Did you all clean out your pantries
? Of all the things you can organize, pantry organization, has to be one of the more boring for me. I mean, I still love it, cause I’m an organizational nerd. But there’s only so much beauty that can be added to a pantry, ya know?
For those of us that have small to tinyish pantries (maybe even just some cupboards?) it’s always a task to see how we can use that space to the best of it’s abilities. We’ll take mine as example numero uno, because honestly, I can’t see yours. But as most pantries contain more or less the same thing (food) can we agree that basics are basics?
My pantry comes with 5 shelves and a floor as a bonus. So 6 little surfaces to put our family of 5’s food on. We’ll go from top to bottom.
Shelf # 1 (the highest shelf)
- Cereal – I keep the cereal here because that is always where it has been. A really good reason, I know. But mostly to keep it out of the hands of tiny people. I try and only keep 3 open at a time, 1 for Buddy, 1 for Byrdie, and one for me. Bebe still struggles with a spoon and hasn’t gotten properly to the cereal train. My husband is a weirdo and hates milk, so he doesn’t get a box. Although, for the sake of Truth, we have more than 3 open thanks to the fact that I didn’t use all the Crispy Rice on those Crispy Rice treats we had a few days ago.
- Chips – I also keep chips here. Again, out of reach of tiny hands. I know a lot of families like to keep the snacks at the level of the children, I do not. I tried it once in our fridge. It was a disaster of sorts. It’s harder to tell a kid no, or to have them put it back once it’s in their hands. Tantrams and meltdowns abounded! Dairy was consumed by those banned! And they ate them too quick. So, snacks and highly favored foods get tucked away up high.
- Fruit Snacks – My kids eat a lot of fruit snacks, like 1 a day. So those get to hang with the chips, unless Bebe is on a fruit snack kick, then they have to be hidden away on top of the fridge where he can’t see.
Also, this shelf is so high that I can’t put anything else on it or I can’t reach it. Closed boxes of cereal get tucked away behind the open ones. Same with chips. Do ya’ll have a high shelf? What do you put on yours?
Shelf # 2 (the second highest)
This shelf really ends up being a weird mix of things. This shelf keeps mostly whole ingredients that just need to be put with other ingredients, or on top of.
- Peanut Butter, and other butters (ok, maybe just nuetella).
- Oatmeal packets
- Pancake Mix & Syrup
- Honey
- Hot Chocolate (HoCho!, Little Big Awesome anyone?) Also, brb cause I want some hocho now.
- Seasonings and koolaid and stuff that comes in a packet, they live together in a box.
- Also peanuts. Cause peanuts are yummy. Oh, and raisins.
Shelf #3 (the prepackaged carb shelf, one of my favorite shelves)
- Bread & Bagels & Buns (basically all the bread products)
- Tortillas, the soft kind. This is a major staple at our house.
- Crackers. You know, like my kids would say, “circle crackers” & “sick crackers” and “square crackers” and “graham crackers”.
- I also keep my “mama drank” here. That means pre packaged powder with caffeine in it to add to my water in the mornings.
Shelf #4 (food storage worthy items)
- Canned good. All the canned goods. If it comes in a can, it goes on this shelf. Half of it.
- Pasta. The other half is basically dedicated to pasta noodles. Either straight up or in mac n’ cheese form.
- & other prepackaged all in one dish boxes. Jambalaya rice mix, hamburger helper (if that’s your desire), etc.
- Brownie & Cake & Cookie Mixes all end up here too.
Shelf #5 (where the baking stuff goes)
- Sugar & Brown Suger & Powdered Sugar
- Flour & Self-Rising Flour & Baking Soda
- Rice & Oats
Storage Ideas for Pantry Organization
This shelf is full of see through containers showing all the basic ingredients you might need. I like having the see through containers for this one, it brings block of color to the space without being busy. It’s also good to see how much of each ingredient that I have, so I know when I need to buy more. I bought these years ago, probably around the time I got married. I can’t find them on the Wal-Mart website, where I got them, but I swear I saw them at the store recently. If not, there seems to be some new stuff that looks pretty good.
These “Rubbermaid Modular Food Storage Containers” seem to be what replaced mine. Perfect for pantry organization. There’s sets of smaller ones, and then you can buy some bigger ones for your flour an sugar if needed. This is a good budget friendly option, and should last for years. Also, all the lids are the same size, which makes them easily stackable (how is this not a word??), which is a huge bonus when keeping things organized.
These also look great if you have a bit more money to throw at storage…
And this my friends, has been my best friend the last couple of weeks since it’s purchase for my pantry organization. It really needs a name for how much work it’s put in. I also baptized it in bacon fat this morning, so there’s that. Feel free to do the same if you want that delicious bacon-y smell on it for…. a while? Baby wipes and toothpicks to clean it out after it has been dunked.
And the best part is you can get it at target or office max for around $10. Just be careful when you reload the tape. Mine got all mixed up, but I fixed it right up and continued on.
The Floor aka Shelf #6 (the last one, woo) & (more dry ingredients)
- White Rice & Oats & alternative Flour & Sugar
- Protein Shakes
- And our lunch boxes, which will soon be kept in a white basket from target. We used to keep them on top of the fridge, but with 2 kids in school and my husband taking one to work, we just have too many of them. So I’m getting this white plastic basket at target for $7.99. I chose durability and price over the really cute baskets. Now if anywhere could just have them in stock…
If you’re still with me, congratulations! You’ve almost made it to the end.
A few ending thoughts…
1. We used to keep our plastic bags, you know the ones, in a another plastic bag on the floor shelf (until this week, haha). But Aldi is selling a bag holder this week for $6.99. I’m going to hang it just inside the garage door, which is right by my kitchen. Then I don’t have to look at that ugly mess in my day to day.
2. If I had a bigger pantry, like one of those big walk in kind, I would put all of my random appliances on one of the shelves. Keep them all in a nice pretty row. And easily accessible. And maybe keep the plastic bags in there too if I had wall space.
3. If I had more food, or a bigger pantry, I would buy more baskets to separate food or really, to keep it together. But since mine is so small I really don’t think it’s necessary. Plus, it’s more cost effective this way ;).
And for your sake, I’ll end the pantry organization, and save the spice rack for the next post, your welcome.
So what are you favorite pantry organization tips? Do you have a system you love? Now it’s time to go forth and organize it! Take a day or two and think about how you use your food. And send me pictures of your organized pantries!
PS – Do any of you use the plastic bins for cereal and pasta? I’m not sure if it would be useful for us or not. But I do think they look nice. Plus, I could label them.
PPS – If you want any help on anything specific for you pantry organization, I would be glad to talk and recommend things! This goes for anywhere in your house really.
