Having a pantry is a luxury to me. Keeping the pantry organized can be a daunting task, but being able to easily see and access the food we have keeps us from wasting money buying duplicate items. It saves us time by being able to easily get what we need when we are cooking or running out the door to work, school, or the ball field with the kids to spend the day in the hot sun…(but I digress).
As with any organization project, the first step is to gather ideas for improvement. I looked online, wandered through stores looking at storage items, leafed through magazines and decided on how I wanted the pantry to look and function. I love to cook and bake, so those items had to be stored together. My kids are always hungry, so the items they love to eat had to be easy to reach. I had to have a place for wraps, foils, and food storage bags.
Armed with my ideas for organization, I was ready to prepare for the project. I scoured the house to see what items I had on hand that could be used in the pantry and purchased the rest. I wanted cereal and snacks to be easily accessible and stored neatly together, so I purchased sets of matching clear containers of various sizes. I also purchased an over-the-door shoe holder to corral small items. I had clear plastic shoe boxes, some magazine holders, and a lazy Susan on hand to hold similar items together. (See the end of the post for shopping ideas!)
Purge time! This is the most chaotic part of any organization project. Everything came out of the pantry, and I tried to group similar items together. I found some pretty old things that had been shoved to the back, duplicate items that had been purchased because I couldn’t find the original item, and items I forgot that I had!
With everything out of the pantry, it was time to clean, top to bottom. Motivated by a clean slate, I was finally ready to organize! I put cereals in clear containers and labeled them. Snacks like trail mix, nuts, crackers went into smaller containers with labels. Spices went on the lazy Susan and an expandable tiered shelf. Foils and wraps went in magazine file folders. Food storage bags were put in a clear shoe box, as were tea bags, Kurig K-Cups, pastas, chocolate chips, and candy. I used the over-the-door shoe holder to house granola bars, straws, dried beans, seasoning packets, etc.
The best part came next and I got to restock the pantry! Putting things my kids eat at their level has helped them help themselves. Canned goods were put together. Baking items were grouped. Coffee and teas were put on the same shelf, etc.
Finally I had to train my family on how to put things back in their place, let me know when food items are running low, and how to get things for themselves! As with everything else, the pantry has to be reorganized from time to time, but I am very happy with the results! Make sure you always organize things according to how you actually use them!
Shop these links for ideas and inspiration! Happy organizing! Share your before/after pictures!
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Ann says
I am using many of your organizing ideas in my small pantry. I really like the glass jars and have purchased half gallon Ball jars for the cereal, flour, and sugar. Thanks for the great suggestions!!