If you’ve got a big family or just like buying in bulk to save money, your pantry is one of the most critical storage areas in your home. Because this space is so important, keeping your pantry organized is a vital task. An organized pantry not only stores more and is easy to access, but it can save you money as well.
An organized pantry keeps all your food items visible and within reach. Therefore, you can keep track of what you have and when it goes bad or expires. A chaotic pantry can see fresh items shoved to the back or can hide things you don’t think you have, causing you to buy more than you need. Investing a little time and money into your pantry can end up saving you more down the road.
To help you out with this, here are some pantry organization ideas to help you keep your kitchen under control.
Some pantry owners forget that the door is part of the pantry, too. It’s a broad and sturdy surface just begging to be used. Depending on what you keep in your pantry, there are a few things you can do to take advantage.
If you store just food in your pantry, consider getting a shoe organizer and draping it over the inside of your pantry door. A door shoe organizer hangs on your door, covers most if not all of the surface area and has a lot of pockets that are perfectly sized for food items that don’t fit into other categories.
Everything you store on the door will be easy to see and reach.
If you keep your kitchen cookware in the pantry, you can still make use of your door. You can add racks for lids so that the pots and pans they fit on are free to be stacked elsewhere in the kitchen. Alternatively, attach stick-on hooks to the inside of your door for hanging large cooking utensils. Tying a zip-tie around the loop on the end of the handle will help it lay flat.
Dry foods that come in cardboard boxes are some of the worst perpetrators of space wasting in your pantry. Bulky boxes not only take up valuable real estate, but they also take up time and money. They don’t keep things fresh and require you to check the labels and expiration dates constantly, but there is a solution.
Invest in some clear, airtight containers made of glass or plastic. Then, empty the contents of cardboard boxes (like cereals, pasta or popcorn) into the receptacles. The sealed containers will keep your foods fresher for longer, and you’ll be able to see exactly what is inside and how much of it remains with just a quick glance. Additionally, if your home suffers from mice problems, you’ll see them a lot less because they won’t be able to chew through the soft cardboard to get at the food.
If you can, try to get taller containers to maximize vertical storage space. Also, you can use dry erase markers on glass containers if you still want to label them or write the expiration date.
As with your door, your pantry is much more than just the shelves. Several spaces might not be utilized to their fullest potential. The space between the door frame and shelves, the floor space under the shelves and even the space in between shelf levels can be used to maximize pantry organization.
For small spaces, like the area between the door frame and shelves, try sink caddies or other lightweight containers. You can attach Velcro strips to keep them in place so you can even take them off when you use them and put them back when you are done. These small containers are perfect for packets, including drink mixes or seasonings.
To make use of the entire shelf, you can use undershelf baskets if you notice that your pantry shelves are too big for your items. On the floor level, a crate on wheels can be a strong and accessible storage option. Never again will you look disappointedly at unused airspace or lose items under your shelves.
If you have a whole wall not being used, a pegboard is a great addition that will put that wall to work. With a pegboard, you can hang pots, pans and other large cookware from hooks to free up room elsewhere in your kitchen. You can even hang wire or metal racks to the pegboard to get even more bang for your buck.
If you’re not careful, the corners of your pantry can become a food Bermuda Triangle. Things often get pushed to the back of this hard-to-reach area and are never seen again. Luckily, your friend Lazy Susan is here, and despite her name, she wants to help.
For those not familiar with the great device, a Lazy Susan is a small circular platform on a spinning mount. Usually, you would see these on dinner tables or kitchen counters holding spices, but they are a useful addition to the pantry as well. They make accessing the corners of your pantry a snap.
Since they spin, you can easily rotate them to see everything you stash in the corners of your pantry without anything getting lost. They come in many different sizes, and some even have multiple levels. These variants are often a good fit for larger shelves. Canned foods, spices, small boxes and bottles will never be forgotten or out of reach again.
One of the quickest and easiest ways to help with pantry organization is to categorize everything inside. Sort everything by type of food (pasta, crackers and cookies, chips, soups, etc.) and then get some open-topped bins or baskets to put them in. Don’t forget to label them, and you can use small chalkboard tags if you plan on reorganizing or repurposing the bins later.
When choosing the type of container for your food groups, try and get clear plastic or wire mesh. Just like with the cardboard box replacement containers, baskets or bins that are see-through will help you get what you need faster.
If you’re interested in picking up high-quality racks, wire shelves and other pantry storage tools for your home, then be sure to call or message Harkraft today! Together, we’ll design a pantry organization system that perfectly meets your needs and preferences.