I was recently featured in Simply Recipes sharing some of my best pantry organizing tips, and it got me thinking about one of the biggest mistakes people make when organizing their kitchen.
Most people assume organizing is about making things look beautiful. But organizing works when it makes your life easier, not when it looks perfect.
Here are the pantry organizing strategies I shared, including how to organize a pantry from scratch and how to keep it that way in a busy household.
The Biggest Pantry Organizing Mistake
One of the biggest mistakes I see people make when organizing their pantry is having a very set idea in their minds about what their pantry should look like. They try to recreate some kind of Pinterest-perfect pantry or Instagram-inspired space instead of organizing for how they actually live. They’ll often buy a bunch of matching containers and decant everything so it matches the aesthetic they’re going for. But that system usually doesn’t match their real habits or how they actually use the space. Inevitably that system falls apart because it’s too complicated to maintain and doesn’t align with their lifestyle.
Organizing works when it makes your life easier, not when it looks perfect.
How to Organize a Pantry From Scratch
If you're wondering how to organize a pantry properly, the first step is always the same. Take everything out. And I really mean everything. Even when people claim they “know exactly what's in there,” we almost always find surprises hiding in the back.
This s the best way to see what you actually have. It also helps rebuild your mental inventory so you can actually remember what's there and use it. Most people are shocked by how many duplicates they find, or how much expired or rancid food has been hiding in the back of the pantry.
Once everything is out, these are the three steps I recommend.
1. Declutter Before You Organize
Throw out anything expired, stale, or that you or your family realistically isn’t going to eat.
It’s a waste of time and energy to organize food you don’t even want.
Set yourself up for success by having your compost bin, recycling bags, and garbage bags ready so you can deal with everything immediately.
2. Create Simple, Intuitive Pantry Categories
Think about how you cook and how your family eats, and organize your pantry based on that. A pantry works best when the system reflects how the people in your home actually live.
Don’t overcomplicate it. Group food into simple categories that make sense for your household, things like: breakfast, snacks, baking, grains, etc
The categories should feel obvious so that anyone in your home can find things and put them away again., and don’t be afraid to add labels, especially when you’re revamping the entire pantry. It can take people time to get used to the new system and labels help.
3. Use What You Already Have First
You don’t need to buy a bunch of organizing containers right away. Most people already have baskets, bins, or even empty shoeboxes they can use. Make do with what you have first and live with the new system for a week or two. Then decide if new containers would actually make things easier.
If your Type A brain can’t handle having things unmatched for that long, just make sure whatever bins or baskets you buy are returnable or can be repurposed somewhere else in your home.
How to Maintain an Organized Pantry
Once your pantry is organized, the next challenge is keeping it that way. One thing that helps a lot is giving your family or household a quick “tour” of the pantry once it’s done. Show them where things live and ask for feedback. Maybe you didn’t totally think through that the shelf where you put your six-year-old’s favorite cereal is just out of reach. Or maybe your teenager eats peanut butter toast every morning and you put the peanut butter all the way in the back. Any time you make a big change there will be some growing pains. The goal is to make the pantry system easy enough that everyone in the house can follow it without a huge amount of effort.
Another habit that makes a big difference is doing a quick pantry reset once every week or so. It takes maybe five minutes to straighten things up and move items back where they belong. But it’ll take way longer to fix if you skip those small tune-ups.
The Pantry Organizing Rule That Makes the Biggest Difference
Two simple organizing systems can dramatically improve how efficiently a pantry functions.
Use Open Bins
Open baskets or bins act like drawers on a shelf, especially in a deep pantry.
Instead of reaching past a bunch of small items and knocking things over, you simply slide the bin out and see everything inside.
If you need something from the back, you move one container instead of ten individual products.
It makes the pantry much easier to use and much easier to maintain.
Use Your Pantry’s “Prime Real Estate”
I’m always talking to my organizing clients about what I call prime real estate.
That’s whatever space in your pantry is easiest for you to access.
You want to reserve those most visible, easiest-to-reach areas for the foods you use most often.
Eye level and the front of the shelves should hold your everyday go-to items, while things you use less frequently can go higher up, lower down, or further back.