How to Organize your Pantry

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When we moved into our house, we shoved our food in the pantry and there it sat. Disheveled, unorganized and looking sad in the brown space. I knew I could do better, so to help keep one of my New Year’s resolutions of being more organized, I completely redid this space!

before

If you remember from this post, here is what the pantry used to look like-

Not good, right?! I gave the whole space a few coats of white paint and added some wallpaper behind the shelves (you can see more in this post).

how to organize your pantry

Once I had a blank slate to work with, it was time to get to organizing!!!

step 1

Take every single last thing out of your pantry. Clear off those shelves!

step 2 

Create groupings of like items. The categories for my pantry are snacks, baking, cooking, cans, bread and mixes. Physically move your food around until you have similar items together.

step 3

Decide what containers you’re going to use for each item in your pantry. I bought one of these sets of food containers and made a shopping list of what size container everything would fit in. Make sure to choose a container with a little extra room for refills. 

Let me tell you, the hero of this project are the Better Homes & Gardens food flip-tight containers that are available at Walmart. Most everything in my pantry went in one. I love that they are square (so they use space efficiently), super affordable, and they keep your food SO fresh. Plus, if you’re in a humid climate where bugs can be a problem, they’ll keep your food safe and sound. 

I bought a bunch of these containers for this project, but I’ve also had many that I’ve used for years and LOVE! These are the best food containers as far as bang for your buck goes.

For my pancake mix and rice, I cut the directions out of the box and they just sit on top of the canister. If you’re worried about food expiring, put a label on the back with the expiration date.

Side note, using the same container over and over is beautiful to the eye. It is calming when a bunch of packages is chaos. Switching your food to plastic containers will look gorgeous!

*pro tip- leave a little space between each container if you have the space. This gives the feeling of having plenty of space and again creates repetition for the eye.

step 4

Break it up- not everything works in a plastic container. Plus adding in some different containers is interesting and functional. For my potatoes, I put them in a textured basket. I love that basket- it is so pretty! You’d never guess it held potatoes. Plus its affordable (it can be hard to find budget friendly cute baskets).

My bread sits in a cutlery tray. The shelves in my pantry are really narrow. This tray adds some warmth to the pantry and keeps my bread from falling off the shelf all of the time! 🙌🏻

I hung some baskets and they hold paper plates and plastic bags. These baskets can be used in any room- I think they’d be so good in a craft room or a bathroom! Cute ways to organize your stuff and hide it?! Yes, please!

I even added in some pink bowls and a canister with utensils to add some variety. These can easily be moved into my kitchen and be replaced for food containers if I need more space to grow.

All of these are from Better Homes & Gardens at Walmart. There is a good variety in stores, but even more styles and colors online!

step 5

Add a label to each container. Yes, you can see inside, but labeling takes out any guess work. Plus this is another way to create a calm and serene pantry. The repetition of the labels is a beautiful way to add a little of your personality. 

I also labeled the shelves with the category of the food. Yes, it was a little overkill, but I love the touch of the brass label holders and it really helps that everyone in my family knows exactly what to put where.

after

Here’s a video of how the space turned out-

Having everything together and looking pretty makes me soooo happy! Plus I love living with it! My baking items were actually in my lazy Susan cabinet, but it doesn’t turn well so I moved them in here. So not only does the pantry look better, but I am storing MUCH more items! Everything has a spot so its actually really easy to keep organized.

before and after

Ready for some before and afters?! Aka the best part of any makeover?!

Yay for storage that looks pretty and makes your life better!

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