5 steps to organize your pantry

Five Steps to an organized pantry  

An organized pantry can lead to a happier and healthier home. If you have a well stocked pantry filled with nutritious snacks but all of your junk food sits near the front, what do you think people will grab first?  Are you trying to spend less on food every week? Having an organized pantry allows you to see exactly what you have so that you do not buy excess food that ends up going to waste. Orgnization is not just about the way a space looks, but how it can transform your lifestyle into one that is more efficient and less stressful. So how do you get there? Read these 5 tips on how to organize your pantry! Let's get started! That's the hardest part! 

How to organize a large pantry, how to organize a deep pantry, how to a organize a tall pantry, how to use glass jars in a pantry, how to use lazy Susan’s in a pantry DFW professional organizer

The Purge


Take everything out! I mean EVERYTHING! Start pulling out food, storage, cleaning goods, pet food anything you store in your pantry needs to come out. As you pull everything out, place similar items together. Start up piles that make sense. For example: all of your sweets, pasta, cans, breakfast, snacks, dinners need to be sperated out. As you look at each item, check for expiration dates and ask yourself: "Do we actually eat this?" Do not get discouraged as you throw out food that went to waste... This is your chance to start over and stop wasting food. After this process, you will cautiously buy food to fill your pantry. Look at every food item as an object that will soon be taking up space. Ask yourself: "is it worth keeping?" Can you assure that it will get used? 


The Containers


Count how many piles of sorted items that you have. Number of piles = number of bins you need to purchase. Time to go shopping! Let me walk you through how I shop for my clients' spaces! 


The Shopping


Choosing the right storage for your space. You need to ask yourself a couple of questions before you go shopping. 

- What is my budget? 

- What is my style? 

- What is my space like? (Deep shelves, tall cabinets, pull out drawers, door space?) 

- Have I measured my space? 

- Am I willing to take items out of their containers when I get home from the store? (this process is called decanting) 

- How much upkeep do I want to do? 


I am going to link some of my favorite items for some of the categories below! 


For a budget conscious pantryο»Ώ


For a deep pantry ο»Ώ

For a tall pantryο»Ώ

For a pantry with unused door space

The Organizing


Once you have your organizing products that fit your needs and your space, start placing them in your totally empty pantry! Make sure you love the layout and the way it will function for you before you put your food back in. Play around! This part is like a puzzle! When your organizing products are in place, ο»Ώstart filling up your containers with your food and pantry items. Think about your daily routines and what you reach for the most. 


 Finishing Touches

 You've purged, sorted, meausred, shopped and organized your space! You are pretty much finished! The last step is to label! The key to keeping everything in its place for a long time is labeling everything! This way whoever goes into your pantry looking for something or trying to put something away will know exactly where it goes, and they become a partner in keeping the pantry exactly the way you organized it! Don't skip this step! Here are some label makers below that I use in my clients sο»Ώpaces!


I hope these tips have helped you! These are great tips for those who prefer to do things themselves. If getting organized is overwhelming for you, look into hiring a professional organizer. Follow my IG to see more of what I do and come along with me to client spaces!


 Happy Organizing,

Katy Beth McGahey



Share by: