Pantry Organization Specifically For Organizing A Small Pantry

Are you needing pantry organization ideas? I'm sharing how I organized a small pantry cabinet and giving you some pantry storage ideas, too!

Whether you have a large walk-in pantry or a small pantry like I do, I think most of us could use more tips for getting and staying organized with our food and drinks. There are some positives and negatives to deal with, depending on how small your pantry is; but, hopefully, these pantry closet ideas will be beneficial no matter what size pantry you have!

Pantry Organization, Specifically for Organizing a Small Pantry

Let's be honest here. Any closet, any cabinet, any corner of our houses usually needs to be decluttered, cleaned and organized after months of use. I've found that, to keep an organized small pantry looking organized and clean, it really needs attention about every three months. In reality, I wait about six months until it looks haphazard before I get to it.

As I was cleaning it the other day, I realized that the small pantry organizers that I bought and the way I had been organizing our pantry cabinet had been working well. After many years of using all the items and the pantry closet the same way, I figured it was time to share an update and give you some small pantry organization ideas in case you are searching for inspiration!

*Affiliate links below. Thanks for supporting this blog. Click to read my privacy and disclosure statement.

How to Get Started with your Kitchen Pantry Organization

The first thing to do with any space BEFORE you start organizing is to clean it. I recommend taking everything out of your space (I put all my food on the kitchen table so I can see it). Wipe down all the shelving, walls and get in any crevices with a wet rag.

Organizing Small Pantry Tip #1: Clean Pantry From Top To Bottom

If you already own bins for your pantry makeover, then wipe those down too! I know ours always get dirty because something spills or melts.

Kitchen Pantry Organization Tip #2: Check Expiration Dates & Purge

Before you start trying to figure out the best way to organize a small pantry in regards to food, drinks and spices, go through all the food and check for expiration dates. Since you pulled all the food out to clean the pantry, it's really easy to check dates on everything before proceeding to actually organizing all the items.

Shelving for Small Pantry Tip #3: Bins, Glass Storage, Can Storage, Etc!

I love to talk about having an intentional mindset when it comes to our homes and this can be especially key when it comes to your pantry makeover. For example, you may love the look of glass storage containers with lids (like what I bought) but may have a bunch of kiddos under seven. A better option for your sanity might be pop open lids for things like pretzels, cereal, etc. Or, you might find large baskets to be an even better option to corral those bags and boxes of food but be able to store them in the bags/boxes they come in.

I'm going to give you a list of small pantry ideas but you really need to think about the space you have, the food you store and how you want the space to function. =)

Getting Started With Having An Organized Small Pantry

• Make a list of what you are regularly storing (extra cans, multiple bags of chips, drinks, etc.) Be HONEST with how much or how little you tend to usually have.
• What isn't working for your pantry closet? What don't you like?
• Brainstorm on pantry organization ideas that would help you corral what you have in a better way. Would a lazy suzan help you store oils and condiments better? Would stackable can storage work for you in your space? Does a snack basket serve a purpose in your household? Do you just need to label bins/baskets to make them more functional?
• Take measurements of the shelving in your pantry cabinet. Make note if you the shelving is adjustable or if it's a fixed height.
• Use measurements to buy small pantry organizers to help you get started.

I'm going to share exactly how I store and organize my small pantry below. It might spark some ideas for your pantry makeover!

Using Glass Storage Jars for Dry Goods

I have nine glass storage jars that I use to store some of our regularly used dry goods. I tend to use these for storing small pasta, panko, quinoa, smoothie toppings (such as flax seed, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, coconut, etc.). These items have longer expiration dates, so I don't worry about them expiring but you could write the expiration dates on the bottom of the jars, if that was something you wanted to do.

I have an inexpensive label maker that I just love. I used it to make labels for my jars and will occasionally peel off the label and place a new one with a different food group inside.

We keep the glass storage jars on the left side of the top shelf in our pantry cabinet. Occasionally, I will have a little bit of extra food that didn't fit into the glass storage jars and, when that happens, I place it in a bin on one of the shelves with a food group that matches the item.

Storing Canned Goods

I try to only buy what we use each week so I don't store a lot of canned goods. I have room to store four rows of canned goods (4 cans deep so 16 cans total). As you can see right now, I have three rows of canned goods on the top shelf that I am storing.

We eat a ton of fresh produce so I just don't ever need to store more than what I have room for. If you have a larger family or can your garden, you might need more room than what I have. I'll be sure to link some canned good storage ideas at the bottom of this post to help inspire you!

Using Bins for Food Storage is key to keeping an Organized Small Pantry!

For us, our bins look like this:

1. Snacks and a small bit of candy
2. Drinks (coffee, tea and hot chocolate)
3. Starchy items (excess rice or noodles)
4. Ramen
5. Broth
6. Honey, agave and baking chocolate
7. S'more's kit

If you need to store baking supplies in your pantry, then you would have flour, corn starch and all of those things in here, too. I store those in a pull-out shelf in a different cabinet in my kitchen (scroll down in this post to see) so I don't need to store them in my pantry but you'll need to consider what all you have to store in your pantry as you are making your bins.

I like not having clear bins because I feel like it's easier on my eye to not see all the packaging. The fact that our bins are lower in height means that we can easily see what is in each bin. If yours were higher up, you'd want to probably go with clear bins or labeling the bins so you know what is in each one.

Storing Chips and Speciality Bread in a Small Pantry

I have one larger metal bin that I keep on a shelf to corral chips, buns, and protein powder. These are items that we use daily and are larger items so it works well to keep them in the easiest spot to grab. If we have extra's of these items, then they get placed on the lower level in our pantry cabinet.

The lowest shelf, right now, is holding extra cat food, coffee and ice cream cones but it holds extra sparkling water, tortilla chips, etc., depending on the day.

I think the biggest hurdle to making some of these pantry organization ideas work for you is to be able to limit how much food you are buying at one time, ESPECIALLY if you have a small pantry cabinet like we do. Honestly, once you get used to storing less food, it's easier to see what you do have in your cabinet and work off those items for creating a meal plan. I realize that there are definitely families that this concept would be harder for (if you live in a place where you aren't going to the grocery store often) but if you tend to go to the grocery store often, the concept of just buying what you are using for that week is helpful.

Storage Options for Helping You Organize Your Pantry Cabinet

Let me give you some actual measurements of my pantry cabinet with the bin dimensions as well. I'll also include a few free-standing pantry cabinets if you are looking to buy something that would function similarly to what we have! Did you even know that you could buy a free-standing pantry cabinet? I'm thinking that one might be a good idea for our cabin.

Our Cabinet Measurements

• Our pantry cabinet is 68" H x 36" W x 24" D (we don't use the top cabinet for food storage so I didn't include that in this measurement).
• The 7 bins that we have are 15 x 8.5".
• The large metal bin that we corral chips and speciality bread its 12" x 16.5".
• The left part of our pantry cabinet holds the broom, extra bags and our table extenders. It's 5" wide.

Need more pantry storage? Shop Free Standing Pantry Cabinets

Other Kitchen Areas That We Store Food

We utilize our open shelving to store granola toppings. Our bread, we keep out on the counter in a demijohn cloche.

Like I mentioned earlier, we keep our baking goods in a cabinet with pull-out drawers.

I've actually just recently relocated our baking supplies to a corner cabinet with a fancy pull-out corner cabinet organizer. It was crazy expensive but we've been liking it. Now, the cabinet shown above is holding oils and vinegars and the opposite one is holding cast iron skillets.

I think that pretty much shares all about howe we organize our small pantry and, hopefully, leaves you with ideas for your pantry makeover!

A few years ago, as I started on my pantry closet, I recorded a video that walked you through what I was doing with it. I'm including it, below. It shares more about why I bought what I did and how I'm using it (and it's almost identical to today's pantry cabinet look!).

Get More Organized in the Kitchen

If you are looking for more organization ideas for open storage, I really loved this open pantry organization. Up next, figuring out the fridge! I loved Sarah's post all about Refrigerator (& Kitchen) organization. It's giving me lots of ideas for how to improve my non-existent fridge organization.

Active Time 1 hour Total Time 1 hour Difficulty Easy

Materials

• Bins
• Glass Storage Jars
• Plastic Storage Containers
• Baskets
• Lazy Suzan

Instructions

1. Make a list of what you are regularly storing (extra cans, multiple bags of chips, drinks, etc.) Be HONEST with how much or how little you tend to usually have.
2. What isn’t working for your pantry closet? What don’t you like?
3. Brainstorm on pantry organization ideas that would help you corral what you have in a better way. Would a lazy suzan help you store oils and condiments better? Would stackable can storage work for you in your space? Does a snack basket serve a purpose in your household? Do you just need to label bins/baskets to make them more functional?
4. Take measurements of the shelving in your pantry cabinet. Make note if you the shelving is adjustable or if it’s a fixed height.
5. Use measurements to buy small pantry organizers to help you get started.

Notes

1. USING GLASS STORAGE JARS FOR DRY GOODSI have nine glass storage jars that I use to store some of our regularly used dry goods. I tend to use these for storing small pasta, panko, quinoa, smoothie toppings (such as flax seed, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, coconut, etc.). These items have longer expiration dates, so I don’t worry about them expiring but you could write the expiration dates on the bottom of the jars.

2. STORING CANNED GOODSI try to only buy what we use each week so I don’t store a lot of canned goods. I have room to store four rows of canned goods (4 cans deep so 16 cans total). As you can see right now, I have three rows of canned goods on the top shelf that I am storing.We eat a ton of fresh produce so I just don’t ever need to store more than what I have room for. If you have a larger family or can your garden, you might need more room than what I have.

3. BIN AND BASKET STORAGE

For us, our bins look like this:Snacks and a small bit of candyDrinks (coffee, tea and hot chocolate)Starchy items (excess rice or noodles)RamenBrothHoney, agave and baking chocolateS’more’s kit

SaveSave

}