How to Make the Best Pantry Ever
Today, we’re all about how to make the best pantry ever! When you look at your pantry, do you instantly feel frustrated because it’s unorganized? If everything is all over the place, you’re probably wondering how to make it look and work its best.
While it will involve deep cleaning and excellent organizational skills, you can get your pantry to look its best in one day. You’ll need to use the right products and take the proper steps to get everything in order.
Once you create the best pantry ever in your kitchen, you’ll love looking at it and making frequent visits to acquire items you need. Most importantly, you’ll have no problem finding what you want and need. I want to share my tips and would love to hear yours. It’s all about cooking from scratch, right?
A properly created and maintained pantry will help every person in the kitchen cook from scratch. Items are easier to find, and you’ll have less waste. In case you missed this post, How to Stock Your Pantry
Some of My Favorite Pantry Items
- 18-Inch Lazy Susans
- 12-Inch Lazy Susans
- Double Stackable 12-Inch Lazy Susans
- 16-Inch Single Lazy Susans
- OXO Containers
- 8-Quart Rubbermaid Containers and 8-Quart Rubbermaid Lids
How to Make the Best Pantry Ever
Go Through Your Spices
Start going through the spices in your pantry to see what you need and don’t need. You may find some practically empty bottles. If there’s hardly anything left in some of the bottles, consider throwing them out because they take up unnecessary space in your pantry and the contents may not be as fresh as you’d like.
Another issue is ensuring all the spices still have valid “best used by” dates. Recipes seldom turn out the way you’d like if the ingredients, including spices, aren’t relatively fresh and flavorful. That’s why we include the spices in the first place.
If possible, try to get containers for the spices. If you have the same container for everything, you can easily keep them together and organized instead of worrying about some containers taking up way too much space in the pantry.
Of course, the best way to keep the spices organized when using the same containers is to add easy-to-see and read labels. After all, you wouldn’t want to mistake paprika for ground cinnamon or anything else like that.
Get a Lazy Susan for Spices or Other Items
Consider getting a lazy Susan for your spices. This convenient piece of equipment can hold many spice containers at once, and you can rotate it at your convenience to grab what you need.
So, instead of rummaging through several containers, move the device from one side to the next to see all the spices and then grab what you need. Note that it helps with efficiency to place the containers facing out so you can read the product label. Just put it back the way you found it; the next time it’s needed, you can find it easily.
Many types of lazy susans are available, so you should be able to find one that works for you. Most importantly, you can find several options for other pantry items, such as assorted canned goods, pasta sauce, cooking oils, etc.
Consider Using Small Plastic Baskets or Buckets
Check the Dollar Tree or any other dollar store for small plastic organizational baskets. These baskets are often available in different colors, including white, gray, and black.
You can choose a color that goes with your pantry’s designs. Matching the colors of your kitchen and any decorations hanging on the wall adds a fun and efficient treatment to your pantry and, if done right, the whole kitchen. I store my excess food storage in these baskets from Walmart on some rolling shelves. Here are some of my salsa jars.
The baskets are convenient because they allow you to keep different but similar items together in one spot, such as bags of muffins, pretzels, and other tasty treats.
In addition, your children will know where to go when they want to grab a quick snack in the pantry, making these baskets even more convenient.
I have heard you can get 5-gallon buckets relatively cheap at bakeries as they empty flour and oil containers. You may want to try Two-Gallon Buckets with 2-gallon Gamma Lids for your pantry. My philosophy has always been to BUY RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.
Get Food Storage Containers with Labels
Invest in suitable food storage containers with the labels you’ve attached. These labels will be useful when looking in the pantry and trying to find something specific, such as flour, pasta, beans, or other ingredients you’d typically use to prepare different meals.
There are a few advantages of using food storage containers, such as:
- Keep your food fresher for extended periods. You can expect them to last longer when you’re not leaving ingredients in bags or open containers. The proper airtight containers will keep all kinds of foods fresh and protected from dirt, dust, rodents, and insects! You’ll feel much better about your food when you know you’re storing it in spacious containers that protect it.
- They’re easy to organize. It’s easy to manage and stack the food storage containers to save some space. That extra space is beneficial because you don’t know when you’ll need it the most. Stacking the food storage containers on top of one another can keep your items from looking unorganized.
You can easily find food storage containers with labels in stores and online. Many people buy these containers on Amazon.com! If you’d like to get them as soon as possible so that you can work on fixing the pantry and making it look its best, Amazon is an excellent choice because you might get the containers delivered the same day!
8-Quart Rubbermaid Containers
I store so many things in these 8-Quart Rubbermaid Containers with 8-Quart Rubbermaid Lids for pasta, cereal (Mark’s cereal), quinoa, rice, and anything else you want to keep fresh and protected from unwanted pests. I’ve always suggested to my readers to buy RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. Mice and cockroaches can’t penetrate these commercial-grade containers. I used to live in the desert, where there were all kinds of critters, and containers like these made pest control in the pantry much easier.
Get Rid of Bulky Boxes and Bags
Go through the items in your pantry and remove the bulky boxes and bags. You may have random boxes of expired food. Be sure to toss them in the trash. If you have boxes of stuff you’re not using, you can ask a neighbor if they’d like it.
If you have unopened boxes of items you don’t plan to use, you can donate them to the less fortunate. It’s a great way to clear out your pantry space while doing something nice for others. If you have bags with clips to keep them sealed, consider pouring the contents into food storage containers that you can label to quickly identify what you need.
Make the Best Pantry with These Easy Steps
Use these easy steps to make the best pantry ever. If your pantry is unorganized, messy, and downright cluttered, it’s time to change. You might not look forward to opening the pantry because you know it’s hard to find anything you need, particularly if you’re hurrying to prepare a meal or bake some cookies.
Plan to devote one day to making some significant changes. In that case, you can make some serious progress and drastically improve how your pantry looks and works to make your kitchen the most efficient possible.
What is a Pantry?
A pantry is a room or closet in your home, usually close to the kitchen, designed to store various things like canned food, packaged mixes, ingredients used to bake or prepare meals, etc.
What is the Purpose of a Pantry?
Technically, a pantry could be a room to store more than food-related items. It could be used to store drinks, glasses and other dishes, tablecloths, things to clean your home, small appliances, cooking utensils, and any other items you generally want close at hand for easy use.
What is the difference between a Pantry and a Kitchen?
Generally speaking, the kitchen is a room or area used to prepare and eat meals. It may contain space to store pots and pans, dishes, utensils, and other food-related items. A sink is an expected feature. The kitchen usually includes appliances like a refrigerator, stove, microwave, dishwasher, coffee maker, etc. It can also include a table and chairs, an island, and cabinets for storage.
As mentioned above, the pantry is a separate space for storage rather than food preparation.
Should My Pantry be Ventilated?
Some people feel the pantry should have ventilation to keep the contents at the desired room temperature. My experience has been that unless your home is subject to high humidity, the items in the pantry should be ok, particularly if items are stored in sealed containers. The pantry is usually dark and not subject to direct sunlight.
Must-Have Items for a Stocked Pantry:
- Baking Items: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar, honey, etc.
- Canned Goods, anything YOUR family will eat, including veggies, fruits, and canned meats.
- Beans, Grains, and Legumes.
- Your favorite oils. That could include vegetable oils an coconut oil.
- Vinegar, every type that YOU use.
- Most popular spices YOU use.
- Broths and Soups.
- Healthy Snacks.
- Dog/Cat Food and treats.
- Chocolate.
- The food you dehydrated.
- The food you canned or pressure canned.
Final Word
You may need to buy a few essential items, such as a lazy Susan, and various food storage containers in different sizes to store different ingredients and packages. However, these purchases are worth evaluating, considering how good your pantry will look, how fresh things will stay, and how easily you’ll find whatever you need. In the comments section below, let me know what pantry items you feel make a difference in your home. May God Bless this world, Linda
I’m an overly organized person by nature. This was a no brainer to me to organize my pantry. After watching all the episodes of The Home Edit, I went into hyper drive and spent a small fortune on clear containers. I didn’t bother with labels because I could see what was in them. I did organize by type and put the most used items at my eye level. I’m short! I still need a step stool to get to the top shelf…where the snack foods are at. I find my pantry is constantly evolving, depending on the season, etc. I simply could not function with a messy pantry…or anything. You should see my fabric closet!
Hi Robbie, yes you need a step stool for those snacks ASAP! LOL! I love hearing you are so organized. When I used to sew a lot, I had 4 daughters and 8 granddaughters I had the fabric in bins that were labeled for color or whatever. Life is so good when things are organized! Linda
I would love the idea of a fabric closet for my very talented sister. I have a pillow and comfy throws closet to hold my wide assortment of seasonal favorites
Hi Linda, I just wanted to let you know that these are some great ideas about building your pantry. Thanks for this information. Still working to get my pantry built, order shelves online the end of the month and then . . . I’m going to town.
Hi Pamela, there is something about being organized in life, a pantry, a closet, stuff for taxes, first aid supplies, oh my, the list is long! I can’t wait to hear about your pantry when you get it done. Linda
I sent an email back to you but it didn’t go through. So, I’m writing to you again. As soon as I get the shelves ordered and in the closet, I’ll take pics and try and send them to you. My cupboards are so full that I’m having to put things on the table because there’s not much room. You’re welcome!
Hi Pamela, I will send you my phone number so you can text them to me. I can’t wait to see the shelving! Linda
I got your message, by accident. You sent your email to the wrong address. It’s: @gmail.com, not @google.com. Send it to me again. I forget that I have to contact you this way. We’ll get it sooner rather than later. TTYL
Hi Pamela, I just tried it again, Linda
Linda, we are blessed with a large, walk-in pantry as well as two large pantry cabinets, but keeping them organized so things are easy to rotate and find is a chore. Why didn’t I think of Lazy Susans? Duh.
I do use a variety of plastic buckets to store mylar packaged, O2 absorbered flour, rice, beans and other dry goods. They work beautifully, but I will definitely be adding several of the 12″ and 18″ Lazy Susans. Thanks for the tip.
Hi Ray, oh, I’m so glad you like the lazy susan idea! I need them in this house more than ever before because I do not have a large walk-in pantry. That would be a blessing for sure! Linda
Linda,
One further note. Food banks have become quite picky in the goods they will accept, so don’t plan on donating any items that are past their “best by” dates. You and I both know those dates were established by marketing types and have little if anything to do with food safety, but Food banks won’t accept them–they say because of potential liability issues. Isn’t it lovely to live in a litigious society?
Hi Ray, here in Utah they will not take expired food, some people say they do, but they have asked not to donate expired food. So, I never donate expired food. These people need the food, it’s quite sad! Linda
Linda, not just sad–it’s stupid.
Hi Ray, yes, you are right, they need the food. Linda
We have two pantry closets. One outfitted for dry goods, boxes and cereals with Tupperware, one for cans and jars…..all lined up like little soldiers. We have a corner lazysusan for baking items and a separate pull out narrow cabinet with three shelves for spices and condiments. I find the completeness and organization very comforting.
Hi Chris, there is nothing better than being organized, in every area of our lives. I love Tupperware, and I love the idea of items lined up like soldiers! Life is good when we can see what we have and what we need. LOVE IT! Linda
Linda
I know you are talking about the pantry but over this past weekend I looked in my crisper where I
have condiment packets and it was a mess so I took them all out and took containers that would fit in my
crisper drawer and separated out all of my condiments. I have one for taco sauce, one for catsup, one for
duck sauce then a bigger one for odds and ends like soy sauce or honey. I also used another crisper to separate
all my BBQ sauce packets. I have showed some of my friends and they LOVED the idea. I used the plastic
containers that thin sliced meat comes in, they are the right size.
Hi June, oh my gosh, you are totally organized! I have never used duck sauce, that sounds fancy! I love hearing you have one for taco sauce, that;s my favorite! Great comment, Linda
Linda that’s even better. You do have my number, don’t you? Let me know.
Hi Pamela, I do not have your cell number, I just sent you an email. Linda
I thought you had a chart of items for storage that could be used to keep track of items and expiration dates. Now when I need it I can’t find it. Would you mind giving me that link again?
Hi Susan, is it this one???? https://www.foodstoragemoms.com/what-do-i-have/
YES! Thank you. Saved to my computer now so I don’t lose it.
Hi Susan, oh yay!! I’m glad that was the one you needed!!! Linda
We turned our 3rd bedroom into a pantry – it’s now a mini grocery store! LOL. Have 7 sturdy metal shelving units, one heavy wood unit and 3 plastic units. And lots of stacked buckets. I use a lot of baskets on the shelving units – makes it so much easier to rotate the stock! And labels everywhere for hubbie and grandson- they have a hard time finding what’s right in front of them!!
I also have lots of onions- in panty hose- hanging from some of the shelves. 🙂
Hi Beth, oh I LOVE LOVE LOVE your comment! You are inspiration to all of us. The labels, oh yeah I make labels on everything. LOL! Mark has to look for the labels to find stuff. And it works! I like your onion hanging in panty hose, great idea! The third bedroom is your pantry/mini grocery store, I LOVE this! Life is good when you are prepared! Good job! Linda
Linda, you’ve seen my pantry from the pictures I’ve sent. It’s not nearly as neat as it once was and it’s crowded. However! I can find anything in it, almost. My tallest shelves have overstock/big items like those ceral boxes from Costco. I have sections for everything that don’t change so I haven’t labeled anything. My husband doesn’t cook, hardly ever goes in there so there’s no reason to label anything. I have the clear iDesign containers to hold most of my stuff. It helps to be able to pull them out to rotate items and to contain items together. Looks better, too. They used to make little clear hanging containers to go on the front of the bigger ones which I’ve used for really small items and snack packages. I made one mistake when we expanded/built this pantry. The “right” shorter side holds all my baking goods, snacks, etc. and it’s too deep. Things do get lost in the back or I forget they’re there. If I hadn’t already had a big space for my big appliances, they could have gone there. Oh well, live and learn. The best thing I ever did was get those iDesign containers. I’ve watched the Home Edit and how they unpack EVERYTHING from their original cotainers to put them in other containers! all with pretty labels…that you can BUY from them, no less. Why? It just seems an unnecessary waste of money and time and effort. There’s no reason you can’t leave the food in their containers (w/the needed information!) if you have the space. Sure it looks pretty for TV but not that practical! Organization is the key! I have a separate “small” pantry with pull out drawers for all my canned goods, too, along with a shallow drawer with separation for herbal teas and packaged mixes. The whole area is really well organized. I love it!
HI Robbie, I watched a few minutes of that Home Edit and I’m an organize freak and it was overwhelming for me. LOL! You would have to have thousands of dollars to trade out everything. Just start with the best containers that work for YOU and YOU know where everything is. This has been my hardest job downsizing to 1000 square feet. The family/builder didn’t listen or ask me about the 9 foot wall 17 feet long wall pantry. I wanted 24 inches deep and they did only 16 inches deep. This build was very very frustrating. But it is what it is and we will make it work. I will send you some pictures, my friend. I need to talk to you anyway. Linda