31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 10 (Pantry) | From Overwhelmed to Organized: 31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 10 (Pantry)

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 10 (Pantry)



Welcome to Day Ten of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  I'm so glad you've joined me.  Throughout this series I'll be sharing organizing ideas that I've found around the web that I love and that will help you on your journey from overwhelmed to organized.  You'll find a complete list of all the posts in the 31 Days of Organizing Tips tab above, or at the end of this post.

Today's tip is about organizing your pantry.  There are a LOT of posts and ideas with tips on how to organize your pantry.  I don't want to "rewrite the book" as they say :)  So I'll give you a few ideas and point you in the direction of other posts with amazing photos and inspiration.


Here's how I organized my pantry

1.  Keep like items grouped together (if you haven't read Day 5's post on this you can do that now - it's particularly important in the pantry!).  Baskets and bins are a big help with this (I use clear plastic shoe boxes).  This way when you need an item,  you won't have to go searching through all the shelves trying to find it.  It also helps you know how much you have in stock of particular items.  That way you won't run out of anything or have so much of something that it expires before you use it.  This saves you time and money!

2.  Keep items you use most often in a place you can easily access them and put less used items on higher shelves.  Again this saves you time.

3.  Use clear containers to store cereals, snacks, and baking ingredients.  This also helps you be more aware of what you have in your pantry and when you're getting low.  It also gives you more space because you don't have different sized boxes and packages on your pantry shelves.  It gives your pantry a less overwhelming and more organized feel as well because you're looking at uniform and nice-looking containers instead of many different colours and logos on all the packages.   Plus you can add some pretty labels :)

4.  Use organizing products such as lazy susans, shelf risers, and sliding racks to make it easier to access items at the back of your pantry.  That way you won't forget what you have back there and you'll maximize your use of space.

5.  Hang "shoe organizers" or racks on the back of your pantry door (if you have one).  You can use them for a variety of pantry items and use that otherwise wasted space.

Not sure what I mean?  Here are some photos (with links to blog posts) to inspire you!  Note:  please pin from the original source for all these pictures :)

My corner market (AKA my pantry)

Over the door organizer for the pantry

Organizing a walk-in pantry

Pantry Organization

Dollar store pantry makeover

I could show you a lot more pictures of these, but really, after awhile I just get envious of all the functional and pretty things people have done in their pantries :)

Whatever size your pantry is (walk-in, built-in, small closet, upper cupboard, or even a few shelves), you can organize it to make it easier on yourself.  Saving time and money by having an organized pantry means you can spend that time and money on other things that are more fun!


Here are some video tips on how I organized my pantry:


Pantry Organizing Video Tips



For Day Ten, spend some time organizing your pantry.  If you don't have a lot of time then tackle just a shelf or two and finish the rest at another time.  It doesn't have to take a long time!  You also don't need to spend a lot of money buying baskets or organizing products.  Shop around your home for containers that you aren't using and put them to work in your pantry.  Repurpose shoe boxes or plastic produce containers.  Then save up for or look for sales on some of the products that will give you the most organizational bang for your buck!

Tomorrow we'll continue looking at tips for organizing various spaces in your home.

And just a reminder that as the series progresses, I'll be sharing tips for various organizing challenges.  Feel free to leave a comment with any particular areas you'd like me to cover.  I look forward to going through this series with you and hearing your tips too!

How did you do with making your own labels yesterday?  What shape is your pantry it?  What part of your pantry do you find the most difficult to keep organized?  What's the best organizing tip you've implemented?

Have a great day and happy organizing!




Here are all the posts in the series:








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