Use my pantry organization ideas to tidy up your home! Plus, I’m sharing some of the Hip team’s favorite pantry organizers!
Learning how to organize your pantry is a no-brainer with these ideas! 🤩
Proper organization helps you to maximize your pantry space and allows you to see what you already have on hand.
Are you currently struggling to organize your pantry? I’ve been there before (see my post on my pantry makeover) and am here to lend a hand! I’m sharing some of my best pantry organization ideas. Plus, I’ve found some clever and useful pantry organizers to easily elevate your space!
Put these organizers to use with these pantry organization ideas:
1. Purge and declutter.
Before I start any organizing project, purging is always the first step (less stuff always equals less effort to organize). I, too, sometimes overbuy one item and never use it, or my kids open a bag of chips, and it’s been sitting around months later! Declutter and get rid of as many things as you can, from spoiled food to unused appliances. Consider donating unwanted, unopened non-perishable food that hasn’t expired to a food bank.
2. Creating different zones is one of the best pantry organizer ideas.
One of my favorite pantry organization ideas is to create zones. Creating zones will help you quickly identify items so that there’s a home for everything. You can create a zone for pantry staples like canned goods, cereal, baking supplies, grab-and-go snacks, etc. I also have a zone for foil, kitchen wraps, and baggies.
3. Use clear kitchen pantry organizers to gather like items.
As you’re creating pantry zones, consider separating like items so you can easily identify them. I have mac and cheese separated together, and stacked about some drink mix packets. I also keep all my vinegar and oils in their own organizers.
Love drinking tea? Those bulky boxes of tea bags don’t deserve to take up the valuable retail space in your pantry. Instead, scoop up one of these double-sided compact tea organizers! It can fit 80 or 120 bags depending on which one you buy. It’s so compact, that it’ll fit seamlessly anywhere on your pantry shelf or in the smallest of cabinets!
4. Use storage baskets or bins to separate snacks and small items.
For one of my pantry organization ideas, I created a teen zone with all my kids snacks and open chip bags. This way they can grab and go as needed, and everything is corralled into one spot. This is so much cleaner and easier than keeping snacks in original packaging floating around the pantry.
My stackable bamboo organizers are from The Container Store and they have held up well for years. I love how beautiful they look and how functional they are.
Hip Tip: Check out this small heated snack sealer that I’ve been using to prevent stale food in my pantry! It works great and helps me avoid food waste.
5. Use vertical space for canned goods, bottles, and cutting boards.
These handy racks are one of our very favorite pantry organization ideas! Using all of the vertical space in your pantry shelving makes perfect sense, especially for storing canned goods. I have had two canned food 3-tiered storage racks for years and love how easily I can grab what I need and also see what I have! If you have the room, these are so helpful. They really maximize your space!
My exact racks are no longer available, but Hip Sidekick Madison says her mom has the Sagler rack and it looks very professional in an everyday pantry and works great for soda in the fridge, too!
Utilizing vertical space is also helpful when it comes to organizing bottles. Scoop up a pack of these pantry organizers that hold up to three bottles per row if your family is constantly battling the cabinet full of reusable water bottles! Or they also make stackable singles if you only have a few bottles to store or larger water bottle holder. They’re perfect for all your water bottles and even wine too! 👏
You can also use vertical space for cutting boards and bakeware! Our team loves this handy rack. You’ll be able to store everything from baking sheets, cutting boards, pizza stones, and more with this sturdy pantry organizer!
Lastly, rather than stuffing all those unused party supplies into a random drawer or cabinet, easily store them with this genius organizer! It’s such a simple design, yet goes such a long way and everything will easily be at hand’s reach when you’re about to cut some cake. Better yet, these pantry organizers are also perfect for all your plastic container lids floating around. No more shuffling to find the perfect lid, because this system keeps everything just where you need it.
6. Take foods out of large, boxed packaging.
Food packaging takes up so much valuable space! As an example, I keep a container for our dog’s treats instead of the big box they come in. I also store spaghetti in tall canisters and cereal in OXO air-tight cereal keepers.
My dry goods like rice and beans are stored in these brilliant PrepWorks canisters with scoops inside. I love these pantry organizers so much as the quality is fantastic and they are sleek looking.
Glass jars make great pantry organizers. This inexpensive yet large 2-gallon Anchor Hocking glass canister, pictured above, holds the large box of K-cups from Costco nicely! I am sure you can use it to organize lots of other items like flour and other supplies. Those are nice quality canisters for pantry organizing!
Also, since I bake often, it is so helpful to have a spot for all my flour and sugars. These clear storage containers work perfectly for my space as I can immediately identify what’s in each one. I also made these farmhouse-style kitchen labels using my Cricut vinyl cutting machine, and love the look and functionality so much!
7. One of our top pantry organization ideas is to think outside the box and use magazine or file holders for your produce.
Think outside the box with these beautiful wire organizers! Using them is one of our favorite pantry organization ideas! Thanks to one Instagrammer, we’re realizing just how easy it is to make room for so much more food and it’s truly perfect if you tend to buy smaller quantities of perishables, too! We even saw something similar from The Pioneer Woman, so we don’t think you’ll need much more convincing to grab a few of these baskets. 😏
By using some thinner and taller containers like a magazine or file holder, you’ll be able to maximize your food storage tenfold. Plus, there’s no denying it looks so sleek and gorgeous! Bravo, HomeSort! 👏
8. One of our really effective pantry organization ideas is to make use of your walls and the space behind your pantry door.
Speaking of getting rid of the packaging, we have a solution for storing leftover plastic bags. Hide them behind the pantry door! Plastic bags are handy to have around whether you use them as bathroom trash bags or to stash stuff before running out the door. By adding an organizer to the back of a cabinet or on the wall, you’ll have a clean and stylish place to store them when they’re not being used. Best of all, the organizer we love is slim enough for even the smallest pantries.
If you need extra shelving, consider this mounted behind-the-door shelving. While there are many ways to make your pantry clutter-free, we couldn’t love this ingenious invention more to really maximize your space! Best of all, you’ll be utilizing what you might not have even thought of as unusable space before! This shelving unit hangs right on the back of your door hinges and is entirely customizable to fit any door. Plus, you can customize the shelves to make space to accommodate different items like tall wrapping paper or bulky ribbon. 🙌🏼
These easy-to-hang hooks even go far beyond your pantry! From gardening tools in the garage and cleaning supplies in your kitchen, now you’ll be able to easily hang all your favorite mops and brooms too.
While you’ve probably seen traditional mop holders, these hooks are much more appealing since you don’t need to drill holes and you’ll be able to customize the height and width unique to your own storage needs!
While we’re on the subject of easy-to-hang pantry organization ideas, consider scooping up a few of these self-adhesive bins! You’ll get to use up some of your unused pantry wall space and stash all your seasoning packets and smaller odds and ends right in one convenient place.
Just keep in mind, if you’re looking to hang heavier items, reviewers recommend grabbing some stronger Command strips.
9. Style & function meet pantry GOALS with these stunning pull-out racks.
If you don’t mind splurging on some pantry organization ideas that will last for many years to come, then these handmade pull-out spice racks will be the modern touch you’re looking for! 🤩
Easily install them in your cabinet or right on your pantry shelf for everyone to see, because they’re that gorgeous. Plus, you can even reach out to the seller to get them custom-sized to your needs. Sweet!
Committed to shopping on Amazon? The Verticle Spice Rack store has vertical acrylic organizers that are the same concept and fit anything from pasta sauce jars to spices!
To really elevate your new pantry organization, you could grab some matching spice jars and easily be able to keep everything in alphabetical order! 😍 Go a step further and make modern labels for your spices. My Hip sidekick, Sara, created a post to show you how!
Our Hip sidekick, Angela loves these stainless steel organizers if you’re looking to place these on display in a pantry drawer. Even Good Housekeeping can get behind this pantry organization idea, so you KNOW it’s good!
10. One of our easy pantry organization ideas is to place a Lazy Susan in the corner.
I’m a big fan of Lazy Susan organizers to access items conveniently, as it’s a nice space-saving idea, especially for corner areas. This small turntable is perfect for smaller spices and baking items.
11. Hang a chalkboard so your to-do list is easily accessible.
Stick this handy chalkboard paper on the back of cabinets, pantry doors, or empty wall space. It’s going to be the perfect place to organize your menu for the week, groceries you need to pick up, and other weekly to-dos.
12. Store your trash cans out of sight with this pull-out under-cabinet organizer.
Never have a trash bin eyesore in your beautiful kitchen again. With this easy upgrade, you will have a convenient and out-of-sight place to store your trash can while still staying at arm’s reach. Best of all, it’s easy to install yourself in your existing cabinet so there’s no hassle of hiring a professional.
13. Take 10 minutes at the end of each day to tidy up.
This has been huge for me, and it makes all the difference so I don’t get overwhelmed. Even just wiping up the counter and shelving – and making sure miscellaneous things are put away at the end of the day – is so helpful!
Speaking of keeping things tidy, I recently picked up these handy cord organizers from Amazon.com and they have helped me corral small appliance cords in my pantry!! These are so easy to install, are very sturdy, and they do a great job of keeping cords in check.
The cord on my KitchenAid mixer has always bothered me as there is no great way to organize the cord! This little stick-on cord holder is organized perfectly. I am excited to install it on all my small appliances now.
Take on our FREE declutter challenge to get your pantry ready for 2024!
