6 Steps to Organise Your Pantry

There’s so much more to a well-organised pantry than just pretty aesthetics.

Sure, you want it to look great, but the real goal is to create an efficient space where you can always find exactly what you need.

When everything has its place, you’ll save time when cooking, and you’ll find it much easier to keep things tidy and under control.

However, it’s not a task you can tick off in an hour, and it can be overwhelming to know where to start, but with a little preparation, planning, and space optimisation, you’ll be good to go.

Here’s my top tips on how to organise your pantry and create a space you’re proud of.

1.Take everything out

Empty your pantry, throw away any expired or unwanted items, and give the surfaces and walls a good clean.

We’re all guilty of over-shopping when things are buy-one-get-one-free or on sale, but unless it’s a frequently used item, it’s likely to end up shoved to the back of a shelf and forgotten.

So, be ruthless here!

Don’t give precious real estate to stuff you’ll never use, and check for anything that’s expired or spoiled by air exposure.

Hot tip: Don’t complete this step when you’re hungry (you’ll thank me later). Also we have use by date labels so when you decant all your food you can keep track of use by date labels

2.Categorise everything

Categories are your best friend when it comes to organising your pantry.

Now you’ve emptied your pantry and binned the rock-hard sugar and floppy biscuits, it’s time to sort everything into categories.

For example:

• Baking goods, cereals, cans, and jars
• Spices, salt, pepper, and oils
• Packaged food, jars, refills, and larger items.

Group food types and cooking items together to suit your lifestyle and designate an area of the pantry for each group.

Identify the items you most frequently use and cook with, and make sure they’re easy to grab without knocking over a million other things. 

3.Choose your pantry containers

Now you’ve sorted your pantry items into categories and areas, it’s time to choose the perfect containers.

The type and size of containers you choose will depend on the type of item you want to store (loose, packaged, dry, wet, etc.) and the amount you need it to hold.

Use current packaging labels and your supermarket’s website to work out what size container you’ll need for each item.

Check your shelf height and depth to make sure the containers will fit, and be sure to invest in super-airtight containers such as our ever-popular Push Top Pantry Containers.

If you prefer the natural look, our glass Bamboo Canister and Spice Jar Range is a great alternative that still delivers on air-tightness.

4.Add smart space savers

Tiered shelves, Lazy Susans, spice racks, and stackables are a simple, instant way to add more space and functionality to help you organise even the smallest pantry.

As well as increasing space and providing more visibility, shelves and racks are great for those tricky, hard-to-reach areas and maximising corner pantries.

Hot tip: No space for a spice rack? Try hanging a wall-mounted spice rack on the wall or the back of the pantry door instead.

5.Use baskets

Baskets are a simple, cost-effective way to store large, bulky, or less-used pantry items.

They come in a range of colours and sizes, and they’re perfect for dry packaged food like crackers, kids snacks, baking supplies, and refills.

You can easily pull them out to see what’s inside, or use labelled acrylic or bamboo tags if you prefer to label your pantry.

Speaking of...

6. Label everything

Literally, everything.

If you want a perfectly organised and pretty pantry, there’s no better way to finish it off than with personalised labels, right?

And yeah, they look gorgeous, but they also make it super-easy to find what you need and see at a glance when you’re running low on things.

Pretty Little Designs creates a range of labels in a vast array of fonts so you’re sure to find something that’ll suit your style.

Start by making a list of the items you want to label, then choose the sizes, colour and font.

And before you get font overwhelm (it’s a thing), use our font checker to see how your labels will look IRL.

You’re welcome.

Are you using this blog to organise your pantry? Be sure to take a before and after photo and tag us on Instagram for a chance to be featured.

Happy organising!