What better day to reorganize the pantry than the day after Christmas? I redid all of the kids toy organization, redid the pantry and then put away Christmas. It was a day and I was exhausted but elated with all of my accomplishments!
I have been getting antsy about my pantry for the last few months. As the holidays approached more and more packages, boxes, bags, etc. began to fill up my pantry. Nothing seemed to fit easily and the whole pantry was getting crowded. Solution - operation redo the pantry.
There were a lot of sales at Fred Meyer/Kroger on their kitchen storage items right after the holiday. The storage containers can be really expensive but I figure if you can find them on somewhat of a sale and you take good care of them, they will last for a really long time. Bottom line, they are worth it.
I bought most of the OXO brand (more expensive) and some of the Snapware (way less expensive) brand. After I was done with my project, I found out Costco has a box of 30 pieces of Snapware for less than $30. If you are in the market for a pantry redo, head over to Costco!
My empty bins just waiting to be put to good use. Plan out what shapes and sizes you are looking for before you go to the store. Think of things your family eats regularly (the staples) and shop for bins that will fit those items.
One of my favorite parts of the redo - my expanding stair step canned food organizer. I love it! We make taco soup once a week in our home. It is one of our absolute favorites. It requires a lot of cans plus we have cans for soup, beans, etc. This makes it so much easier to organize and see what we have.
I bought open baskets to contain like items that didn't fit in a storage container. This bin is filled with all things sweet. There are way more of these sweet items in the house because of the holidays.
Another open basket is filled with paper plates, napkins, utensils, cups ans straws. It is easy to grab the basket and grab exactly what you need.
One of my favorite tips is to group like items together. It makes sense and it makes your life so much easier. I bought two smaller plastic bins with lids to hold baking items. One holds sprinkles, colored sugar and decorative icing and gel.
The other bin holds baking chocolate, chips, Hershey kisses, etc. These items aren't used on a daily basis and it is nice having them contained in a small box. Plus with the lid, they are easily stacked.
The baking bins are stacked to the far right. Next to those are items like brown sugar, powdered sugar and white chocolate chips (we use a lot of those at our house!) in Snapware containers. There are some long plastic open bins that are perfect for holding items that you need access to but that you want contained - boxed cake mixes, marshmallows, jello and cornmeal. And finally to the left is a bin of sauces. The baking items are on the lowest shelf because they aren't used as much as some of the other daily items.
The next shelf up, still fairly low, is the twin shelf. They are just two and require lots of their own plates, bowls, cups, silverware in mini size and some snacks. I have all like items contained in bins. One bin of sippy cups, one of plates and bowls, spoons in one container, forks in another and snacks in even another.
I have had these bins since they were born and this shelf has evolved with them over the last two years. We have switched from all bottles and sippy cups to place settings and utensils. I am sure it will continue to evolve with them. I make sure as soon as we are not using things any longer, we move them out and regroup with the next phase. It helps keep things clutter free makes it easier to navigate saving you time.
I used open baskets to contain items like bag soups, mac n cheese, Mexican rice boxes, etc. The OXO containers on this shelf hold snack items - raisins, crackers, yogurt covered raisins, Ritz crackers and graham crackers. To the far right are four containers with different types of dried pasta.
Once the containers are empty they can be cleaned and either filled with the same item as before or whatever new items you have. I didn't label any of my bins because you can see the contents of each of them and it allows you to change the out at any time.
The top shelf holds the tallest, largest bins with things like cereal, chips and pretzels. Bigger bulk items. I also use a tall bin for saltine crackers.
TA DA! Complete! I am thrilled with the final redo. It is easy for our family to use and saves us time. If you are in the market for a pantry redo, I hope you got some inspiration. If you have any pantry organizing tips, leave a comment. I would love to hear them!
Happy Organizing!
