My Petite Pantry - Updated and Organized!

Hello Everyone!  I'm so excited to share with you how I updated and organized my pantry for Week 2 of the New Year's Organizing Revolution!  This is a project I have been wanting to tackle for a while now, but was needing a motivational boost.  This organizing challenge was just what I needed!

I'm sorry I don't have a before picture.  I was over half-way through emptying the pantry when I realized..."Oh no!  I didn't take a before picture!"  I was too tired to put everything back just to take a picture, so you'll have to imagine all the contents in the picture below stuffed in the pantry with almost no labels.

I started out by wiping down all the shelves so I would have a nice, clean pantry to work with.  Then I covered the back of the pantry with some pretty wrapping paper using some spray adhesive.  I didn't want it to be too permanent, so I let the adhesive dry a few minutes before attaching it to the back of the pantry.  Hopefully it won't be too difficult to remove later on down the road when I decide to do something else with the pantry.  I feel the wrapping paper gives the pantry a much more feminine and elegant look and helps break up the white space without being too distracting.

Here is all the food that was in the pantry.  The green baskets were set aside to be used somewhere else in our home.  The green just isn't doing it for me anymore.

Organizing the Pantry

My pantry is rather small, 7ft H x 2ft W x 1ft D, and the shelves are not adjustable.  Below is a list of items I used to organize my petite pantry.

• Wire Shelves:  In an effort to maximize the storage capacity of my petite pantry I've used free-standing wire shelves which almost double the amount of storage space of the shelves on which they're used.
• Baskets:  I have also used baskets (I love baskets!) to help keep like-items together.  This helps a great deal in keeping things organized.  
• Labels:  And last but certainly not least...LABELS!  (I love labels, too, especially ones from the Martha Stewart line at Staples!)  Five out of my six shelves are labeled, along with most of the storage containers and baskets.  This helps other members of the family (my husband) locate items and return them to their proper place, thus maintaining the organization I've worked so hard to achieve (okay, so I didn't really work that hard.)

Now let's take a closer look at the contents of each shelf so you can see how I chose to organize my pantry.

I decided to place all of our paper goods on the top shelf since they are not used very often and this shelf is not the easiest for me to reach.  Paper plates, bowls and napkins are stored on their side so they take up less space and are actually easier to get to.  Empty salsa jars make great storage containers for plastic ware, straws and plastic baggies.  Just add some Martha Stewart labels and you have cute storage!  Paper cups are stored behind the glass jars.

My husband and I have oatmeal as part of our breakfast every Sunday morning.  I usually have mine with a bit of sugar and dried cranberries and he has his with brown sugar.  In order to cut costs I buy the large containers of quick oats and portion them out into these little clear containers.  I add the sugar/brown sugar and then tuck them away in the pantry so they are easy to grab on Sunday mornings.  When I organized the pantry I decided to use a separate basket for each of us so that we don't mix them up, and of course I labeled them!  Taller items go to the left of the wire shelf, while smaller items sit on the shelf.

This is the shelf I probably access the most when preparing supper.  I keep all my canned goods, boxed pasta, pasta sauce and instant potatoes here.  I try to keep the veggies sorted by variety, but this isn't always possible with this small of a pantry.

I was amazed that after filling five of the six shelves these two items were all I was left with!  Before all six shelves appeared to be cram-packed!  Obviously, organizing the pantry opened up some storage space which makes me very happy!

Here's the "Snack Shelf" where all the crackers, chips, cookies, etc. are stored.  Storing the saltines in the large container made a huge difference in the amount of storage space I had.  I was able to put almost two whole boxes of saltines in this container!  Boxed items are stored nicely on their backs and stacked under the shelf while bags of chips work well in the basket.

And, last but not least, my baking supplies.  I have future plans for this shelf, but until it's warm enough to spray paint, they will have to wait.  As you can see, I store extra flour, sugar and canola oil here along with other baking staples such as brown sugar, shortening, powdered sugar, chocolate chips, Karo syrup, coconut flakes and so on.  I don't do a whole lot of baking, so the fact that these items are stored on the very bottom shelf doesn't bother me.  Perhaps once I become more comfortable baking these items will move up or find a new home entirely.

This project only took me a few hours to complete and was definitely worth the time!  I love looking in my pantry and seeing the pretty background and all the lovely labels!

Voting starts Friday!  Please vote for my petite and organized pantry!
I'm #37!

Have a blessed and organized day!

Linking @

New Year's Organizing Revolution - Week 2:  Kitchen