Organizing A Pantry — Homebody DIY

When we first looked at this apartment, one of the biggest selling points was the kitchen, how large and bright it was and the fact that it had a full walk in pantry. Not just a cabinet, but a large closet sized pantry with extra prep space and a window. It was full of shelves that went floor to ceiling and I knew that I just had to have this apartment as a result of it. One of the things I wanted to make sure of though, was that if we were going to have this amazing patry, that everything and I meant everything had to be perfectly organized. Everything had to have a spot and things had to look and bright and inviting as the rest of the space.

ORGANIZING SHELVES

In the pantry there are three large shelves that are along the whole left side of the wall. I did a lot of research on how to make these looking aesthetically pleasing as well as organized. I had read that it is important to keep all of your foods pretty much grouped together and so that is what I did.

I started by deciding what I wanted on each shelf and how I wanted to organize it. I knew it wanted the things we grabbed at the most: pasta, sauce and beans on the bottom shelf (being a vegetarian, leads to quite easy pickings). The shelf above I wanted to be our “dry foods” such as: cereal, rice, oats and seeds. I think I have a few taco shells on there as well. The top shelf was dedicated to all things snacks: pretzels, chips, nuts, dried fruit, etc. There were hanging baskets that came with the pantry and we decided to use those for extra bread and some fruit.

Once I had that all decided and I knew that I wanted everything to be in clear containers so I could see them. In the past we have had a snack bin with the bags of snacks just all organized in there and I would never be able to find what I was looking for/ things would totally go missing. I really wanted everything on display. I went on Amazon and got a few plastic containers and well as a few glass containers. Target helped a bunch too with some mason jars as well as baskets for the built in storage. I knew that I wanted to put most pasta, cereal and snacks into the plastic containers and put nuts and dried fruits in the mason jars. All in all it worked out pretty perfectly!

It is nice to know that we can just walk into the pantry and know that everything has a spot and everything is “in its place.”

BUILT INS/ STORAGE SHELVES

Now I know not everyone has built-ins, in their pantry so this can also be the section about the storage shelves. Ours just so happen to be built- ins which is fun. I knew that I wanted them to be 100% dedicated to storage; extra cans that couldn't fit on the shelves, all my baking items, the spice rack, and extra snacks, cereal and pasta. I did not want everything to just be thrown in there because I did not want it to look messy and overwhelming so I ordered a bunch of these Y- weave baskets from Target. They were everything I had hoped for and more. They fit so perfectly side by side on the shelf and it just made for a nice looking storage.

I started by going shelf by shelf. We have a small crock pot that needs to be on display because we do plan to use it quite often and so we put that on the bottom shelf, basically on the prep table. I have seen my parents go through hell to get the crock pot out and I did not want that for us. Working my way up, I wanted my baking items and to be easy and accessible because I am baking so much more these days and it is important to me to have these items close by. Above that, because we have also been cooking so much more, we put our spice rack and then our oils and such. We felt that this shelf was eye level and perfect for easy grab and go. KC had also done a really large shopping trip and so we used the back of this shelf for extra storage which has been great!

Moving up the shelves, we put our “sweet treats” and our reusable bags on the next shelf. We are big sweet eaters so I wanted to have a whole shelf dedicated to it just in case we got more and would totally move the reusable bags! On the top shelf is where we put the rest of the snacks and some extra cereal that we would eventually need. We really do love cereal and have about 4-5 boxes in rotation at all times.

We also have a prep area that has some storage underneath it. The space is not that tall so I used some of the Y weave baskets and put some paper towels under there as well as some kitchen items such as the pasta maker and the mandolin. I also put under there a mason jar full of pens for easy access for when we need to make shopping lists.

Lastly, we placed a rolling cart from Michaels with a topper on it to place our bread basket on top of and some more paper good storage on it. I LOVE a rolling cart and so any excuse to have one is the perfect excuse for me.

Having the pantry set up like this, we feel that we know exactly where everything is, We do not have to label anything or place stickers on certain items, we just know where everything is, which is so important to us!

DECORATING THE PANTRY SPACE

I wanted to keep the actual kitchen space less decorated with wall items and focus more on the rug from RugsUSA.com and plants and keep the brightness of the kitchen. I did add some things to the walls such as an “Ask Me About My Plants” banner, a cork board and two prints that I had made. But other than that I wanted most of the color in the kitchen to come from the organized chaos of our fridge magnets and the main focus to really be the rug and the brightness of the kitchen itself.

That being said, in every other kitchen we have had, it has been very decorated. We have specific “kitchen decor” and I just did not know how to part with it. Enter my idea for a pantry gallery wall! I took all of our prints, paintings, embroideries, etc and arranged them in a way that made the space once again feel super inviting but also very colorful. To be honest, It has become one of my favorite rooms in the house. I just love being in the small space surrounded by so much art and such bright colors. It makes the space feel much more airy and bright. I feel like any other space in your home, you want it to reflect who you are. I am someone who LOVES color in my space so I felt that the pantry had to have this same feel.

To also follow the theme of the rest of the kitchen, I did add a rug to the pantry. It is the Lemon Rug from Threshold at Target. It is super cute and definitely brightens the space even more.

USING THE SPACE

I feel like a pantry is the number one used space in a home, I guess maybe other than the bathroom. People are always in and out of it and it serves as a multi purpose space. So, when you are using the space it is super important to keep it clean. Make sure that you wipe the containers down as often as you can, wipe down the surfaces and swiffer/vacuum the floor often the last thing you want is bugs or rodents in your pantry from it not being kept clean. This is another reason to use plastic containers more than anythings, that way everything can be kept safe from those unwanted pests.

Lastly, just enjoy the space, give it love and attention and show it off as often as you can. Spend time in there, drink your coffee in there in the morning if you have a set up like ours and just be with the space.

If you organize your pantry using these tips please tag #HomebodyMakes and #StayingHomebody