Organize Your Pantry With These Easy Steps

If there is one area in your kitchen that can cause the most pain, the kitchen pantry would be at the top!  It does not matter how big or how small your pantry is, a mess is a mess, and when you don’t have a system in place it can cause more headache than you might even realize….

I am not here though to talk about the negative, I want to tell you all the positive things you will experience with an organized pantry. Here a just a few…

• When your pantry is organized your risk of discovering that canned good lurking in the back of your cupboard from 1992 is a lot less likely. Yikes! That was embarrassing!
• When your pantry is organized you are also a lot less likely to double up on items you don’t need, but didn’t realize you had. Before my pantry was organized I don’t know how many times I bought an item thinking I needed it, only to realize I had six more stashed in random places throughout my kitchen! Talk about frustrating, not to mention a complete waste of money!
• When your pantry is organized, you can easily visualize what you do and do not need for the week/month. I don’t know about you, but we mostly cook and eat the same handful of things, with a little bit of variation here and there. But because my pantry is organized, and everything is labeled, I can easily look and see what we need, jot it down, and run to the store! So simple!
• Last but not least, having your pantry clean, organized, and labeled allows every member of your family the opportunity to help and chip in. When we get home from the grocery store all of my kids can easily help me put things away, there is no question about where everything goes, because everything has a home!  This also works on the flip side, no more kids at your feet wondering where you put the fruit roll ups?  When everything has a label and a home, there is no more guesswork!

Well I hope I have convinced you why you should organize your pantry! And if I still have you interested, here are the steps you need to take to get it done….

One thing you might learn about me, and the way I organize is that I tend to work in zones, especially when it comes to the kitchen! What I mean by zones is, I like to group “like” things together, I put all of my food in one place, (that is my food zone.) All of my pots and pans in one place, ( that is another zone.) All of my tupperware containers and glass storage dishes in another place, (that is another zone.)  I think you get the point!

This works well for me because it not only helps me to assess what I have from each zone, but it helps my kitchen to flow better because all like things are in one spot and I am not running all over the place!

Ok so lets get started….

UNORGANIZE TO REORGANIZE

The first step in pantry organization is to empty the shelves. (It will be worth it, I promise) Toss anything expired, donate what you don’t need, and sort the rest by type. By pulling everything out of the pantry, you can evaluate what you have, which will determine how you configure your storage. Plus, when you eliminate items, you’ll free up more space in your pantry.

CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN

The next step is to take a little bit of time and wipe down your shelves, cupboards, and any bins or baskets you might have. This step might not be that fun, but I believe it is absolutely necessary if you want to be truly satisfied at the end. It is a little step that makes a BIG difference!

EVALUATE YOUR SPACE

Next you need to evaluate your space and your needs. Maybe you have a giant pantry that houses more than just food, maybe your pantry is smaller, and you can only fit the bare necessities? Either way, you need to evaluate what will work better for you and your specific needs! This is not a one size fits all! Everyone’s space is different!

GO SHOPPING

You might already have bins and baskets laying around, but if you don’t I would highly recommend you get some. You can buy them super cheap at the dollar store or walmart. I bought mine at Target (See below for what I bought.)  I love them because they come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, they can be easily wiped down, and they were pretty cheap! You can buy a pack of 3 for less than $10.00!

PUT IT ALL AWAY 

Once you are home from your bin shopping extravaganza, now comes the fun part of putting it all away! This might take some time, you might arrange and then rearrange, and that is ok! The end goal is to make it work for you, and make it be something you and your family both like, and can stick with!

LABEL

Last but not least, once you have everything in place, you need to label it! This is also crucial in my opinion because if you don’t, it is so easy for you or your family to “forget” where said item goes, and just throw it on the shelf, before you know it all your hard work has been destroyed! Having a label takes out the guesswork but is also a polite reminder whether or not something belongs there!

So after all that, I thought I would show you what works for us! Your space might be a little different and that is ok, but this might give you some ideas and motivation to get the job done!

Here is our pantry….

We have four pull out drawers, and each drawer is organized into a zone.

The top drawer holds four baskets, one for fruits, one for veggies, one for potatoes, and one for bread.

The second drawer holds all of our cereal and snacks. I tend to buy our snacks in bulk at Costco, but first I take them out of their boxes and put them in the plastic containers. This not only looks better, but also allows the kids to easily see and grab what they need.

Here is a pic of the first two drawers…

The third drawer I use to hold all of our pasta, rice, soups, and canned goods.

The fourth drawer I use to hold all of our broths, and any extra sauces or condiments.

The baskets are really helpful to contain all of the loose or small items that would easily get lost in the shuffle. Once you have figured out where you want them to go, you just need to add your label and you are done! I got mine on Amazon, they came in bulk for fairly cheap.

That’s pretty much it! Obviously this may look a little different for you, and what you need! Your pantry and your food may be different, but the general concept and the steps to get there are the same!