Food Pantry Organization

[Deleted]

Do we have any experts here? This is the current state of my pantry. I just got a wild hair and tried to organize it, but I still feel like it’s a hot mess. I also have all of my spices and overflow baking stuff in a separate cabinet. I also have additional food storage in the basement, but that’s like extras. For example, I keep a few cans of beans in the kitchen pantry, but have another dozen or so in the basement ready to go to replenish.

I’m not opposed to redoing the shelving in here to depths and heights that make more sense, but I’m kind of out of my element. Try as I may, organization like this is out of my wheelhouse. Should I be using more containers to corral stuff? Am I just destined for a disorganized pantry?

[wavepool]

I ordered Slide-a-Shelf and I LOVE them.
www.slideashelf.com/
Then I have baskets and clear plastic containers. I got the baskets at the Dollar Tree. I love the all clear look like Home Edit, but it was going to be so much more expensive. I had already spent enough on the slide a shelves that I decided to see if I could get baskets to work, and they're just fine! I probably have a similar amount of food in my pantry and this has worked great. I corraled the rice packets and things like that in one basket, the drink mix pouches in one basket, transfer the cereal to clear plastic containers.
I did something like this for my baking staples: www.samsclub.com/p/mason-4pc-clear-glass-canisters-pop-top-lids/prod22340253
And then all the other little baking things (I love to bake) are in these things and labeled: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QYMHKT6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (got them on a good lightning deal)
I love the look of an all matching and coordinated pantry, but this price point was more appealing!
If you want to spend the money on the visual appeal, check out thehomeedit or getorganizedwithtracy on Instagram and they have awesome stuff!

[bhnumbers]

no, my pantry blows, but now I know that taco bell sells canned refried beans and I WANT THEM!! lol

[laterz]

I got these for cereal, and I'm a big fan: www.containerstore.com/s?source=form&q=prokeeper

I have OXO Pop containers for baking supplies; if i had to do it again, I might buy the prokeeper instead.

Something like this might give you more space options too: www.containerstore.com/s/elfa/best-selling-solutions/door-wall-racks/elfa-mesh-white-80%22-over-the-door-rack/123d?productId=11010759

[redheadk]

Jan 13, 2021 16:08:35 GMT -5 laterz said:

Something like this might give you more space options too: www.containerstore.com/s/elfa/best-selling-solutions/door-wall-racks/elfa-mesh-white-80%22-over-the-door-rack/123d?productId=11010759

I have this for my most used spices (I cook a lot so I have overflow spices not in the rack, it's ridiculous) with my foil, cling wrap, etc, boxes standing on end in a bottom basket. I love it. I keep my spices in alphabetical order and it helps a lot.

I would do baskets and bins. You might also consider turntables. I like taller baskets for rice/beans, shorter ones for snacks (grab & go), and I keep condiments and sauces/vinegars/etc on turntables. 

For location, think about how often items are used and who is using them. I keep things for DD on lower shelves so I don't have to get them or deal with her climbing the shelves. 

[devonpow]

I’m a big fan of containers for the pantry - it just helps make everything look so much better. We don’t have a true pantry, just three tall side by side cupboards. I separated the 3 cupboards into zones - the first cupboard is for snacks/daily use items (bread, cereals etc), middle for meal prep things (pasta, canned food etc), 3rd for baking supplies. We do have extra storage downstairs for bulk items.

[konapoppy]

Maybe unpopular, but my recommendation is less inventory. Otherwise, it is too easy to waste food that expires/you forget about.

Natalie Bennett has a good YouTube video on reorganizing her pantry though if you are interested.

[sandandsea]

Ours is a disaster at the moment but in general we have sections for things.

In The bottom half the Top row is bread, cans, jars and wraps (we lack drawers)

Wraps are on a holder behind the bread because we don’t use foil or wrap often. Cans and jars on a turntable with overages on the side.

Second shelf is cereals/oatmeal and pastas and sauces

Third shelf is kid snacks - gummies, granola bars, raisins, etc.

Bottom shelf is drinks and overages.

Chips, cookies, snacks and all things DHs junk food lives in the top of the pantry, though now the kids can get in there so it kinda defeats the point.

[Deleted]

Jan 13, 2021 15:28:39 GMT -5 bhnumbers said:

no, my pantry blows, but now I know that taco bell sells canned refried beans and I WANT THEM!! lol

That is the best kind LOL

[Deleted]

Jan 13, 2021 21:13:09 GMT -5 konapoppy said:

Maybe unpopular, but my recommendation is less inventory. Otherwise, it is too easy to waste food that expires/you forget about.

Natalie Bennett has a good YouTube video on reorganizing her pantry though if you are interested.

While good in theory, I don't think that there is much that I can scale back. Maybe the canned goods by a bit, I sometimes buy random items on a whim that then get shoved to the back, but that's also why I'm hoping to become better organized so that I don't forgot about those items, kwim? Otherwise, we are a family of 6 so the stock does get rotated quite frequently. 

[thejackpot]

Jan 14, 2021 8:49:39 GMT -5 @sameoldstory said:

Jan 13, 2021 21:13:09 GMT -5 konapoppy said:

Maybe unpopular, but my recommendation is less inventory. Otherwise, it is too easy to waste food that expires/you forget about.

Natalie Bennett has a good YouTube video on reorganizing her pantry though if you are interested.

While good in theory, I don't think that there is much that I can scale back. Maybe the canned goods by a bit, I sometimes buy random items on a whim that then get shoved to the back, but that's also why I'm hoping to become better organized so that I don't forgot about those items, kwim? Otherwise, we are a family of 6 so the stock does get rotated quite frequently. 

Yeah, my pantry is stocked too but I rarely waste food as we are a family of 5. I cook daily and it's not like I don't know pretty much the gist of what's in there. Sometimes I buy more when I already have stuff but I don't consider that wasteful as it will all get used up.

[aprilsails]

I am big on the IKEA white storage bins.
I have the larger bins for rice, all pastas, bread products, dried lentils and peas, sauce packets/gravy/extra spices.
I have smaller bins for baking supplies, cat treats, etc.

Around the bins I sort by shelf.
One shelf is all condiments and pickles
One shelf is cereal and the toaster
One shelf is canned goods
One shelf is boxed food stuff.
Top shelf is for the things we use once in a blue moon so it is madness up there, but I only have to deal with it occasionally.

[nicolewi]

I can provide no help for you. We have a big pantry and mine still looks pretty much exactly like yours.

ETA: Part of the issue is that I do have a lot of stuff, but I'd rather have what I need than have a clean pantry. I always have back-ups of certain things on hand, like canned beans, tomatoes, spaghetti-type products, mac & Cheese, rice, baking supplies, some other canned goods, sprinkles, cereal, etc. 

I would recommend that if you get canisters, get square ones. I have a mix of round, square, rectangular, etc, and it's kind of a mess b/c they are all different and don't stack or nest well. 

[kitty]

Not an expert but this was my project during my youngest's maternity leave four years ago and I've kept it up pretty well in the intervening years. Mine isn't photogenic but it is very well organized and easy to maintain. Part of the reason it isn't photogenic is because I don't have everything in matching bins like an HGTV show - I have different solutions for different areas/foods so it doesn't look as cohesive but is very functional.

One of the best things I did was getting a shelving rack to hang on the back of the door (ours is a regular sized door but maybe they make narrow ones too?). This added so much easy to grab storage and is where I keep smaller things that would get lost in the pantry shelves, like Good Seasons or taco seasoning packets or extra bottles of vanilla extract. I store most glass here because it is single depth so I don't have to worry about it getting knocked out onto the floor as someone reaches behind to pull out something else since my pantry is very deep. I keep boxes of tea here too.

On the first shelf, I have two large plastic drawers next to one another that take up nearly the entire shelf. The left one holds reusable shopping bags and the right one holds paper goods like paper plates, napkins, and straws. There is a small space to either side where I stuff plastic bags to use again.

On the second shelf, I put two of these for my canned goods: www.amazon.com/DecoBros-Expandable-Cabinet-Organizer-12-5-25/dp/B00OLH0TGI/ref=sr_1_25?dchild=1&keywords=tiered+can+storage&qid=1610643758&sr=8-25

My pantry is deep enough to put them one in front of the other (with an empty small amazon box under the back one to raise it slightly above the last row of the front one). I also put a row of cans in front of the first shelf, so I have 7 rows of "stadium seating" for canned goods.

Next to that I have a drawer www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008EH7YEQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The drawers are the perfect size use for boxes of pasta (with linguine and spaghetti along the side the front to back). I use one drawer for pasta and the other for small bags of rice and dried beans/lentils.

Next to that I keep my crockpot and I hide some emergency canned soup behind the crockpot that I like to have if someone is sick, etc but has too much sodium so I don't want DH and the kids reaching for it all the time.

On the third shelf, I have a lazy susan with oils and vinegars and my flour and sugar canisters. Next to that I have this: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KV5NRHC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which gets filled with kid snacks (I usually put an assortment in loose and discard the cardboard boxes). I have enough clearance above to store packages of soft tortillas or things with similar dimensions.

Next to the snack drawer, I have two of these: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C95YLI0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The bottom one is for snacks that contain nuts (so the kids didn't accidentally grab them as school snacks) and the top one was originally for pouches but has become more miscellaneous as my kids get older and don't do many pouches anymore.

On the fourth shelf, I store my breadmaker and disposable foil pans and plastic platters. In front of that, I store unopened cereal (opened cereal goes in Snapware containers in one of the kitchen cabinets) next to which I have a wire basket which is where the kids' Bentgos and insulated lunch bags live when they are not in use. Finally, I have a shelf expander like this www.amazon.com/ClosetMaid-3456-Large-Shelf-White/dp/B00AES2XB2/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2PC5TBUVB880M&dchild=1&keywords=shelf+expander&qid=1610644587&sprefix=shelf+expa%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-3. On the top, I have a basket with overflow Penzey's spice bags and underneath I keep some small packs of seasoned rice.

On the floor underneath the bottom shelf I store potatoes and onions (not together), extra 5 lb bags of flour/sugar, and the waffle iron. We used to keep our recycling here too but at the beginning of the pandemic we moved it to use more space for food to increase how much shelf stable food we had on hand.

[ssmjlm]

Shelves to at least create a 2nd level

Maybe something on the door for the canned goods?

[sandandsea]

One thing you could do is redo some shelves to Open up the middle and just have a 6 inch shelf around the perimeter of the closet so you can see everything in there.

The people who bought our old house did this to the pantry and it seemed much more open and organized because you could see everything.

[hbomdiggity]

I would probably redo with an Elfa design to get more shelves.

[TBM]

Add some type of drawer/pullout and use bins/containers.

In this house we had pullouts installed by our cabinet guy, but in our old house we had a combination of some that DH made and some off the shelf from a big box store.

I have a lot of Lock n Lock storage containers...a bunch of big ones for stuff like different types of flour and sugars, but I also use them for grouping smaller packages of like items (one for the various pkgs of farro, quinoa, etc., one for the small bags of dried beans, etc.), then I have smaller sizes to further rein things in. I also have some clear trays/bins where I group like items together to keep myself from just shoving things in and making a mess.

[sparty04]

I reorganized my pantry a few years ago with the help of a lot of Dollar Tree baskets. I think it looks good and I can actually find things now. I have the Rubbermaid version of the Oxo containers for baking stuff. Also, a three tiered can holder really helps, and I have a door length rack on the inside of the door for spices and other random things that I don’t want buried

[numbers]

I LOVE organization, especially closets and pantries.

2 big tips for pantries:

1. Decant as much as you can into large clear containers of your choice.



2. Use baskets of your choice to group like items together, e.g. all cans together, all cooking oils together, etc.

[dontlook]

Jan 13, 2021 20:03:01 GMT -5 devonpow said:

I’m a big fan of containers for the pantry - it just helps make everything look so much better. We don’t have a true pantry, just three tall side by side cupboards. I separated the 3 cupboards into zones - the first cupboard is for snacks/daily use items (bread, cereals etc), middle for meal prep things (pasta, canned food etc), 3rd for baking supplies. We do have extra storage downstairs for bulk items.

I love every single thing you show about your home.

I’m no help with pantry organization. I keep saying I’m going to buy containers to organize mine but then I don’t. I feel like I would need to spend like $300 on containers and I just don’t care that much lol.

[devonpow]

Jan 22, 2021 15:33:52 GMT -5 dontlook said:

Jan 13, 2021 20:03:01 GMT -5 devonpow said:

I’m a big fan of containers for the pantry - it just helps make everything look so much better. We don’t have a true pantry, just three tall side by side cupboards. I separated the 3 cupboards into zones - the first cupboard is for snacks/daily use items (bread, cereals etc), middle for meal prep things (pasta, canned food etc), 3rd for baking supplies. We do have extra storage downstairs for bulk items.

I love every single thing you show about your home.

I’m no help with pantry organization. I keep saying I’m going to buy containers to organize mine but then I don’t. I feel like I would need to spend like $300 on containers and I just don’t care that much lol.

that’s such a nice thing to say, thank you!

[dexteroni]

Hi! I'm not usually on here but I came over from your post on ML. I think you have an ok amount of stuff, you just need more surface area to store it on so everything isn't stacked five high. My first recommendation is to add an over the door canned good holder. That will take SO much off your shelves and you'll be able to see everything at a glance.
www.amazon.com/ClosetMaid-1233-Adjustable-77-Inch-18-Inch/dp/B00D8OYUTM?ref_=ast_sto_dp

Then I would sort the boxes, bags, and bottles into categories and store each category in clear or wire bins so you aren't fishing around all the way in the back for one little item. You just pull out the bin, choose your item, slide the bin back in.

Another tip is that I see the big pack of Bounty on the floor. I keep that in the basement and just keep one spare roll in the pantry. When I open that roll, I grab another one the next time I'm in the basement. It saves a lot of space. 

Lastly, I would add light so you can see stuff better. Even if it's a stick on light that you touch to turn on when you need it, that will help a lot. 

[divanerd]

Great ideas here

[Deleted]

Thank you everyone for the tips. It’s not quite done yet, but it’s a million times better than it was. I corralled like items in baskets and bins, rearranged the shelves so they made more sense (put baking items on the top shelf as they’re used the least). I also added the over the door organizer for some of the one off items like drink mixes and peanut butter. I was also able to move over my spice blends from my over flowing spice cabinet and organized that cabinet in to baskets as well. I also added an additional shelf on the top shelf so instead of stuff being stacked, there is stuff below and on the additional shelf. The over the door organizer was only $30 at Wayfair and the bins and baskets are from the Dollar Store and the shelf was around $25 on Amazon. 

In addition to the pantry, I’ve made my way through most of my other cabinets getting them organized and donating unused items. My kitchen is a much calmer place now that it is more organized. I’m not a neat and organized person by nature so I hope that I can keep it this way.