Pantry Shelving Ideas to Organize Your Kitchen

You may dread opening your pantry because it is so disorganized that it’s depressing. But you can quickly turn things around with the right pantry shelving ideas. When you need something that you know you put in your pantry, it may take several minutes to find it. Your pantry shelving situation might even be worse than badly disorganized. You may dread opening it because you fear being buried under the mound of everything you have stuffed into it.

Let’s face it: We all swoon over those oversized pantries in celebrities’ homes and wish that we could magically have the room for a walk-in setup in our own kitchen. But in reality, many of us are forced to make the most of a small pantry. And honestly? Having a small pantry isn’t awful! You can still organize all of your ingredients so that they shine and have plenty of fun with those aesthetically pleasing baskets and bins.

So if you dream about a stunning small pantry but aren’t sure where to begin as you begin to organize your own. We’re here to help by sharing fabulous pantries we’ve rounded up below. After all, even if your kitchen is short on space. You deserve for it to look photo worthy and be ultra functional. Read on for tons of organization ideas and thank us later.

1. Go Big

Don’t be afraid to use oversized baskets in your small pantry. They’re great for holding miscellaneous items and are generally way more aesthetically pleasing than bulky plastic bins.

2. Decant It

When in doubt, decant it! Everything from cereal to marshmallows can be taken out of its original packaging and placed in a see-through jar to ensure it stays fresh.

3. Use the Floor

In a small pantry, every inch of space counts. Placing lined bins on the floor ensures that you don’t waste any valuable square footage that can be used for storing food supplies.

4. Think Tiered

Use a tiered stand for jars of soup and tomato sauce so that you can see everything you have on hand without wasting vertical space. As a bonus, opening your pantry to grab what you need will feel like shopping at a fancy little market.

5. Tuck Away the Toaster

If you don’t use your toaster every day, give it a good clean and then tuck it onto an open shelf in the pantry where it is still in your line of sight but not busy cluttering up your kitchen island. Ahh, much better.

6. Style a Kid-Friendly Setup

If you have young children, be thoughtful about where you place their go-to snacks. Keeping things like juice boxes and fruit snacks in easily reachable drawers or bins will allow little ones to have some agency and responsibility. Of course, if your young ones snack relentlessly, you may wish to take the opposite approach and place their goodies high up and out of reach!

7. Stash Away Those Extra Appliances

If you can make room in your pantry to house appliances that you love but don’t find yourself using often, go for it. You’ll be oh-so-grateful when your kitchen countertop is less cluttered on a daily basis. Appliances can overwhelm a prep space quickly.

8. Gather Some Glass Jars

If you store lots of grains and pastas in your pantry, glass jars are an excellent solution. Label them so that it’s easy to locate the exact ingredient that you need; there are lots of great printable options online.

9. Part With Those Bulky Boxes

Eliminate excess clutter by removing wrapped snacks from their boxed packaging. Instead, place things like bags of microwave popcorn, granola bars, and other individual items into clear bins so that they’re ultra easy to grab as needed.