How to organize your pantry (and keep it organized)!

The closer it gets to spring, the more antsy I get to start organizing my house away! Anyone else? If you’ve been following my posts and stories on Instagram lately, you know I’ve been on a major organizing kick the last few weeks. We’ve organized our linen closet, fridge, and this week’s project? Our pantry.

We’ve been good at keeping our pantry organized over the years, so I really mean it when I say that once you invest in this organization system, your pantry will be organized forever. I am so excited to show you the system that works for us, and how to do it at super affordable prices!

FIRST THINGS FIRST – what to buy to help organize

Clear containers

The first thing that has helped our pantry stay organized are the clear containers pictured here. I LOVE storing our dry goods in these. I can see exactly how much of each item we have left before I need to buy more, and I feel like we actually EAT the things in the pantry when we can see them… not to mention it just looks pretty!

Walmart has these sealed-top containers that look just like the ones I was using in this space before and they are such a good price – like INSANELY less expensive than the ones I originally bought a couple of years back. So I’m super excited that they fit in seamlessly with what I already had going on and that this 3-pack is less than a single container I previously bought!

White baskets

My next favorite thing to use in our pantry are these white woven baskets. I already had these in place, but I decided I wanted more – and I was so thrilled to find these with a similar texture at Walmart with a price tag that made me do a happy dance! With a pantry space, you don’t necessarily need every single basket or container to match perfectly. Keep it all in the same color scheme and group matching baskets together and it will all look organized and cohesive! You can add in all these baskets a little at a time, too, which makes pantry organization not as daunting.

Bin clip labels

Labeling makes everything extremely easy to find. These chalkboard sticker labels are so dang cute, but they didn’t stay on the white baskets super well long-term. We ended up using bin clip labels later on, and those worked like magic! We originally used these bin clips that were 3 for $9.99, but I ended up finding some even less expensive ones (3 for $7!) that I love even more.

WHERE to buy

I was able to get everything at either Target or Walmart for this project which, HELLO, win-win when they’re both affordable and include free 2-day shipping. We’ve used Walmart+ to help organize our linen closet and fridge, too! It’s been an absolute dream and I love that I never have to leave my house to go find these things on my own.

My Organization System

How to work the bins

Once you take everything out of your pantry and start grouping items together, make categories that fit YOUR family’s eating habits for your bins. Basically don’t be afraid to create specific bins for something your family uses a lot of.

For us, mac & cheese (we can never run out, ha!) and chocolate chips each have their own separate bins. These are items I want to be able to find and grab quickly since we use them so often. So, even if it’s not a “normal” category, create your pantry according to your needs. I’ve also created more than one bin of the same category in certain instances if one bin is getting too full!

And I love that with the bin system I can easily see what I’m running out of before a Costco or grocery run. This has been AMAZING for our family, and once we did it, our pantry has stayed organized ever since!

Take it out and tuck it in

Food packaging can create a cluttered look in your pantry, so when possible, take items OUT. Take crackers out of their box, take water bottles out of their ugly plastic packaging, and take fruit snacks out of the box they come in. This will always create a very aesthetically pleasing view in your pantry, and it makes everything so much easier to see and gauge when creating your grocery list.

Plus it’s PRETTY.

And most of all, you’ll fit sooooo much more in there when it’s not constricted to its original ginormous containers.

Great for kids

Another reason I have loved this organization system is because my kids are into it too! It made it so much easier for them to help me put stuff away after meals and snacks, or to help me put groceries away.

One tip: keep whatever your kids eat most near your bottom shelves for easy access throughout the day! It’s fun to see your kids have more independence, and to also see them be able to help more when it comes time to put the food away because this organization system makes it all SO easy.

Clean it all out

Having your pantry stay permanently organized is AMAZING, but I would advise to make sure to do a “check in” every few months on your food. When I was working on my pantry this past week, I made sure to purge and clean out anything that was old, or anything that we hadn’t touched in six months or more. This will help to keep your pantry permanently organized because you won’t be stockpiling items you don’t want or don’t actually use!

PANTRY ORGANIZATION ITEMS:
Rolling Can Organizers
Clear Containers
White Basket, White Basket for Less
Chalkboard Stickers
Sharpie White Paint Pen, in black
Bin Labels

OUTFIT:
Corrine’s Top
Corrine’s Jeans
Harry’s Onesie, similar
Lyla’s Top
Lyla’s Skirt

Do you have the organization motivation?

Around this time of year I always catch the “organization” bug and I really have to say, I don’t mind that at all! My house just keeps feeling more and more wonderful as I do more and more decluttering. Like I said, we’ve had our pantry organized for a while now, but I was so excited to add even more bins and labels to it this year for a complete and cohesive look. If you have the spring cleaning bug right now, too, I’d love to know what you’re planning on organizing next in your home in the comments below!