5 Easy Tips To Organize A Small Pantry

One of my January goals I set for myself at the beginning of the month was to organize the kitchen pantry. We have a small pantry that is more of a cabinet instead of a walk-in and in the entire time that weve lived in our house, this is one area that we never put much thought into organizing. You can imagine after 3 years that it was in a pretty bad state of disarray and I was starting to get anxiety just opening the pantry door!

Reorganizing the pantry was honestly so much easier than I thought and only took a couple hours on a weekend afternoon. Im really happy with how it turned out and wanted to share a few helpful tips that I incorporated along the way!

But first, I love a good before/after so here we go:

BEFORE

the before

Ok, seeing this before shot definitely makes me cringe. While there were a few half-hearted attempts to sort and organize a few random items here and there, the pantry as a whole was pretty much complete chaos. There were initial attempts to have a place for everything but it quickly degenerated into cramming items in wherever they would fit!

AFTER

and after!

Ah, some breathing room! So nice to see everything neatly put away.

TIP 1: Take Everything Out

First things first, take out everything. If youre like me, youll probably find cans of food that expired 2 years ago tucked away in a corner. Toss out anything thats too old to eat and donate food that you know you wont eat before it goes bad. I had almost an entire trash bag full of items that fit this category and in some cases, it was a good reminder for what I had available the next time I cooked!

Once the shelves are clear, be sure to give everything a good wipe down itll feel like youre starting with a fresh clean slate!

TIP 2: Invest In Storage Solutions

my outfit:
Top: Amaryllis Apparel Feline Sweater (XS / size down) (similar)
Bottom: Lululemon Leggings (2 / TTS) (similar, similar)
Shoes: Leopard Star Sneakers(similar splurge, under $100)
Hair: Graduated Pearl Headaband

One of the most important aspects of having an organized pantry is having everything set out where you can easily see what you have. My kids and I are big fans of granola cereal (we love to top our Greek yogurt with a good spoonful for breakfast about 3x a week! ) so I wanted to make sure that we had all our different granola varieties well-organized and also easily accessible for the kids!

After having upgraded my kitchen setup with the latest MacKenzie-Childs Royal Check print, I knew I wanted to incorporate that same theme somehow in my pantry. I picked up these clear glass canisters in the bigger size and they were the perfect option for storing (and even displaying if we wanted to!) our granola. The airtight seal meant that everything stayed fresh while the lid was still easy enough for my kids to remove so they could still be self-sufficient in the mornings. I did pick up these clear scoops to add to each canister as well!

SHOP MACKENZIE-CHILDS PANTRY STORAGE

As for other containers, I picked up a 10-piece set of OXO Pop Containers as I wanted a storage solution that was airtight yet still be easy enough for my kids to handle. The pop push button detail has actually turned out to be so much fun for my kids and I just love how these containers are both space-efficient as well as very aesthetically pleasing!

SHOP OXO POP CONTAINERS

TIP 3: UTILIZE DOOR STORAGE

Given that we have a small pantry cabinet, taking advantage of the door when it comes to storing smaller commonly-used items is key. I especially love our pantry wall rack for providing a place for our various spices as well as vitamins / supplements that I reach for everyday!

SHOP DOOR WALL RACKS

TIP 4: TURN LABELS TO FACE OUTWARD

Now that items are no longer in random boxes and shoved every which way into the pantry, I make it a point to turn the items so that their labels face outward. It makes for an easy way to quickly glance at the pantry to take inventory of whats available. Theres no more rummaging through the shelves (and potentially creating a mess!) when labels for each item are turned to face outwards!

TIP 5: LEAVE ROOM TO GROW

Top: Amaryllis Apparel Feline Sweater (XS / size down) (similar)
Bottom: Lululemon Leggings (2 / TTS) (similar, similar)
Shoes: Leopard Star Sneakers(similar splurge, under $100)
Hair: Graduated Pearl Headaband

My goal when reorganizing a space is always to make changes such that theyre sustainable. Never do I want to spend time cleaning out a space only to find it back in a state of disaster a few weeks later. For me, Ive found that if I intentionally leave a bit of extra space on each shelf, then it leaves some room for additional items when they make our way into the pantry and things dont instantly get placed into random spaces. I do keep a few extra empty containers around too just so that I can also have storage solutions available as different items come and go from our pantry.

So far our pantry has been able to stay in nearly the same state of organization for the past 3 weeks and its been such a success! No longer do I have anxiety opening the pantry and its even motivated me to cook a few new recipes as Ive discovered different spices and ingredients that I had stored away.

Are you doing any cleaning / organizing this time of year?