Pantry Organization Reveal: Creating a Functional and Stylish Space
As we all know, quarantine hobbies have become a popular trend, and one of the most sought-after activities is pantry organization. With the desire to create a functional and stylish space, we embarked on a journey to organize our farmhouse pantry. In this article, we will reveal the entire process, including the design, container selection, and implementation of our pantry organization system.
Designing the Pantry
When designing the pantry, we aimed to create a space that was both functional and aesthetically pleasing. We built a large, walk-in pantry with specific zones to store our stockpile, decanted items, and heavy goods. The pantry was designed to have certain zones to store our stockpile, including a place for canned goods, baking supplies, snacks, and chip bags.
Choosing the Right Containers
The containers you choose for your pantry organization project are crucial to creating a space that you will stick with for the long haul. We did extensive research on various container options before building the pantry. We chose containers before building the pantry, which allowed us to build the shelves to perfectly fit those specific containers. We reused some containers from our old pantry, but we also purchased new ones to ensure a cohesive look.
For our pantry organization, we like clear containers that allow us to see what we have and how much of it we have. Some people prefer to use baskets or bins to add a decorative touch, but clear containers are our preference. We have used baskets for pantry organization in the past, but we found that we didn’t use what was in them because we couldn’t quickly see what we needed to buy.
The containers we chose include a combination of OXO Pop Containers, World Market Glass Jars, iDesign Linus clear pantry bins, The Home Edit risers & bins, a Target turntable, and elfa cabinet drawers. These containers are all uniform in design, which creates a cohesive look in the pantry. Each of these bins serves a different purpose in a different zone, and we will explain their specific uses later in the article.
The High Traffic Zone
The first two shelves above the countertop are our “high-traffic zone”. These shelves contain the items that we reach for over and over again each day. We made this shelf 14″ tall to fit the large glass jars from World Market that hold granola bars, popcorn packages, and candy. We also keep the best cereal containers here, some pantry bins with Carnation breakfast pouches and oatmeal, and the Goldfish because we keep them in the extra tall OXO bin.
The next shelf up is 10″ tall and keeps the rest of our daily items. These include snack crackers, almonds, cookies, croutons, as well as some other cooking staples like rice & dry beans. We have an expandable canned good riser here for canned goods that we may only have one or two of a particular type.
The Turntable
In the corner, we have a turntable from Target to hold all of our open jars of things like syrup, peanut butter, and cookie butter. Turntables are ideal for corners in your pantry, as they help keep items easily accessible. We love this one because it has rubber on it to grip the bottles.
The Middle Shelf
The 10″ middle shelf stores two kinds of things: baking supplies and soup. For the baking side, we have an OXO container for each type of item. Since the OXO containers are not as deep as the shelves, we have some extra space. If we have an extra of something or leftover that couldn’t quite fit in the container when we decanted it, we keep it behind that container.
We have a mix of older OXO Pop containers that we’ve had for years, but we also purchased some of the newly redesigned OXO Pop canisters. The new containers have some features that the old ones didn’t have. Our favorite new feature of the Pop containers is the little knob on the underside of the lid. You can use this button to keep OXO Pop scoops or even a Brown Sugar keeper.
Labeling the Containers
We use a Sharpie Paint Pen to label our Pop Containers. You could also use cute labels if you don’t like your handwriting.
The Stockpile Shelves
The two upper-most shelves contain our stockpile items and are 9″ tall each. These are the backups of everything below. We keep condiments on the top shelf since that shelf is shorter with the 45-degree ceiling.
The Bottom Shelves
The bottom shelves of the pantry were built like cabinets, so they can hold much heavier items. The corner cabinet is a weird shape and has a lot of hard to reach space in the corner, so we use this mostly for bulky and heavy overflow stockpile. We keep larger backup cereal boxes as well as a couple of produce baskets to separate onions & potatoes.
The Canned Goods Cabinet
The middle cabinet is for our stockpiled canned goods. These are the items that we have a lot of and go through constantly. We keep the most popular ones, such as canned corn & green beans, cream of cooking soups, rotel, tomato sauce, and tuna.
The Elfa Drawers
The bottom right contains our Elfa drawers to hold our individually packaged snacks and chip bags. These get a ton of use, and we’re so happy we chose to install them! The Elfa drawer dividers help us organize and keep double or triple the items in each drawer.
The Countertop
We try not to keep too much on the countertop, because it is a really great workspace to pour our cereal or make snacks. We keep our fruit bowl, a cookie jar, some cookbooks, a lamp that we leave on ALL THE TIME, a bread box, and our toaster. We love having the toaster in here and not in the kitchen where we have to look at it all the time.
The Appliance Tower
We used one Ikea Sektion Tall Pantry Cabinet plus a 20″ Sektion wall cabinet to make up our Appliance Tower. We store all of our small appliances in this space. Seriously. All of them. The only small appliances in our kitchen are the coffee maker and the mixer, which sit on the countertops.
The Hook Rack
We bought budget-friendly farmhouse hooks to build a hook rack in the Laundry Room. We had one hook left over that we used for aprons in here for a while. But since the room is 10′ tall and we are 5′ tall, we needed a step stool. The step stool needed to hang on the wall so it was out of the way.
Final Pantry Organization Thoughts
We’re super happy with the way this pantry organization project has turned out! We really, really love being able to store all of our items in one place with space to grow. Having the appliances visible in the pantry is a total game changer.
Tips for Saving on Containers
We don’t really have a total budget number on our pantry organization containers, because we’ve collected them over the years. Some we’ve had for almost 10 years! We’ve also bought them at HomeGoods, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, and The Container Store.
The Barn Door
We get asked a lot about the Barn Door. Barn doors are pretty easy to make, but by this point, we were tired of DIY and just wanted something ready made. We found this barn door from Build at a great price! The barn door kit, floor guide, and handle that matches our hardware we bought on Amazon.
We hope this pantry organization post helps you with a path to organizing your own pantry. During this time of National Emergency, it has been such a relief to us to be able to control something by organizing our home. It’s taken some of the stress and uncertainty away and given us back a bit of our sanity.
What was the main goal of the pantry organization project?
The main goal was to create a functional and stylish space for organizing pantry items.
How were the pantry zones designed?
The pantry was divided into specific zones for stockpile items, decanted items, and heavy goods, including high-traffic items, baking supplies, soup, canned goods, snacks, and stockpile backups.
Why were clear containers chosen over baskets?
Clear containers were chosen because they allow for easy visibility of items and quantities, whereas baskets were found to be less practical for quick access.
What are the benefits of having a turntable in the pantry?
A turntable makes items in jars, such as syrup, peanut butter, and cookie butter, easily accessible and helps save space in the pantry.
Where are baking supplies and soup stored?
Baking supplies and soup are stored on the middle shelf using OXO containers, with any extra items placed behind the containers.
Which items are stored on the stockpile shelves?
The stockpile shelves store backup items that are commonly restocked or are excess stock, such as condiments.
What kind of items are kept in the bottom cabinets?
The bottom cabinets are used for heavy and bulky items, such as larger backup cereal boxes, produce baskets for onions and potatoes, and other heavy stockpile items.
What types of containers were used to organize snacks and chip bags?
Elfa drawers with dividers were used to organize individually packaged snacks and chip bags, allowing for efficient storage.
What is the purpose of the appliance tower?
The appliance tower is used to store all small appliances, freeing up counter space in the kitchen.
How was the barn door for the pantry installed?
The barn door was purchased as a kit from Build and installed using materials found on Amazon, providing a functional and aesthetic addition to the pantry setup.
What are some budget-friendly ways to save on containers?
Containers were sourced from various stores over the years, including HomeGoods, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, and The Container Store, without a strict budget.
