Pantry Organization

I go nuts when things get really messy and cluttered. It sends me in a funk and I just want to run through the house and throw everything away. I don't like feeling like the stuff is overtaking us - but that's exactly how I've been feeling about our pantry. Every time I open it, I just want to slam it shut again. I don't want to see it, I don't want to have to go into it. It overwhelms me. So, I decided I needed to organize it and come up with a way system that works for us (and by us, I mean me because the Hubster is not the type of person to get greatly annoyed by the pantry. He's just not.)

So here's what it ended up turning out to be like:

I realize now, that I should have taken a before picture - but I was too focused on fixing the problem, that I didn't...the same thing happened when I organized our spice cabinet and then the entire rest of our kitchen. You will just have to trust me that it was a completely disorganized mess that drove me bananas.

So what did I do?
First - I went on pinterest, searched for pantry organization and read a handful of blogs for ideas. The important thing to remember is that you need to do what fits your lifestyle and not what some blogger says you should do. I ended up incorporating suggestions from a number of different bloggers - and I'm sorry that I didn't keep their blogs handy to link you to them for more suggestions.
 
One of the things that every blogger I read had in common was to remove EVERYTHING from the panty first so I did and that totally gave me anxiety - because that's the type of person I can be sometimes.) Then, I wiped everything down and separated everything - like with like - to determine how many "sections" or "zones" we would need.

After that, I decided which items we use most frequently and arranged them on the easiest to access shelves (the middle ones - shelves 2 & 3). I put the least used items on the very top (because we're short and it's hard to reach) and then the semi-frequently used items on the the last shelf.

Here are the sections from top to bottom"
Shelf One: "Impromptu Entertaining" (That's the Red Box). The box is easy to get down, which is important since we're not tall folk and I would rather not have to dig around on the top shelf for longer than necessary.
 In the box you will find:

• Paper Plates
• Paper Bowls
• Paper Napkins
• Plastic Utensils
• Plastic Party Table Cloths
• Popcorn
• Chips
• Salsa/Dip
• Easy to put together appetizers
• And other quick snacky things.

Next to the red box are all of our serving trays and bread baskets

Shelf Two:  "Baking Items". Everything that I use for baking is on this shelf - extra flour, sugar (brown, powdered, white, raw), cake mixes, chocolate chips, extra baking powder, marshmallows, oil, pudding mixes, frosting, etc. Since we have a TON of baking stuff - I'd rather make it sweet than savory about 90% of the time - I knew it had to have it's own shelf or share a shelf with something we don't and won't have a lot of - so it shares the shelf with the "Weeknight Meals Basket". I use this basket to group all of the dry, non-perishable ingredients for our meals throughout the week. That way, when I get home from work it's super easy to just go and grab out of the basket instead of digging through the pantry. I'm sure this will be VERY appreciated when we have munchkins in a few years.

Shelf Three: "Pasta and Rice". We always have a TON of pasta - it almost rivals the baking items, but not quite. I did my best to group like pasta with like pasta - putting any duplicates together as best I could so I know when we're getting low. Barilla pastas are on the left, then it goes to macaroni and cheese type deals, then "Asian" pastas (Ramen noddles), and Rice.
Then comes the "boxed starches". Hamburger helpers, stuffing, extra bread crumbs, etc. We usually don't have a lot of this so it just gets put towards the back.  The starches share their shelf with "Canned Foods". I used a pantry/kitchen organizer shelf thing we weren't using. Broths and soups are on the bottom, veggies on top - grouped by kinds. Tuna is next to that.

Shelf Four: Separated into 3ish sections: The first section is "charity lunches & snacks", then "Powdered Beverages"- chai tea mix, iced tea mix, hot chocolate, extra coffee, extra tea, etc., and the last section is "Breakfast Foods" since we usually forget to eat breakfast on the days we're working, I figured it didn't need to have a prime shelf spot.

I then labeled each section on the edge of the shelf. It's been a few weeks since we put this system into place and it's the longest our pantry has remained organized throughout our entire marriage! And I have to say, I am glad that we are getting organized well before we have a house to manage and a family to raise. I feel like it's gonna make that a smidge easier.

I hope that, if you're looking for a way to get organized, that this at least gives you a starting point for creating a system that works for your lifestyle and personality.

Cheers!
Sara