A poorly arranged pantry can be a real headache to work with. Pantry organization ideas to declutter your pantry and keep it organized may require the installation of pantry shelves, drawers, lazy susans, a couple of roll-out trays, and a basket or two.
Drawer organizers, sliding shelves, and pull-out shelves are also fantastic solutions for keeping things sorted, organized, and within reach. With these, you are able to see everything in your pantry at a glance and are less likely to turn your cabinet into a jumbled mess in search of cooking supplies or utensils.
Read through the ideas in this article to efficiently organize your kitchen pantry cabinets.
How To Effectively Optimize Your Pantry Closet
Right before you begin organizing pantry items into your cabinets, it’s important to take a moment to consider exactly which compartment you want to store each category of items and the purposes they serve to make it a lot easier to find them when the need arises. For example, keep your spices in small containers and store in a middle shelf so that you can easily see and access them. On the other hand, the least frequently used plates and bowls can be kept on the top shelf.
The following are some practical organization ideas for your pantry to guide you throughout the entire process.
1. Accessibility is key
The best way to organize a kitchen store to make everything easy is by prioritizing accessibility. Items and utensils that are most frequently used should be kept within reach in the pantry storage, if not, the major aim of organization would be defeated, and it would be difficult to maintain the organized space.
2. Optimize Space
For an effective organization of a small pantry, it’s important to make optimal use of space to ensure that all kitchen essentials are accountable for. You want every kitchen need to stay within the pantry to make them easy to access.
Take advantage of vertical space and use clear containers or other plastic containers to store food. Storing them in containers makes them stackable and aids space optimization a great deal.
3. Sort items by their functions
Rather than lumping kitchen items altogether, take a while to categorize each item into sets based on their functions and put each set in a convenient spot. The purpose of classifying items meant for the same or similar purposes isn’t just to secure extra space but to ensure that you can easily find what you need without searching endlessly.
4. Get The Best Out Of Utensil Storage Cribs
A great way to make room in a clumped pantry is by making use of cutlery and utensil cribs. Cutlery and utensil cribs may be attached to kitchen countertops or cabinet pantry.
It’s best to store cooking utensils close to your food preparation area to keep you from moving back and forth while cooking since doing so can interfere with your cooking. Households with smaller kitchens can maximize storage space by installing high or multiple-tier cribs
5. Tray Dividers
If you can’t seem to decide where to put your cooling racks or sheet trays, or maybe you don’t want to hang your cutting boards in plain sight, this tool provides easy access to all items and keeps them organized.
Regardless of where they are fitted, these accessories are a great way to increase the storage area while keeping all cooking items organized.
6. Arrange Muffin Tins And Baking Sheets In A File
When storing baking sheets, it’s always best to arrange them vertically rather than horizontally since they’re bound to take up unnecessary storage room when arranged horizontally.
For easier access to your baking sheets, you can also fit in a tension rod. Not only will you be able to get what you need easily, but you’ll also have more space for other baking supplies.
7. Dispose of worn tableware and dated items
One of the best ways to free up some room is by simply disposing of utensils that are no longer fit to be used. Expired consumables and cooking ingredients should not be kept within your pantry. Take them out to make room for cooking and crafting supplies.
8. Consumables should be stored separately
Allocate a section of your pantry or a specific set entirely for food storage; breakfast items, canned goods, oils and vinegar bottles, cooking ingredients, and your favorite snacks should be stored in jars or containers. Labeled containers can also help you locate what you need a lot quicker, write the name of each food item boldly on masking tape and stick them to the containers.
Dry goods and pantry staples such as grains, sugar, and so on should be kept in jars instead of bags. It’s a lot more pleasing aesthetically and way more effective for food preservation.
9. Roll-out trays
Shuffling through your pantry to reach an item at the back isn’t particularly convenient. Instead of sifting through or taking out half of the contents of your pantry to reach the one you need at the end, you might as well install roll-out trays at its base to make things a whole lot easier. Glides are a great way to keep you from having to move every item in the way to get what you need.
10. Add more storage room with modern shelves
Small kitchen slates are quite useful for separating kitchen items and utensils of the same kind. Aside from making it easy to find the exact item you need, they also help prevent your interiors from becoming clustered.
Kitchen pantries are essentially designed for storing cookware, dishes, and a variety of consumables. A kitchen pantry is often separate from the main kitchen. Having a separate pantry space is a great method of effectively organizing your kitchen to maximize available space and make items accessible and easier to see.
11. Get rid of unnecessary items and appliances
For a spacious and organized pantry, you have to remove items you don’t use frequently. If your pantry is low on storage, the best thing would be to move all items you don’t use often and store them in a different compartment in your kitchen.
While you’re at it, you can also create your own miniature coffee home bar by making use of an unused cabinet as your setup spot for housing the espresso machine and other coffee brewing items.
12. Utilize the space on your storage cabinet sides
Most people don’t realize that the unused space on the outer walls of their pantry can be used for storage, with a little organization and modification, of course.
If you need some extra storage room and your pantry isn’t too close to the kitchen walls or obstructed in any way, you can take advantage of this to install shelves or rails along the sides for hanging small pots or kitchen appliances.
13. Stick-on shelves on pantry doors
These shelves are intended for storing lightweight items that you might need in the kitchen now and then. Magnetic strips are also a splendid choice for hanging light items and small appliances. Go right ahead and include these on your pantry wall if there isn’t any room left in the interior.
14. Use adjustable shelves to increase your shelf space
Oftentimes the most effective ways to increase cabinet space are usually overlooked. While a cabinet might seem full, you’ll be surprised to see that simply tweaking adjustable shelves can provide much-needed extra storage space.
15. Open Shelving
Make the best use of vertical wall space on corner cabinets. This method gives you the choice of drawing attention to some of your nicest tableware as well as making it easier to find any item you might need. Open cabinets would be great for your kitchen aesthetics with the right color and size, and you can even get creative with your preferred shape and design!
16. Where to Store Pots and Pans in kitchen storage cabinets
The only viable way to store pots and pans in a cabinet is by opting for one with rather deep drawer sizes. Dish dividers can also be installed to hold pot lids, saucers, and dishes in place. The drawers must be constructed with reliable materials capable of supporting the full weight of their contents when pulled out completely.
17. Add drawers to create your custom cabinet design
While it might seem like a lot to handle, adding pull-out drawers to your kitchen cabinets not only changes the interior look but doing so can boost its organizational and storage functionality as well. Regular drawers should be able to host common lightweight kitchen utensils. However, if you intend to store heavy items or appliances, you should consider installing heavy-duty drawers instead.
18. Hang a napkin or tea towel on your cabinet door
If you prefer not to hang your mitts or tea towels on the pantry door, you can as well hang them on your cabinet door instead. If you choose to hang it on the interior, try screwing on a paper towel holder behind the cabinet’s door.
19. Optimize vertical space
Items and ingredients you don’t use too often should essentially be stored in convenient spots that can be easily accessed without getting in the way of frequently used ones.
Areas such as the back of cabinets and the area above high shelves should suffice, as long as they aren’t kept too close to the cabinet’s doors (this space should be reserved for frequently used items only).
What should be kept in a kitchen pantry?
Day-to-day kitchen and feeding needs like;
- Snacks
- Breakfast foods
- Pasta and grains
- Spices
- Baking supplies
- Drinks such as coffee and tea
- Canned foods
- Beverages
- Raw Food and (sometimes) dishes
- Household cleaning products
- Linens
- Provisions.
Avoid storing food with high oil contents like;
- Nuts
- Open bins of food
- Perishables like dairy, vegetables, tubers, and meat
- Expired spices
- Excess food only eaten once in a while
- Soup
- Cooked food
What are the best kitchen storage containers?
It is best to store items in clear bins and containers. If you ever need to store edibles outside their original packs, clear plastic or ceramic containers are the best for the job. They keep foodstuff fresh and visible, making them easily identifiable, especially when labeled, and make your pantry look pleasing to the eye.
Why do I need to organize my pantry?
There are numerous benefits of keeping your pantry arranged.
- It makes your cooking space freer
- It improves your kitchen aesthetics
- Boosts your mood
- Makes cooking much more enjoyable for you. Also, cooking stress and time spent cooking is reduced because you’re able to access items quickly and easily. Items can get lost easily if your pantry space is not well put together. Start organizing your pantry and experience the amazing benefits yourself.
How can I keep my pantry organized always?
We’d all agree that staying organized can be more difficult than getting started itself. Even at that, it can be easier. Prioritizing accessibility when organizing your pantry can go a long way in helping you to maintain a well-arranged pantry. Also, cultivate the habit of returning things to their original positions promptly. You should also do routine cleaning, daily, fortnightly, or monthly, to keep things nice and fresh.
Conclusion
The kitchen isn’t just a place where all the cooking happens. When applying kitchen cabinet design ideas for optimal storage, it’s okay to let your creativity roam free to find the ideal organization pattern fit for yourself and your family members. Feel free to add a bit of extra huff to your designs.
Although storing each spice and food item in their storage containers and arranging your pantry can be time-consuming at first, it is definitely worth it. A well-organized cabinet system is not only pleasing to the eye but can make cooking time shorter and less stressful.
Custom cabinets can be made with just about any hardware to add a little more functionality and style that blends with your vision for your kitchen. For some beautiful custom cabinets, visit Choice Cabinet to have your mind blown. It’s time to get organized.
