I wish I had a closet pantry, or better yet, a walk-in pantry. I also wish I had long legs and could relate to those people that say that they forget to eat. I have none of these situations going on under my roof.
Since I don’t forget to eat, I had to figure out how to organize my pantry cabinet. The biggest issue in this type of pantry is the depth. Most of the time I forget what is in the back of the cabinet. My pantry cabinet is beside my refrigerator and I found that most of the shelves were not practical for food storage. They were too deep and I could hardly reach the ones towards the very top (remember the long legs deal?). I want to share with you how I solved both problems in my kitchen.
The first thing I did was find containers that were a perfect fit. I got rid of all our chip bags that kept collecting in the back of the pantry and thus expiring. I did the same for grains.
The second thing I did was add large baskets in the back of the deep cabinet that housed similar items. In this picture you can see that all my canning jars and gadgets are in the white plastic basket towards the very back. Next, I labeled the cabinet at the very bottom with a label that read “Back of cabinet-Canning”. That way I won’t forget what is inside the containers that are towards the back of the cabinet.
Next, I added more shelves. This very narrow shelf was perfect for a pull-out drawer for bread. Next to it, I stacked the kids mac and cheese.
Under the bread is another narrow shelf that has all of our snack bars. I organize them inside a scarf/sock organizer. The one pictured below has the adult snacks and there is one right behind it for the kids. This system has been one of my favorite additions to the pantry.
Above the bread is YET another narrow shelf that we (as in my husband while I watched) added, and I use it for my boys utensils.
And then we get to one of my favorite organizing tools of all time – turntables! I have two turntables in this cabinet: a large one towards the back and a smaller one
in front of it. Since the one in the front is smaller, I can still reach back and access the other condiments. (I linked similar sized turntables).
Now the last shelf is the highest one and it was almost completely inaccessible to me before. I could only reach a few bottles in the very front. I added a turntable and dedicated the shelf to cooking oils. In the back of this cabinet there are extra oils that I use to refill the turntable.
So you know what? Who needs a walk-in pantry when you have limitless turntables and KIND bars? I know…it would still be nice, a girl can dream. In the meantime, I will enjoy this little space and all the practicality it has brought to my family!
xo,
Maria
Other related posts are : Organizing the Kitchen Sink , Pantry Makeover , and Coffee Station Organization
Looks great! I have a pantry with L shaped pantry. It’s not huge, but it works. I use turntables at the corner of the L to make the best use of that depth.
Turntables are so practical! I think they are my favorite organizing tool.
~ Maria
I have those same containers, and I love them! I love how you used the turn tables. I desperately need to that in some of my cabinets. I found you at the iheartorganizing link party. Great to meet you! 🙂
I love turntables and I love iheartorganizing! Great to meet you too Emily!
Could you tell me which scarf/sock organizer you purchased? It looks perfect for my super deep pantry shelves.
Maria,
Thank you so much! I have been struggling with how to organize our pantry for years.
~ Elizabeth