Pantry shelving plays a big role in how well your pantry functions. Today I’m going to cover how to get your pantry organized by adding some pantry shelving. The pantry can quickly become inundated with cans, boxes of food, spices, snacks and the list goes on and on. I know because my mother had 3 girls and that meant lots of snacks and 3 pairs of hands in and out of the pantry. Even if you do not have kids having an organized pantry makes cooking and being in the kitchen a lot less stressful. Imagine opening your pantry and actually finding what you’re looking for right away! You no longer sit there thinking “Now where did I put the paprika?” or “What did I do with this or that?” So here are some of my top pantry shelving ideas to help you get your pantry organized.
If you are a big canned goods person then you should definitely look into getting a soup can rack. These things are awesome! They range in price from around $10 to $40 depending on the size and durability. This is at the top of my list when it comes to pantry shelves. Canned food storage can be a pain because you can only stack them so high, but with a soup can rack you can get your cans stacked in 3 or more rows. Plus, you can organize your canned goods by type such as veggies, beans, tuna, spaghetti-o’s and so on.
If the spice rack is going in your pantry area then you most likely don’t need anything fancy. There are tons of spice racks available so you’re going to find something that suits you. You can get a simple round spice rack that holds a good amount of spices, you can get a drawer spice organizer which can sit neatly tucked on a pantry shelf or you can install a door mounted spice rack. These typically work best if you current pantry shelving sits back a little as the door mount spice rack may bump the shelves. You could also install these on a wall if you don’t want them a part of your pantry. If you do a lot of cooking and don’t want to be in and out of your pantry id say go with a mobile spice rack or the drawer organizer so that you can bring them with you. Either way getting some sort of spice organizer will help alleviate a lot of clutter in your pantry.
I love under shelf baskets. How these things work is they simply hook onto the shelving that you already have and you can store items like foil, freezer bags, pasta such as spaghetti and you can use them to store goodies, like candies, and other items you want quick access too. This type of pantry shelving will also give you more space in your pantry for other items.
Install Your Own Pantry Shelving
If you aren’t renting and you’re looking to make a more permanent change to your pantry shelves, then you may want to consider installing permanent shelving. If you have a tall area that isn’t being occupied by tall items then splitting that in half with a new shelf will give you tons more room to put things. It’s cheap, it’s easy and it will last a long time.
If you don’t own the place you’re living you can get some stacking shelves for your pantry in place of installing your own. You can purchase an adjustable shelf that you can lengthen or shorten to suit your needs and the size of your cabinet or you can buy a fixed width shelf. Again, these are perfect for larger openings of your pantry where you’re looking to get more room.
Once you’ve got the right pantry shelves for your pantry, now you can take some time to get everything organized. When you do this, be sure to check expiration dates on all your foods and toss out anything that’s expired. If you come across anything that you know you won’t use any time soon and its unopened see if you can’t donate it to a food bank.
