• 02/18/2023

5 Small Pantry Organization Ideas to Maximize Your Space

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If you have a small kitchen or pantry, you know how real the struggle is to find a place for everything. If you’ve been haphazardly storing your food or kitchen items for lack of storage, there’s light at the end of the disorganized tunnel. 

There are various small pantry organization ideas that you can utilize to maximize your space. Let’s explore ways to create an organized kitchen pantry that meets your needs. 

The Best Small Kitchen Pantry Organization Ideas

1. Assess the Situation

Glass jars with kitchen ingredients in them sit on a pantry shelf.

Begin with sorting and categorizing all of your items. For an aesthetically pleasing look in your pantry and optimized storage space, you’ll want to take your food out of the packaging for storage purposes. Bags and boxes can be bulky and take up too much space in a small pantry. 

Put all of your items on the kitchen counter that you want to put in your pantry. Assess the situation and figure out what bins, baskets, jars or containers you need before you begin. Glass jars are perfect for storing baking necessities like flour and sugar and baskets are excellent for storing miscellaneous items. 

2. Utilize Lazy Susans 

Lazy Susans are perfect for storing many small kitchen items that can get lost in your cupboards. Increase the functionality of your pantry by using a lazy Susan to store your spices, cooking oils and sprays or canned goods. Kitchen spices can quickly get out of hand and be hard to access, so take advantage of any organizational hacks to keep them handy. 

You can double up on the lazy Susans for extra storage space or use risers to display items more prominently. Arrange your items in a window view on risers, so they are easy to see and you don’t have to move things around to find what you’re searching for. 

3. Alternative Shelving 

A kitchen pantry with an over-the-door spice rack.

If your small pantry has limited storage space, consider adding shelving inside or outside the cupboards. You can use a bookcase or wire shelving to place in an unused kitchen corner for additional storage for bulkier items. Floating shelves can also store items in an aesthetically pleasing fashion. 

You can also utilize over-the-door shelving for other things like spices or snacks. A bookcase is also an excellent tool for displaying the appliances that you use less often, like mixers that can be bulky and take up prime real estate in your kitchen cabinets. 

4. Use Baskets and Bins 

Baskets and bins are the most innovative way to organize your small pantry. Once you have all of your food items displayed, you can be more mindful of what you have and what you buy at the store. Big weaved baskets are excellent for bags of chips and extra groceries that don’t have a space yet in your pantry. 

Plastic bins are everything regarding cereal, oats and other dry items– the bins keep them fresh and sealed for your protection. Wire baskets are fantastic for storing fruits and small pouches of snacks and keeps them visible and accessible. 

5. Label Your Pantry 

Clear plastic containers with labels in a pantry.

Splurge on a label maker for spices and other items you want to store. Labels help keep everything organized and aesthetically pleasing. Labels can also help you stay organized after all of your hard work. 

No matter how hard you work on organization, it can easily fall to the wayside after a long trip to the store or other family members putting things away and not knowing where they go. Labels can help everyone stay on the same page and keep things tidy for as long as possible. 

Small Kitchen Organization Ideas on a Budget

If you’re on a tight budget, there are still plenty of ways to upgrade your kitchen organization. Here are some budget-friendly pantry organization ideas:

  • Visit the Dollar Store: You don’t need to go to a high-end home store to find functional kitchen items. Any dollar store is sure to have plastic bins and clear containers that can help you organize and store your food.
  • Make Your Own Labels: While a fancy label maker can be a fun splurge, it’s not the only way to make practical labels. Simply buy a pack of label stickers and grab a marker to DIY them.
  • Donate or Toss: The simplest way to tidy your pantry is by getting rid of anything you don’t need. Donate anything that’s still fresh, and toss anything expired. It’s a free and surefire way to declutter.
  • Repurpose What You Have: Before you buy anything, see what you already have around your home. Clean out sauce jars to store things like rice or spices. Use shoeboxes to keep cans or loose items in place. There are countless ways to DIY your pantry organization.

Small Pantry Organization Ideas

Organizing your pantry doesn’t have to be hard work! Find the balance between functionality and looking nice and stay on top of it when you put away your groceries. This will ensure that your food is accessible and your pantry stays pretty–so it’s a win!

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