Top Tips for Pantry Organization

Today I'm sharing my top tips

for organizing your pantry!

First of all, you have to go into your pantry

 and figure out what is working and what is not working.

This is what our pantry looked like BEFORE.

I did a post about it here.

The red bins were not working any more.

Items were being buried at the bottom.

None of our cereal containers matched. 

We had tons of bags and boxes hanging out all over the place.

It was a mess!

Here is what it looks like now.

I categorized our food and decided what bins we needed.

We have spreads, potatoes, chips, drink mixes, granola bars, breakfast and nuts.

These are our most used foods.

They are kept at eye level for ease.

I added smaller, wire bins that I purchased at Walmart.

They are see thru so I can tell what is in each bin.

I labeled each bin with a chalkboard clothespin.

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In the back of each shelf, 

I turned bins upside down and sat another bin

 on top, right side up.

This gives the pantry a little more usable

space to store things on the deep shelves.

It makes the items easier to see as well.

I used plastic 3-drawer storage units on wheels (similar here)

at the bottom of the pantry.

It give some much needed storage in a normally wasted space.

I labeled the drawers so my family can tell what's in them.

One thing that has made my pantry look so much better is 

having matching, labeled containers, instead of cereal and cracker boxes 

that never get closed properly.

I take everything out of the boxes and packages and put them into clear containers.

I purchased these at Ross, for very inexpensive.

I labeled each container with faux chalkboard labels.

I cut black cardstock down to size (about 1.5"x 2.5")

then wrote on them with a chalkboard marker.

I used packing tape to attach the labels to the containers.

I found these bins for larger sized items like spaghetti,

also at Walmart.

On the very stop shelf  (so high up I have to use a step stool) 

I store mason jars and extra paper towels.

I also store serving dishes that I don't use very often.

That high shelf is a good place to tuck away items

 that you don't need daily access to.

The door to the pantry is a perfect place to store

narrow items, like plastic wrap and baggies.

I used a wrap rack (similar here)

for larger items like foil, waxed paper and plastic wrap.

I used another wire shelf unit,

along with clear containers I got from The Container Store,

to corral drink mixes, straws and sandwich bags.

It's kind of silly,

but the container that holds my sandwich bags makes me so happy!

I love not having to dig around in the box to get them out.

With 3 kids that take lunch to school every day,

we go through a ton of baggies,

and this is the perfect way to store them.

To recap, my top tips for Pantry Organization are:

*group like things together

*take items out of the package

*store items in matching containers

*label everything including bins and containers

*add levels to the back to make viewing everything easier

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