HELP!! Pantry Storage or Lack Of.....

I do not have a pantry. I use antiq glass jars to store most food items: the cereal, snacks, treats, baking supplies, etc. These jars fit smoothly (& attractively) along the back of my counters. They're colorful & eye-catching....& I can see, at a glance, what needs to go on the grocery list!

You can pick up reproductions at WalMart & many other stores. It is amazing what a difference this makes in both organizational & recycling efforts. & I love that there's no cardboard or plastic in my storage system!

I have a small pantry as well. I bought nice looking square basket like containers at the container store (with liners) and use them on top of my fridge for things like bags of chips, bread and snacks. The snacks I just take out of boxes and dump in and let the kids pick when they want something. I keep a few small appliances in the top of the pantry but things I don't use all the time I keep in the basement storage area.

I bought tall clear canisters at the dollar store. They hold my sugar, flour, rice, cereal that came in bags. I have a basket that holds all the seasoning packets, random oatmeal packets, kool-aid - anything that is a loose packet. I have another basket that holds everything in bags - bags of pasta, rice, beans. Everything in boxes is grouped together, cans stacked together, all the spices are together. I break down and combine items as much as possible, so I don't have 2 of anything open half empty.

You can purchase little holders that attach to the bottom of a shelf to add more space. They are called Under Shelf Wrap Rack and you can get them at Amazon . com. In fact, you might want to search Amazon for "Pantry" and see what other solutions there are. Ikea is known for selling items that ea lot of use of space. I also see a lot of cool organizational ideas on Pinterest (you can again just search the site for pantry storage). Wow, I just sounded like an internet junky! Good luck!!

Lots of great tips here already! You might want to check out www.theperfectpantry.com and click on the Other People's Pantries tab. Every other week, other people's pantries are featured--it might inspire you! Mine was featured over the summer. I also have a blog where I did a step-by-step post about organizing a pantry. You can find it as www.mealplanningmagic.com and use the search box (on right hand side--scroll down below the ads) and type in "pantry organization". Hope this helps!

I keep mine like a store. All the different items on their own shelf and each item has it's place. Like all normal corn is in one place. If you eat 6 cans of corn per week then you probably need space for 12 cans...if you hardly ever eat corn then you might just need space for one row deep of it.

If you have cereal and everything in there you might want to re-think just what you have stored where. Sometimes it is more practical to keep certain items someplace different. We keep all our dry cereal on top of our free standing pantry. It is easier for the adults to reach up and get what the kids want, they can see through the Rubbermaid containers and know exactly which cereals they want. We also keep stuff like four, barley, pancake mix, etc...in the fridge so we don't get mice or bugs in them.

Some of my friends that have really small pantries have gutted them and put in shelves that they can move to what they need. This is handy because if one person buys stuff in #10 cans they need different spacing than a person who buys stuff in Mylar pouches or small cans.

I would recommend you check out Peggy Layton's book at your local library and after reading it do the check lists of foods you eat. I did this and found some of the stuff that was I was buying all the time was building up and taking up all my space because it was just a habit and we were not using it up.

I have this one and I love it.
http://peggylayton.net/ccp0-prodshow/cookin10.html

She has a degree in Home Ec. and her knowledge is applied. She has been there done that to most mistakes and can help you figure out just how to go about storing stuff more effectively and more to what you actually eat in a week, month, 3 months, 6 months, even up to a year.

My pantry is also tiny and dark.. Our house was built in the 30's and the kitchen is original. I have the cereal all lined up on the top shelf, Cans on the next grouped by what they are, then the next shelf is the baking things like baking soda vanilla, brown sugar. etc.. on the bottom are all of my oils, vinegars...

I spend too much time cooking to try to make it look like a magazine and so I purchased a utility type storage shelf and have it in the kitchen with the the things we use all week.

Also my large Bowls and Pitchers. Then we purchased a glass front antique shelf/ Cabinet and that is where keep my sugar flour,Rice, tea, in Clear glass jars.

My biggest problem is all my spices. I am short and so they are on the lower shelf of my cabinet where normally the plates bowls and cups should go.. I am going to have to go through that shelf soon and start tossing the things I hardly ever use.

I bought a storage tower that is actually suppose to go in the bathroom from target. we put all the kids snacks in there. its a cabinet whith three small drawers. my hubby liked it so much he purchaced another one that is on the other side of the dinnign room. we have an open floor plan which i hate but it works for extra storage space. also putting sliding basket drawers and spice rack storage on the doors frees up some space. you might be able to find shelfs big enough for cans. look up container store for ideas on kitchen storage.

All food does not *need* to be kept in the kitchen/pantry area. You can store non-perishables under beds or behind couches -- just remember what you have and where, and you'll be set.

Mine is organized by item type. One shelf canned, dinnerish items, one with all drink/drink related items, one with foil/kitchen trash bags/lunch sacks/cling wrap items etc. and one with snackish items that the kids can grab and go that are preapproved! :)
It might help if you use bins/baskets to organize too. Just pull it all out and start again...Good luck!

Our pantry is horrible as well.

I try and keep cans organized, veggies together (like corn with corn, pea with peas), fruit together, cooking soups together, beans together, boxed things together, pastas together....

I also try and put new things I buy in the back, and bring the back of the cans and such to the front, so I'm not letting the stuff in the back go to waste.

My home was built in the 60's and the pantry is a tiny little closet. So, we have an old armoir that use to house our tv, and I use that for additional storage for things like baking needs, breakfast items... I have a cheap plastic drawer thing in there that makes it easy.

We have very little cabinet space, but a decent size pantry. it is still over flowing and we have to put some of the stuff out of the reach of our 2.5 yr old. I use another storage peice in our kitchen. It is a hutch. It has cabinet space in the bottom, and the top is shelving units. I store coffee, sugar up there and the bottom I use for bowls plates. We also put a rubbermaid storage 3 compartment drawer for other pantry items, but we moved them thanks to our 2 yr old.

I love hanging 1" x 4" x whatever length shelves in spots. They are perfect for storing cans, spices, boxes etc on a wall area. I had an empty wall in my laundry room between 2 doors and I hung them for floor to ceiling to store food and even can of spray paint!
~A.

Get some great ideas from www.thecontainerstore.com.

Put like things together. Store dry goods in containers you can see through.

I have an expand a shelf unit that I use for canned goods. It give me 3 times the space on one shelf since the unit is tiered.

It's time for you to get your small pantry organized. I have no pantry at all. One set of the cabinets is used to store my cans and glass food storage products. I also have two stainless steel rolling shelving units I got from BJ's. Both are used for food storage. I have XOXO pop up containers which I use for storage. Expensive but extremely functional and pretty. I opted to get the large set and make that work for me instead of individual pieces.

Rubbermaid has some great cereal containers which are divine.

I hope this helps you begin to sort things out and get it better organized.

One thing I've done over the years is to use boxes -- shoe boxes and Velveeta 2-lb. especially -- to contain little items. I've almost always been able to find "throw-away" boxes to organize with so I've only bought a couple of baskets if I needed something different.

The first thing I did was to gently pull out the old shelves and put in new ones that were more appropriately spaced - like from 12 to 14 inches, so there is not so much wasted space above the items.

Before you buy any organizational things go by Big Lots and see if it is there cheaper. I bought wire shelf expanders (double your useable space) for half the price of Lowes and less than Walmart. Do try the dollar store also. I just went there for a white elephant gift and they have a good stock of kitchen items for a dollar. Good luck!

Keep everyone out of it once you go through the shelves and toss old stuff and store like foods in groups on the shelves. Label the shelves like grocery store aisles so everything has a home. Makes putting groceries away a breeze and keeping tabs of what needs to be purchased a snap.

I find I have no problem keeping it neat on my own. It's the hubby and kids that trash it out when they forage for snacks or "help" with the cooking. They tend to not want to put things where they belong or just pile stuff all crazy so we have spills and mishaps that "I" need to clean up. When I enforced the rule they can not go in the pantry...things have stayed clean and organized.

Simple wood crate shelving (7 ft high x 13 " w x 32" l) from the hardware store has been plenty for us. Each shelf was $19. We only needed 4 to get the job done well. They're sturdy, hold a lot of cans, and the shelves are height adjustable. You can find these and other shelf options for small spaces at IKEA. www.ikea.com.

I have a small pantry too. I hung wire shelving on the inside of the door. I also put in some wire shelf doublers and used some baskets.

I am fortunate to have a large pantry. It was actually one way my hubby "sold" me on building this house after i said I would never go through the building process again.

It is about the size of a small nursery, walk in.

I keep it organized much like a grocery store. Everything has its place. Cans, pasta, cereals, spices, etc.

Once a repairman said he was sending his wife to my house to shop for groceries!.. LOL.. I try to keep it well stocked.

The pantry at the first house we built was pitiful.

I don't have a kitchen now, but in the past, I used to store some items, including all of my spices, in the cabinet next to the stove. And I used one of those lazy susans ($10 at Bed Bath Beyond, made of brushed nickle) so that I could easily find each small bottle of spices. I bought some cheaper lazy susans at the grocery store and put my cans on there in the pantry. But also consider down-sizing the amount of food in your pantry. I always kept 2 cans of black beans on hand, one can of chili, one jar of spaghetti sauce, etc. I am NOT like my mother who has probably 100 random cans in her pantry, some of which have been there for years.

Items for my son (snacks, juice boxes) plus my sodas and bottles of wine - I always kept down low in a cabinet - not in the pantry, for easy access for my son, plus free up some room the pantry for our food items.

We used a shelving unit in the garage and kept things like cans, bottles, and toiletries out there.

I also have a very small pantry--just a small, dark closet really. It used to get very crowded, messy and drove me insane as well! I now use different types of baskets (some open with 3 sides, traditional, low, high-depending on what's stored there) purchased from a dollar store or Target. I group like items and label the baskets (ex. "Oils"). I also use lovely glass containers to store some items. My pantry is now perfectly organized, items easily accessible and I am happy!