{Yet Another} Pantry Makeover - Julie's Corner Closet

A friend of mine just moved into the first house she's ever had that has a pantry.  Until now, food and baking items have been in cabinets and drawers.  So, of course, I offered to help organize her new pantry!

The "before" picture is stuck on her camera, which is currently in a coma, but I do have plenty of "after" pictures.

My goal when organizing a pantry is to keep like items with like items.  I always pull everything out of the space and try to logically group things into categories.

In this case, the categories were: pasta, rice and dinner items, canned goods, baking, breakfast, protein powders and other drinks, sweet snacks and salty snacks.

I'm a big fan of taking things out of their packages and putting them in an open or glass container.  This may seem pointless, but hear me out. With this method, you don't need to reorganize the entire pantry when you go grocery shopping.  Why?  Because everything has a place.  Pasta has a jar, spaghetti has a jar, rice has a jar, snacks have containers, baking supplies have containers, even granola bars and grab-and-go snacks have a basket.  After you shop, you open the boxes, refill each designated bin, recycle the boxes and everything looks the same as before your grocery trip.  Make sense?

You might also notice that I generally put the necessary packages (bags of chips, the remainder of the sugar and flour) in the back and the nicer-looking containers in the front.  If your pantry shelves are deep, things get lost easily, so put the big stuff in the back.  It's easy to see, easy to grab, easy to replace.

And for pantries that have a large, awkward corner on each shelf, I strongly recommend utilizing Lazy Susans.  The giant ones are great for tall bottles of oil, sauces and backup condiments.  The shorter, stacking ones are great for smaller items like spices, sprinkles or rarely used baking supplies.

We used as many baskets, jars and containers as we could from around her house, but this makeover did require a quick trip to IKEA: 

- We bought some canvas bins (I can't find the link!) to contain oatmeal packets, popcorn bags, granola bars and random baking items like bags of chocolate chips and nuts.

- The glass jars came in various sizes for pastas, rices, nuts and sweet snacks.

- On the floor are a couple of Vessla Storage Crate with Casters for paper goods and picnic supplies.

Word got out on Facebook that I was in a pantry-organizing mood, and another friend said, "I'm next!"  She's still sending me the before and afters of her pantry to share, too.  What is it about an organized pantry that gets me all giddy...?

(for more pantry inspiration, read Alison's pantry makeover and see how I redid my own pantry)