http://organizedhome.com/organized-pantry-beginner-guide-pantry-pride
http://www.ehow.com/how_134872_organize-pantry.html

think about buying baskets and plastic containers for grains, etc., that can get weevils or mites.

The top shelf is mostly baking supplies, which I rarely use. I do keep flour, corn starch, and salt near the front so I can reach them. I need to get out the step stool for other things on the top shelf.

The second shelf down is a hodgepodge of things: some soup, boxes of pasta, extra jelly and salsa, peanut butter, little cans that would get lost in the other storage area (in another room). The lazy susan makes it easy to get to all the items without standing on a stool, but it does waste some space.

Next shelf down is a roll out "drawer" with pasta, rice, and dried beans. That's pretty much all that's in there.

In the top drawer of the bottom section, I keep bread, rolls, croutons, bread crumbs, panko, Pop Tarts, bacon bits, extra salad dressing, stuffing mix.

Next drawer/shelf down is oils, vinegars, and sauces. Also honey, molasses, and sugar (in the blue print can in front).

Bottom drawer/shelf is cereal and snacks (chips, cookies, nuts, beef jerky, crackers, pretzels).

I don't even have enough space in my pantry for all my food items (the rest are in cabinets in a nearby room), so I don't keep any appliances, paper products, or cookware in the pantry.

I had these shelves built to hold a bunch of stuff.

I keep a step stool in there to reach things up high that I never use - like that food processor!! LOL

Smiles:)

Johnatemp, good use of baskets, too.

Also look at Bed, Bath Beyond & Linens & things, they have a lot of neat holders / shelves. I doubled some of my space just by adding the shelves.

On the floor I have larger things like a small cooler (lunch box/6 pack size), a bin that holds my potatoes, plastic bags we recycle, extra liter drinks, stuff like that.

I have no problem with potatoes going bad, but I don't put bread in there - for some reason it just doesn't seem convenient to me.

tina

Make sandwiches ahead of time, store in tupperware in refrigerator and take out 30 minutes before eating.

Bread goes bad quickly, but bread boxes with ventilation are the best. Mine was pricy at Williams-Sonoma but it has ventilation, so it actually allows bread to breathe.

Too bad they quit doing the old tupperware things, they were the best.

IF you are storing appliances that you don't use often, maybe you can store them away from the kitchen to make more room for items used more often.

Sky

Hope this helps!

http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c246/dinobambino/new pantry/

New house- been here almost 4yrs and I still think it's new- has a walk in pantry, like a U shape. There are 5 rows of shelves. The area behind the door is for appliances and tupperware stuff. The back wall has, starting from bottom going up, crackers/cookies all in tupperware tall modular mates, each child has a tub which is actually a plastic shoe box size for their individual lunch/snack items. They like different things so I separate them. Next shelf has cereal, bread items in a tub about 18x12 with another tupperware for the loaf of bread ( I am so glad I got this thing, when we camp I use it to pack the knives and utensils that are sharp plus the foil), then the breakfast stuff like pancake mix, syrup and hot cereals. Kids can easily reach these lower shelves. The next shelf has dinner boxed items like mac n cheese, tuna helper, pasta. Next two shelves have serving dishes and papertowels. The shelves on the other wall starting at bottom. Baking supplies including popcorn, jello, brownie mixes. Next up is hot beverages and extra condiments on hand. Next up is canned foods. Next two shelves are serving items, holiday serve items. On the floor on back wall I have soda/gatorade supply, bag with grocery bags to recycle. I also have a bin, one of those kinds that you can stack with others but still reach into, for potatoes and onions that I may need whole. I keep diced onions in freezer for quick use, but like fresh ones on hand for larger needs.

That is my pantry. I wish I was one to have the shelves full to the brim but I tend to buy as I go, which drives dh nuts. I do try to buy two when I buy things so I always at least have a spare. That reminds me, I need more parm cheese.

Regarding bread. My pantry in an interior "room" and stays really cool. But in summer I notice bread and potatoes go bad quickly. I dislike how bread is out of freezer and fridge so I only buy what I need. Since I always have to get something midweek anyway, I just pick up more bread if needed at that time. Growing up we had a drawer in the cabinets that was stainless lined and was nice. But with 5 kids, we ate it faster than it could go bad.

Here's my small pantry. I keep the baking stuff in one of the kitchen cabinets; the bread in our fridge; spices, vinegar, oils, etc. go in a lazy susan corner cabinet.

I keep my potatoes and onions in baskets on the floor.

I have a large closet nearby in the hall that was supposed to be a butler's pantry when we built the house. I use that closet for paper goods, small appliances, etc. It's a mess. Don't miss the butlers pantry.

Chloeelise, I love your door! Not to mention the organization.

I have a small pantry with bi-fold door in the kitchen that I use just for food.

I have a floor to ceiling four door pantry in the garage for serving and cooking pieces.

Showing a little of the shelving on the left, as well as the broom closet with the door left open:

Those of you with small kids, do you store excess snacks in your room? No matter what I tell the kids, if I put snacks straight in the kitchen after shopping, they go quickly. We put a shelving system in our bedroom closet and to the left added shelves that hold large wicker baskets that all of the excess snacks go into. I can also keep cereal in there so that my daughter doesn't open them all.

Good luck with the butlers pantry. post photos when complete

I am embarrassed to post my current pantry photos. It is a single closet and is crammed full, although more organized than my last pantry! My last homes pantry was wonderful and I could just throw anything in it and it never got crowded. I loved being able to walk into the 6x8 room and find what I needed, or better yet, find a place for something. :(

Here it is, although it isn't neat. either.

Looks like we have the same picnic dishes...

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Questions:

chloeelise: do you like those glass containers that sit on their side? I bought one yesterday at Bed, Bath & Beyond for halloween candy and was disappointed that the metal tops weren't tighter. I don't think I could use it for stuff like cookies since they'd go stale quicker.

karezz: love the shelving... mine is wood right now. Maybe someday I can get DH to put up this kind of wire shelves. Is your pantry a standard side or did the contractor have to cut them down?

mustangs: I love how everything is labeled, especially the closed containers. What kind of things do you have in them?

Last night I stopped by Bed, Bath & Beyond and bought another $60.00 worth of stuff. Right now I've got 2 of these "risers" on both side of my can goods that can hold about 24/28 cans of soup (yes, I have that many and mostly cream of something!). The other side is canned tomatoes, tomatoe paste, chili stuff, etc. I put them side ways on the shelf in order to get things lined up between them.

Then on the floor of the pantry, I added one of these, but thinking about another, I put my cake & pie pans on it, along with some odd bundt pans.

Then I bought several of the snapware boxes to put baking stuff in, like flour, powered sugar, brown sugar and choco chip bags (the larger of the med will hold lot fo choco chip bags!). And put those on the top shelf.

The 3rd shelf has all breakfast stuff, plus powered drinks and tea.

4th shelf is holding chips right now, but I'm not sure they will stay there or not.

I still have a lot to put in the pantry, like noodles, boxed meals, mac & cheese boxes, stuff like that and the rest of my baking stuff needs to be put away, but since I want DH to add another shelf about my top shelf, I'm trying not to fill it up because I'm sure he'll need me to take that shelf down.

Still haven't decided about the bread. We go through quite I bit and like someone else said, I don't like to put it in the freezer. I've seen some pastic bread holders and that would work well, just not sure it needs to go in the pantry or not?!?!? I guess I need to ask DH what he wants, since he does live there too and since he works nights, he fends for himself during the day, which usually includes sandwiches for lunch.

Thanks for the info. Hopefully I can get most of it put back together this weekend and share pictures soon. THANKS!

Christy

Christy

Mustangs, you've inspired me to find one of those pull-out drawer storage units you have on the floor. Hopefully I can find one that will fit in my small pantry.

I've really enjoyed everyone's pics.

NHB, I think you and I must have similar or same pantries, and yes, mine is packed with "stuff." Yours is way neater and less packed than mine. My DH thinks it is a "catch-all."

Cburch, I keep cereals, flours, sugars, salts, rices, pastas in the containers on their sides. They are Snapware from Target or most any housewares store. I am a label freak (even my refrigerator shelves.) Here are the labeled containers for laundry detergents.

Hellpaso - I haven't looked at Lowe's, but yes BBB is expensive. I have something to take back to Lowe's, so maybe I can swap it out for another riser. Are the ones you got expandable. I really like that feature.

chloeelise - expensive stuff at BBB - but I was trying to get this done before DH got back from his hunting trip so I didn't shop around a lot. Didn't get it all done, but it does look better! Another great idea putting Oatmeal and packets of stuff in the cookie jar, where did you get yours? They are 9.99 at BBB. Since I put candy in mine, I set it on the counter, with the silver lid it goes well with the stainless appliances. Yes I'll post when I get all done!

THANKS everyone for the great ideas.

Christy

Must.. Yes, I have enough of these plates and accessories to feed an army. I'm a dish freak. By the way, where did you get the decorative plates. I wish I hadn't seen those. I really don't need anymore dishes.

I thought I was organized till I saw your laundry room and pantry. You have alot of organizing talent as do so many others on this forum.

Thanks for posting all these great pantries. Lots of great ideas if I some day get inspired.

Diana

It looks like we don't have any food in the house, but I just got through doing my yearly organization. If an item is still sealed and not expired, it gets donated. That helps the food bank and helps me keep everything fresh. So, ignore the bare spots!

This is our pantry hutch to the left of the main sink. The top right side holds my cooking ingredients such as oils, pastas, sauces, etc. The top left side holds breakfast items and snack items. That keeps the family out of my ingredients! :-)

The lower cabinets -- right side holds large size ingredient items bought in bulk. The left side holds bulk beverage items like cases of water, soft drinks, cranberry juice, etc.

To the right of the lower cabinet is a pull-out that holds soups -- again so the guys can see all the available soups without rummaging through my ingredients.

Top right ingredients:

Top left breakfast and snack foods:

Bottom deep cabinets for bulk foods and drinks:

Pull-out for soups and canned veggies for the guys:

We also have a closet pantry that holds paper products, our San Pellegrino bottles and our greyhound's food products.

DH has beverage storage on the opposite side of the island from where I prep meals.

DH has his coffee area with storage in the upper cabinet.

My spices are in a corner cabinet lazy susan (not shown).

Cameron

As it is, it's a huge jumbled up mess and I wouldn't take a picture of it for anyone. I did put a big metal bin on one shelf that pulls forward, but weighs too much filled up and is hard to see inside as it's a little high. I have a big plastic bin on the bottom shelf that holds all my plastic storage containers.

I wish I knew of an inexpensive solution to this that I could do myself.

MrsMarv, I love the glass jars, quite an investment.

I've been nagging encouraging ;-) DH to get the darn washer/dryer stacked to free up a little space in the laundry room for the toolbox and cleaning stuff and such that's currently strewn and piled hither and thither through the mudroom and kitchen. Currently the two machines take up almost the entire laundry room, with just enough room to swing the doors open! You have to stand in the mudroom to load the washer, LOL. The dog crate slides in under the window, and I think if we get the stuff that's piled next to it into the laundry room, I can stack the cases of dog food (it's expensive to ship canned dog food but the local supply is unreliable so I order 6-8 cases at a time from petfooddirect) by the crate, and then put a laundry basket on top of the crate to hold all the "dog junk". Small appliances are mostly living in the cabinet above the fridge, although I made sure to put the crockpot down in a lower cabinet where I could get at it without killing myself.

I would really love to go down to Ikea and just go bonkers with shelving and cabinets (or Billy bookcases, with doors ;-)) and organizational bits-and-bobs - since that's probably the only place where I could afford to do that - but it's now two hours away, each way, and DH says NO! Meanie.

Oh, and bread in our house is kept out where it's visible, usually perched on top of the toaster - aesthetically less than optimal LOL but that way we remember to eat it before it grows fur or turns into a brick. I think freezing or refrigerating does dreadful things to the taste and texture of bread so you won't catch me dead doing that to a decent loaf of bread (and I won't buy an indecent loaf... "baled fog" has no place in my house!). Breadboxes are charming little things but unless there's a glass window in the front we'd simply forget there was anything in it, and we don't have counter space to spare for it anyway (one thing that does suck about two long peninsulae making up almost all of your counter space, you end up with pretty much nowhere to put any of your small countertop appliances like microwave, coffeemaker, etc.! I am sure we would have much more space if we put in an OTR micro - PO wired for it - but I know I'd dump hot soup all over myself trying to get it down from several inches over my head!). Potatoes, winter squashes, and onions are purchased in small amounts because there simply isn't anywhere to store more than a couple of meals' worth, although in past kitchens I always liked the hanging wire baskets for those.

Robin2000, THAT's not organized??? Wow. :-)

BTW, if any of you with the wire shelving are having problems with things tipping over, there's a shelf liner that is like a thick, firm foam that works really, really well. Comes in rolls at Home Depot. We first tried the thin, translucent plastic shelf liner/topper with poor results, but then we pulled it all out and got the thicker stuff.

I am really one of those neat organizers but my pantry is too small! I think I will organize it over the holidays. I have cans of stuff I haven't used and I have too many cans of soup and boxes of pasta. Actually bags of pasta - I don't know why I buy them in bags - I like the boxes better.
Thanks for the inspiration! I need to go and organize!~

Not good looking like everyone elses but works for us given the small space and nowhere else to build a decent size pantry.

Hoyamom, I got the plastic snaptops that are in the pantry from Target; they don't have scoops. I got the white ceramic with metal scoops and tops that are in the laundry room from Big Lots. Being a laundromanic (as they are called on the Laundry Forum), I use laundry products that aren't mainstream but effective. I made a job aid to help DH do his laundry...

I'd love ideas!!! DH says no shelves.

The pantry is coming together nicely.

Christy

Here's about the best shot I can get of the pantry. Since the wash/dry are across from it, I can't get far enough away for a good shot.

Top Shelf - appliances (this is the shelf DH added for me. I love having this stuff up and out of the way)

2nd shelf - a basket of "packaged" items, boxed foods (instant potatoes, hamburger helper, etc)expandable shelf (can store stuff on it or under it) and my spaghetti stash.

3rd shelf - canned goods

Close up for canned goods - there is one of these expandable riser on each side:

4th shelf - breakfast stuff, powered drinks and some snacks (used the cookie jars for packets of oatmeal - thanks fot someone here for that suggestion!)

5th shelf - all baking stuff & chips (snack stuff for DD)

Floor - baking pans, bulk items, cast iron skillets

I decided to put the baking stuff lower since I have my cake pans and baking pans on the floor. Plus I tend to go to the stuff on top shelf more and I didn't want to have to squat down to find stuff (my knees scream out loud when I do that!). Right now I've stocked up more on chips and stuff. I'm not sure that shelf will stay that way because it's very jumbled right now. Still working on it......

I'm very pleased with it and glad its all clean and painted. Thanks for all the input!

Christy

black-thumb - the people I work with can't believe my pantry is that neat because my office is a disaster area!!! Nothing is in order, but I can pretty much find it. But at home, I don't want to look through things and it helps DH and DD find things on their own without asking me! :-) And it is kinda like Sleeping with the Enemy, although I'm not that anal about it. My frig is kinda like that, but not as neat, but everything does have it's place.

Christy

Next one is a built in that is in front of the walk in, there was glass in doors but the mess i keep it in i just painted blackboard paint and make my grocery list as needed.

and this one i keep pizza and cookie pans in top and bottom is 30" deep and pulls all the way out.

someone else will have to come turn the labels out tho. it's all i can do to keep beans w/ beans, corn w/ corn, etc.

What is the distance/height that you like between shelves??