Pantry Organization

[Immadismom]

I finally got bored enough to spend my day organizing and cleaning out the pantry. I’m curious...is your pantry neat and organized, with matching containers and baskets? Or, a mish mosh of stuff stacked up in there? Or, something in between?

Mine, currently, is in between. I’m striving to get to the orderly, matching container look. However, it appears this is going to cost me a small fortune to get there. I need about 6 - 8 containers, and would prefer specific sizes for the items I’m using them for, and I want them to be somewhat coordinated With what I already have. I also need about 4 - 5 more baskets. Who knew this was going to be so hard to pull off? Pinterest makes it look so easy!

 

[pryncess527]

Something in between, its a work in progress.

i did get rubbermaid containers for all my various flours, etc. And borrowed a label maker from the library to label tgrm neatly. Tge uniformity of that shelf makes me so happy!

keeping the spices & snacks organized is another matter

 

[RamblingMad]

I was able to source flour locally from a mill. I picked up some OXO containers for flour since I bought 10 pounds worth. I do a quick organization of my pantry every time I come home from grocery shopping, so I organize it about once every other week.

I find myself doing minor organizing as I work each day usually between meetings or when I'm running IT processes that take over an hour.

 

[MarkLT1]

We have 2 kids, 2 dogs, my wife, and most important for the sake of this question, me in our household. Thus, our pantry is a disaster. I’m very good at putting up shelves and building organization helpers... not so good at using them. About the only thing worse than our pantry is the dreaded tupper-ware/food storage container cabinet. I disappeared and got lost in there for 3-days once.

 

[Meriweather]

Neat and organized......but not matching containers, just whatever I need at for the time.
I love cleaning it out and do it fairly often

 

[a1tinkfans]

Organized, matching containers. Cans lined up..no boxed ( except hard tacos shells) I unbox and prefer containers. They have that tight ring seal with pop ups.
It truly does make for an easier life. One glance, and I know what I’m out of. All the containers are labeled. My family laughs at me. But it works.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Or, something in between?

Sort of something in between. No organized containers (well except for flour & sugar bags). But categories are separated (spices, canned, boxed, cereals, cooking supplies). I took a picture of it after I brought back home all the food stuffs from out of our RV that normally stay there. I was pretty sure we wouldn't be using them on trips, but probably would be at home. There is one container in there for Cheerios, but that's from the RV.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I don't use containers, but I do keep my pantry organized. Top shelf has canned meat & snacks. We normally don't eat a lot of either, but are eating more canned meats now that we're trying to substantially limit our trips to the grocery store. Next shelf has canned vegetables. Again, it's much fuller than usual, because we prefer fresh or frozen vegetables. The vegetables are all stacked by type. (For example, all the beans are in one location, but are separated by type of bean.) Next, is pastas, rice, oatmeal, crackers, etc. Then I have spices, oils, sauces & baking supplies (that I don't put in the fridge). Most of our spices are above the stove, so it's really just overflow for spices waiting to replace the spices we empty.

We have 2 kids, 2 dogs, my wife, and most important for the sake of this question, me in our household. Thus, our pantry is a disaster. I’m very good at putting up shelves and building organization helpers... not so good at using them. About the only thing worse than our pantry is the dreaded tupper-ware/food storage container cabinet. I disappeared and got lost in there for 3-days once.

We have the same food storage problem. I'm too short to put it away & DH isn't the best at organization.

 

[pryncess527]

I swear i spend half my time moving items my family has left onnthe kitchen island the remaining 3 feet to the pantry

 

[OneOftheB's]

My pantry is a hot mess, but I can find anything immediately and know with very little doubt exactly what and how much of everything I have. I have an overflow pantry in the basement for items I buy in bulk or in larger quantity on sale.

 

[QueenIsabella]

In between. I have items grouped--one shelf for baking items, one for canned goods, etc. But, there are 5 of us living here. Everyone's actually really good at putting back, say, the pasta where they found it. But when I have "help" unloading groceries, it becomes a free--for-all in there.

I do have some containers for stuff, that I label. It makes it much easier to find the cornmeal or brown sugar or chocolate chips. I like Lock and Lock because it seals airtight--I have a range of sizes, some that can pour (big for cereal, small for dry goods). I keep one color for the pantry and have a different color for fridge leftovers, then another color for my craft room, etc.

 

[terri01p]

Several months ago I came across a tutorial on youtube of a women organizing her pantry with dollar tree store baskets . It immediately lite a fire under my bum to do the same. I organized all my pantry items into baskets , except can goods , of course. Using bins and plastic canisters from my local dollar tree store. It was so funny, I just came across it, by a fluke , and wham went into action, haha. I love it now being so organized, even bought the labels to label things there as well.

 

[Sandiz08]

Ha! I started this morning, I can’t remember what I saw today that inspired me. I found two bins to put my potatoes and onions in. I have some more bins on the way.

 

[Kittyblue]

I don't do containers and baskets, but it's pretty organized. We went through and inventoried and organized everything at the start of quarantine.

 

[Immadismom]

It sounds like most folks are somewhere in between. I feel much more normal now! Lol. Mine is grouped with like items, but only a handful of containers are in use at the moment. I have about 4 Dollar Tree baskets in there as well, neatly labeled. It’ll be a work in progress for a while yet!

 

[disykat]

Do all of you actually have a pantry? I'm so jealous! That was something on our wish list for this house that we didn't get. I have a set of lower cupboards and a set of upper cupboards we keep our food in. I try to separate by category and keep it organized to maximize storage capacity and keep it organized, but no containers. I do have a stair step rack thing for spices and a container I use to "file" things that come in pouches like tuna and mixes. The other thing we did is added aftermarket metal drawers to the lower cabinet so that we could pull them out and keep track of the stuff in back. You lose some space, but it's totally worth it because you don't lose things.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I have some medium sized baskets that I put my canned goods in, one behind the other. Our pantry is 2ft deep, so I have to double up my items, which makes rotating things by date and figuring out what's missing a bit of a challenge.

Also, Tupperware is great for cupboard storage if you can afford it. Check out the Modular Mates for matching items with varying sizes that will stack.

 

[RamblingMad]

Do all of you actually have a pantry? I'm so jealous! That was something on our wish list for this house that we didn't get. I have a set of lower cupboards and a set of upper cupboards we keep our food in. I try to separate by category and keep it organized to maximize storage capacity and keep it organized, but no containers. I do have a stair step rack thing for spices and a container I use to "file" things that come in pouches like tuna and mixes. The other thing we did is added aftermarket metal drawers to the lower cabinet so that we could pull them out and keep track of the stuff in back. You lose some space, but it's totally worth it because you don't lose things.

It was hard for me to find a house with a pantry.

 

[wenrob]

My oldest DD is a baker and my pantry was a hot mess. What started out as taking care of that turned into my whole kitchen organized into these containers. Flour, sugar, rice, beans, protein powder, bread crumbs, you name it.
https://www.amazon.com/Sistema-Collection-Storage-Containers-9-Piece/dp/B005HNXG1KWe have a bunch of empty space above our pantry shelves so I took all her baking pans, tools etc. and put them in shallow storage bins that could be stood on end effectively doubling my space there.

Also have cereal containers, dog treat container (also use a trash can with pop up lid and scoop for dog food) and things like cocoa, baking powder, sprinkles etc. are in smaller containers. It’s just all so much easier to find and keep in easy reach by being in square/rectangular containers.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

I finally got bored enough to spend my day organizing and cleaning out the pantry. I’m curious...is your pantry neat and organized, with matching containers and baskets? Or, a mish mosh of stuff stacked up in there? Or, something in between?

Mine, currently, is in between. I’m striving to get to the orderly, matching container look. However, it appears this is going to cost me a small fortune to get there. I need about 6 - 8 containers, and would prefer specific sizes for the items I’m using them for, and I want them to be somewhat coordinated With what I already have. I also need about 4 - 5 more baskets. Who knew this was going to be so hard to pull off? Pinterest makes it look so easy!

somewhere between. I have my flours, sugars (white, brown and confectioners), rices, pancake mixes, coffee, iced tea bags, hot tea bags, and cereals in containers. My Penzey spices (jarred) are all in a drawer away from the stove; the bagged Penzey spices are in a wire basket on the cube shelf I have in the kitchen. The remaining spices (salt, peppercorns, regular things like basil and thyme) are in the cupboard by the stove. My foil/parchment paper/etc are on a wire holder on top of the fridge.

All my boxed stuff is on the cube shelf; I open the snacks (granola bars, microwave popcorn bags, etc) and they go into fabric boxes on the cube shelf. The unopened jarred stuff is in a cupboard with the alcohol; the canned goods are in another cupboard.

I also have a wire bakers rack in the kitchen; my pots and pans hang on it, and my small appliances (instant pot, mixer, Kitchenaid, etc) are on the shelves, along with my cast iron skillets and Dutch oven. I use the very top shelf (above the hanging stuff) to store bags of chips, Chex mix, pork rinds, etc. The pot and pan lids are on wire organizers on the bakers rack shelf as well.

I had to get the cube shelf and bakers rack, because there is no pantry in the new apartment (the old house had a huge one) and limited cupboards (actually more than the old place), and I needed a place to store stuff. Both of those, the kitchen table and the deep freeze all sit in the 'dining area' of the kitchen. LOL My table has a small cubby, and I store all my platters in there, and on the table's shelf, I keep my griddle and my small food storage containers (you know, the kind for leftovers; they are in a big plastic tub, so they stay clean).