Hi everyone! You may remember from my Paralysis By Perfectionism post, the lovely picture of my kitchen pantry closet. To say the least, it was a mess! Well, after a lot of hard work, it’s not a mess anymore! Today, I’m going to show you what I did, and share some tips for how to organize a pantry.
First, let me share the beautiful before picture of our kitchen pantry. This picture was not staged – this is what our pantry looked like the day I finally got up the nerve (and energy) to clean it out.
I love being organized, but I’m also an all or nothing type of person. Meaning if I can’t do something really well, then I don’t do it at all. Every time I would open the pantry closet door, I would think – I need to get this closet cleaned out. Then I would close the door again, and it never happened. I needed to be in the mood, and have the time to get the pantry organized the way I wanted it.
You can see that there is no rhyme or reason to what’s on each shelf. There are cleaning products next to Kleenex, which is next to food. It was a mess. Every time I would get groceries, things just got shoved anywhere I could find space on a shelf.
The thing is, I was buying more groceries than I needed because I couldn’t find anything in the closet.
Now I can open the pantry door, and know exactly what groceries I already have plenty of, and what I need to purchase.
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HOW TO ORGANIZE A PANTRY
*At the end of this post is a source list for all of the organizing products I used to organize our pantry.
So, let me share what I did to organize our pantry.
The first thing I did was to take everything out of the closet. This felt so good to do! I had so much in there that I didn’t remember having. I threw out some outdated things, and I moved all of the cleaning products to my new laundry room cabinets.
Our pantry was still painted with the builder’s paint from almost 19 years ago when our house was built. It was in pretty bad shape. So, while the pantry was empty, it was the perfect time to paint the walls the same green as our laundry room, which is right across the hall from the pantry. I love how the green walls turned out!
I also painted the shelves and applied a polycrylic finish coat to protect them.
Next, it was time to put everything back in the closet. But, before I did that, I tried to figure out what was the best way to organize the food that we normally store in the pantry.
The only organizing type item that I had from before were the multi-level shelves that you see in the left top corner. They’re great for storing jars and cans in a way that is easy to see each item.
I decided to buy some containers that would help me to organize the pantry, and make it easier to see at a glance what food I already had. I found these great Good Grips POP containers. They’re clear, so I can see what and how much is in each container, and they’re also airtight.
I did a short video showing how the POP containers work –
I did buy two other organizing items to help organize our pantry.
I bought a few small white plastic baskets that can hold packaged items like oatmeal packets or bags of potato chips. They’re also great for storing some messier items like a bottle of vegetable oil karo syrup. They’re made out of plastic, so they are easy to clean if there are any spills.
The other item I bought was an adjustable shelf for canned items. Now I can easily stack my canned items, and use up more of the vertical space in the pantry.
So, after getting all of my containers, and filling them, I put everything back on the shelves.
I tried to group similar items so that they were easy to find. For instance, I put all of the breakfast items together, all of the pasta, rice and sauces for meals together. It works for us, and of course, you can group your items however it makes sense to you.
The before and after – what a difference!
I hope you’ve enjoyed these tips for how to organize a pantry! Do you have a pantry or closet that need organizing? Hopefully yours is not in as bad of shape as mine was!
Here’s what we changed in the kitchen (and the posts with further details):
How To Paint Cabinets
Soffit
Painted Cabinets
Painted Cabinets Update
Cabinet Knobs
Pantry
Microwave Cabinet
Countertops
Backsplash
Stools
Peninsula
Roman Shade Valance
Hardwood Floors
Painted Trim
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Organizing A Small Laundry Room
I’m joining these parties!
Ooh it looks so gorgeous and organized, Jann! Fantastic job!!
~Abby =)
Thanks Abby!
Looks lovely! What’s a “gif”?
Thanks Debbie! The gif in this post is the kind of slideshow that shows the shelves being stocked.
Just like the before, I tend to “stuff” no matter what it is. I have plenty of shelves, but they are so deep that I can never see what’s on the back. Even tho I have organized before, it doesn’t take too long before they are back to the same old mess! 🙂
Shelor, it is hard when the shelves are deep. Ours are too. I like this arrangement because I see instantly what food I need to buy, and what I already have.
It is very organized and pretty – but can it be maintained? My pantry is a large wall of shelves in my laundry room. And I have much, much more food than you ended up with. Cans, boxes, jars of various things and ingredients for specific recipes. It isn’t realistic to take everything out of their boxes and put into the pretty plastic containers. Do you have bags of pretzels or chips? (Those are my enemy). So what happens when you go grocery shopping? Where will you put the new food? I love the look of your clean pantry – why oh why can’t I ever get mine to look so nice?!
Gretchen – I have baskets for the chips. You can see them on the left side of the pantry. When I see that pasta, or cereal is getting low then I buy more and put it in the containers. I also have lots of jars and cans on the adjustable shelves and on the tiered shelves.
Looks so neat and easy to find everything. I have a tendency to get products out of the boxes as soon as possible and put them in glass or plastic containers. The only problem is that my husband can’t find anything but I really think it’s a man thing because he tends to only look at the front shelf at eye level.
Thanks Patty! Ha! My husband tends to have that syndrome too!
I, too, suffer from Paralysis By Perfectionism. At present, I have an unorganized food pantry, linen closet and sewing room. Thank goodness, all three areas have doors! However, today, because of your wonderful, resourceful post, I am actually tackling my food pantry this afternoon!
Alas, the moon and the stars must be perfectly aligned! Thank you, for providing the inspiration and impetus I needed to “start.”
Cami, I’m so glad this post provided the jump start you needed to get started on your pantry! Good luck!
I’m a chef, and I can say that this is just as satisfying. I need to go to The Container Store now.
Thanks! Yes, it’s very satisfying to open the pantry door now!
Oh! I am so in love! I will have to go and paint my pantry now, no joke. Ours looks like your before picture. Same size and shape too. It’s like the hidden dirty secret in my house. In fact when company comes over my family knows that pantry door better stay shut. I think my favorite thing about this is the multi level shelf. Cans. Crazy Cans.
By the way, love the gif and video 🙂
LOL! The hidden dirty secret…no kidding, that’s what our pantry was too. Good luck! I think you’ll love the pantry painted.
Wow, I love the pop of color inside and just can’t get over how neat everything looks. Our pantry is no where near as wide as yours and has the open, wire-style shelving, so I’m wondering just how I’d be able to recreate this in our home. You’ve given me something to ponder today!
Thanks Lisa! You probably wouldn’t be able to use the adjustable shelves with your wire-style shelving (skinny legs), but I think everything else could work. Good luck!
It looks so much more organized. Great job! When I first moved into my house I organized our pantry, but after four years it has gotten a little bit out of control. I especially love all the containers and shelves that you used. I definitely need to incorporate that into my pantry.
Thanks Celina! I’m hoping the containers will help us to stay organized.
Thanks for sharing the before picture 🙂 I love what you did with the pantry. Good Grips is one of my favorite kitchen good companies. Their products are so nice. I also really like the paint – bright and cheery. My pantry is actually pretty organized. Don’t talk to me about papers though lol
Thanks Sheila! Yeah, the before picture says it all!
Dh and I have been debating what to use for flour storage. We have square containers with openings that can only fit a 1/2 cup measuring cup. So frustrating! I like the look of the modular plastic containers.
I think the larger square shaped containers would work great for flour.
I have a few of those POP containers and love them. I find one problem with organizing is having so many different sizes and shapes of containers and containers that don’t stack. Awesome job and I love your gif. Great idea.
Thanks Ava!
this is just the inspiration I need! I even have those pop containers, they’re really great! The tall, narrow ones are great because they don’t take up a lot of shelf space and store a lot– great suggestion. And that green, I love that green!!
Thanks Kelly! I’m glad you like the green. It’s beccoming one of my favorite colors!
Hi
Great job – it’s very rewarding and nice to know someone else is the same way when it comes to reorganizing and cleaning. The only thing I would suggest is to flip the shelves over as it will make the warping bend the other way. I did that on old shelving and it’s not perfect but helps to keep it from getting worse. You have inspired me to do my pantry but it is all pull out drawers so a bit of rethinking so nothing falls as I pull them out.
Thanks Kate!
Wow, love this! You did such a great job! And the pop containers are the best, aren’t they? There is definitely a big difference in the before and after photos. I love the video you added at the end, placing all the items back in the pantry. Great job!
Thanks Crystal! Yes, we’re loving the POP containers!
Hi Jann,
Wonderful, can I repost your useful tips to my blog?
Thanks
Thanks. I would appreciate it if you did not use any of my post in your post, only a link back to my post. You can use one picture from the post.
Wow, what an improvement. Pantry envy! Could you share the name of your green color? I love it and I want to use it!
Thanks Christi! It’s Pittsburgh Paint’s Fern Glow.