Today we’re talking pantry organization! If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you may have seen my post on our pantry. On my Instagram Stories, I went a little more in depth on my grocery shopping, etc. You can check it out in the little circle under my bio labeled “Organizing.”
Our pantry was a hot mess from our kitchen remodel and I hadn’t taken the time to get it back to working condition. I spent about 30 minutes one night this week pulling everything out that wasn’t in the right spot and getting it back to its home.
More and more, I’m all about easy, simple solutions that help make our lives run more smoothly. I can tend to over complicate systems and organization and I just don’t have the time {or the energy, frankly} anymore to keep up with having everything lined up, in matching pretty containers and beautiful hand lettered labels. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE organizing that way, but we are in a season in our lives where that just doesn’t always work great. And if I did all that right now, it would literally be undone in about 45 seconds, and then I’d be all in a tizzy because my organized system was all just thrown out the window, and I want to spend my energy elsewhere.
{As a side note, it’s taken a long time for me to be ok with, and to figure out, simple solutions, routines, and systems that work for me and my family. I used to think that I was totally missing the mark, failing at my “system” and wondering why I just couldn’t figure out this whole “homemaking” thing when it would get all messed up super quickly by kiddos or it just wasn’t working for me to keep up. In the last year or so, especially, I have really tried hard to find the pain points in my home-making skills and figure out simple, easy routines that just get the job done. Fine tuning it all so that it works for you takes time. Don’t beat yourself up if it’s not working for you on the first go-around. Pick one system that isn’t working great and just focus on working on that until you have gotten a good routine down that’s EASY and SIMPLE!}
Wow, I totally went off on a tangent there, but I feel like it’s worth saying :)
Anyway, back to pantry organization!
We’ve got two cabinets that have pull out drawers that we use as our pantry.
So here’s how it’s organized…
I keep things grouped by like items. On this side, it’s Baking, Breakfast Goods, Snacks, Lunch Boxes, and Extras. I keep the snacks and breakfast items in a drawer the kids can easily reach. Sometimes I totally regret this because they are constantly in and out of it, but as they get older, it works. {I’ve heard of pantry locks if you need an extra layer of protection!}
On the right side, we’ve got Canned Goods, Oils and Spices, Bread Goods, Rice, Pasta, and Potatoes, and then extras down below.
Up top, we keep some of the goodies! It takes my kids a little extra effort to get the stool and climb up to grab some of these, and by that time, I’ve caught them!
We had some random white buckets/bins that I have used to corral bigger items, like lunch boxes on one side and potatoes and onions on the other side.
I’d like to point out here that this is not the best way to organize spices! At the very least, I need to label the tops of these guys because I always pull out a ton of them before I find the one I need!
I used to have a ton of the OXO clear plastic containers, but found that they just were a bit too over complicated for me. However, there are some containers that are must haves in my pantry. These cereal containers are a must. {I linked two different kinds-the one I use and one that came in a pack of two for the same price as one.} My kids rip open the box of cereal so you can never close it back up and usually at the same time, the rip open the bag of cereal. These cereal containers hold a “family size” box of cereal and I can easily see when we are running low.
I actually just added this little blue guy to the pantry during my re-organization. I had some random things that were too few to go into a large basket, but I didn’t want just floating around the pantry drawer. Chances are you have some “container” around your house already that you could use.
For a long time, I have used baking tins for my oils and honey. They keep all those messy, sticky items from messing up your shelves or drawers.
Here are those white bins again. At the end of the week, the lunch boxes all go here until it’s time to fill them up again.
And the bins I have a ridiculously embarrassing amount of…These are great for pantries, fridges and freezers if you have enough room, crafts, etc. They are really easy to grab off shelves with that handle.
I was at the Dollar Tree and they had this whole wall full of bins and baskets!!! A great inexpensive solution to keep you organized.
So that’s it for the pantry! Remember, the most important thing is that however you choose to organize your pantry, it’s EASY to MAINTAIN and you know what you have. A simple solution to a busy life!
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