I can't stress this step enough! This is the only way to help others in your family not only find what they are looking for but also help in keeping the pantry organized. It will also help when planning your next grocery trip as you can quickly scan the bins to see what you need to replenish. I used these chalkboard labels I got from Amazon and they are amazing. It comes with chalk pens that can be erased, so if you ever need to re purpose a bin, just erase and write your new label!
Organize.
Begin to put your bins back in your pantry putting the ones that you use the most up front. I placed all my bins up front and put anything that we had extras of in the back of those specific bins.
Sit back and enjoy your view.
I don't know about you but I get super happy just opening the door and seeing everything clean and organized.
Now this isn't my dream pantry and yes, I know we could be utilizing the space a lot better with more shelving. But that will come with time as we finish other projects around the house. For now, I am enjoying my $20 organized pantry and who can complain about that?!
Hope you guys enjoyed this post. Leave me a comment below and let me know some of the things you use to keep your pantry in tip top shape!
