a very organized pantry + 10 tips for organizing your own.

Hello friends! For my birthday this year (it was a few weeks ago), all I wanted was some organizing bins for the pantry, and the dedicated time to finally tackle that project once and for all.

I’ve been meaning to create some semblance of organization in there since we moved in (3 years ago!), but it just never happened. UNTIL NOW.

So I’m going to show you the jumbled before, and the glorious after, and share 10 tips for tackling your own pantry, if yours is a disaster like mine was.

Slight disclaimer: I don’t think the “after” photos convey just how much better it feels when you walk in there. I never quite realized how much stress it caused me until that stress factor was eliminated. Whew!

So here is the chaotic before:

Just look at all those cereal boxes! Half of them were stale/expired. 🤦🏻‍♀️

We had 5 2-liter soft drinks that were so old that they’d lost their fizz. We’ve had them leftover from several parties through the years and since we don’t drink them, they went into the pantry to metaphorically rot. Oh and don’t get me started on our medication bin (that large red one above the Crock Pot). I would say about 75% of everything in there was EXPIRED.

As you can see, we’re blessed with a large pantry. BLESSED, I TELL YOU. I do not take that for granted. It is fantastic. BUT, as with most things, there’s a downside, and that is, we had the room to just collect CRAP.

Sorry for all the CAPS LOCK, but this pantry situation had gotten under my skin for far too long.

So here’s one last look at the before…

…and the after!

Oh my gosh I cannot even describe how happy this makes me! It’s finally organized in the way I’ve envisioned for all these years.

Here’s my first tip if you’re struggling to get motivated to tackle a project like this!

1. Put the task on your calendar.

If you know you want to tackle a project, from organizing the pantry to cleaning out the garage, to installing some peel-and-stick wallpaper (coming soon! 😉), putting it on your calendar holds you accountable to getting.it.done. I’ve decided that I’m going to tackle one organizing/clean-out project per month and I’ve put it in the “notes” section on the monthly view of my planner. That way when I’m scheduling our weekends or my to-dos, it’s over there giving me the side-eye until I choose a date to put it on!

Here’s a look when you first walk in, and what you see when you’re just walking by. (We don’t have a door on the pantry, although there are plans to get a door installed eventually).

white bins (multiple sizes available)

wide stackable bins // narrow stackable bins

I chose inexpensive plain white bins from The Container Store. I didn’t want to commit to a color, for fear that it would look dated in a couple years, and I really like how the white bins blend into the white shelving and keep everything looking neat and tidy. Baskets would be great too, if you have wire shelves! They tend to scratch up our melamine ones, so I stuck to plastic bins.

2. Grab some new organizing supplies – bins, jars, etc.!

There’s nothing like having some new “things” to put your “things” in! Really, it’s great motivation! To get your new pretties in there, you have to make room, which means you might as well clean out, and before you know it, you’re done! Just be sure to measure your shelves and space before buying things to fill them.

can organizer

It’s good practice to go through your canned goods regularly. I don’t know about y’all, but sometimes I pick up the wrong thing, or we just never get around to eating something that I bought. So those items, if not expired!, can get donated. Yay for more room! These can organizers I picked up from Amazon are SO GREAT.

3. Take everything out.

Trust me on this! Just go ahead and take everything OUT and wipe down the shelves so you can start with a clean slate. Yes, the rest of your kitchen might be a disaster, but it’s worth it in the end. It makes you really focus on the things that you’re putting back in, and maybe you won’t go to the effort of putting back that random thing in the “maybe” pile and decide to just get rid of it.

4. Be realistic about what you need.

Do you need 10 cake stands and 6 casserole dishes? Probably not. Think through your life and purge accordingly!

5. Relocate things that have nothing to do with the kitchen.

Can you put the lightbulbs in the utility room? Or the medicine under the bathroom sink? Where does it make the most sense for you to keep your things? MOVE THEM THERE!

We have several small appliances that we need to store in here, but I tucked them all into the corner because they’re not things I use on a daily basis. I think they look so cute lined up on the shelves. 🙂

gray baskets

We have so many plates/napkins/cups for parties that they were taking over the upper shelves. I purged several sets, and the rest went into these gray baskets on the top shelf on this side. I don’t access them monthly (or even bi-monthly!), so it made the most sense for those to be up out of the way.

6. Adjustable shelves or shelf risers are your friend – USE THE VERTICAL SPACE!

I love that we have adjustable shelves in here, but if you don’t, buy some shelf risers! They’re usually little wire shelves with legs that allow you to stack things on a tall shelf, without toppling everything when you try to get something. The key here being to use all the space you’ve got, vertical, horizontal, depth, etc.!

I was able to put these big bulky appliances in here because I could move the shelves. But I also have a little short shelf on the other side, specifically sized for loaves of bread (since you can’t exactly stack anything on top of those). Game-changer, I tell ya!

Previously, I had our most-used items scattered through all the shelves. When I was thinking through the new layout, I put the girls’ snacks down at their level, the things we reach for daily on the first column when you walk in, and all the dinner prep things together. It seems like such a simple, logical thing, but having like items together really saves time and makes a lot of sense.

7. Group items by who is using them and how often they’re being used.

Kids’ help yourself items go on the bottom shelves, oft-used items at eye level (bread, dinner-making essentials), and lesser used items up at the top (party supplies).

chalkboard labels // glass jars

8. Create a system that everyone can use.

Don’t make it so complicated that your husband can’t find his granola bars. Or put your kids’ snacks in a box that they can’t open. It also doesn’t hurt to just walk the family through the new system. 🙂 Make it foolproof and easy so that everyone will stick with it.

One of my favorite things about this new arrangement is that I now have a bin for the potatoes and onions (and any other produce that doesn’t go in the fridge). Before they would just sit on a random shelf, wherever I could find the room, but not anymore, they go in this cute bin marked “produce.”

9. Consider adding a trash can if space allows.

Single biggest game-changer in our newly organized pantry? A TRASH CAN. Previously, empty boxes would end up on the floor, next to the door, for us to take to the kitchen trash when we remembered. Spoiler: we never remembered. So by having a trash can right where we need it, those items can go right in there, and the bonus is that we have more kitchen trash space! Less time spent taking out the trash is a win in my book!

Also, the Velveeta has its own shelf. I don’t necessarily recommend dedicating a whole shelf to Velveeta, but do whatever works for you. 😉

I saw this next tip on Christina’s Adventures Instagram and I thought it was SO smart, so I’m sharing it here!

10. If you don’t have an overhead light, add a wireless puck light!

Having some sort of light source in the pantry (even if it’s a small closet!) can make all the difference in how easily you can find things. There are tons of options on Amazon but this one comes with a motion sensor (so it’ll come on when you open the door!) and is a set of 3 for $11!

I’m so excited that I finally have this task checked off my list.

Here’s my list so far for the rest of 2019: