Organize your pantry in one day on the cheap

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A neat, clean and organized pantry for around $100 in supplies done in an evening!  Doesn’t your whole world just feel better when you put things in order?

 

I’m not a perfectionist, and my house is no museum.  But sometimes, enough is enough.  You know?  Over the years my closet kitchen pantry has been a source of frustration for me.

Here was the pattern:

1. Feel frustrated by messy and not-very-user-friendly pantry.
2. Take everything out and clean pantry.
3. Put everything back in.
4. Feel frustrated by clean and not-very-user-friendly pantry.

Organize and Update the Pantry

When I mentioned to my husband that I’d like to re-do the pantry he was totally on board.  Although we weren’t exactly on the same page.

He started talking about moving walls.  Not what I had in mind.

After seeing my way-less-involved plan, however, he was more than thrilled to tackle my project.

The main problem with the existing set up was that it was too deep to be useful.  All but the bottom shelves were 2 shelves deep, making each one 24 inches deep.

I would stash stuff in the back to utilize the space, and then totally forget about it.

 

Lots of stuff.  Not a lot of order.

My first step was to remove the outer shelves all the way up, making what was left far more usable.

Next, with new space available on the sides of the closet, we hung shelves and organizers to make the most of the space.

Pro Tip:  Measure.  Measure.  Measure.  Before you order anything.  Make sure that what you are ordering is the dimensions that you need.  I found several things that looked just right in the image, but after checking the dimensions I knew it would not work for my space.

 

Before and after:

Listen, I know I’m not getting featured in any design magazines here.

I keep my ingredients in their packages instead of pouring them into adorable matchy-matchy containers with labels.

More power to you if that’s your jam, but this is real life for me.  (And speaking of jam…found 9 jars hiding in there.  Nine.)

I put this adjustable 8 shelf rack on one side of the closet and I LOVE it!  It fits perfectly and makes things so easy to see and grab.  I also picked up some plastic bins at the Dollar Store to keep things in order on the shelves.

On the other side of the closet we hung these kitchen wrap organizers for tin foil, plastic wrap and such.

I’m also using one for onions currently, although I’d planned to use it to stash plastic grocery bags.  We’ll call it multi-use.

 

On the floor, I decided to give up my old strategy of “just throw it all in there” and purchased some stacking bins.  I actually could have fit another set, but wanted some floor space for odd-shaped items, like my favorite gigantic popcorn bowl and big foil pans.

You might think that taking out the shelves would leave us with a lot less storage area, but you’d be wrong.  My husband brought up some tables to sort things and we really couldn’t believe how much stuff was in that little closet!  (7 bottles of barbecue sauce…no joke!  I’m telling you, I had no idea what was in the back of those shelves)

After moving or getting rid of things we didn’t need to store there, everything fit back in the closet.  But this time way easier to navigate.  You can actually see everything that’s in there which is pretty helpful in finding what you need.

All in all, I spent a little over $100 and we got it done in an evening.  And more importantly, I smile a little every time I open it.

Next:  the entry closet!

What home projects are you working on?