Top 20 Pantry Organizing Tips Your Family Will Love

Pantries can get pretty messy, especially if you don't revisit it every few months. Since the pantry (Affiliate Link) is a constantly modified and used space, having assigned areas in a pantry (Affiliate Link) is very useful to keep the space organized. To help you get your pantry (Affiliate Link) organized for you and your family, below I shared 20 pantry (Affiliate Link)-organizing tips that my family and clients loved when I was organizing in their homes. It not only looked pretty, but it also was functional to us and their lives.

If you need help with what you should keep in your pantry (Affiliate Link), please visit our What to Keep in Your Organized Pantry post!

Note: below are links from Amazon. If you click through and buy something on Amazon, I will receive a small commission. Thank you for supporting my small business.

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• Tip 1: Use see-through containers in your pantry.
• Tip 2: Place individual-sized packaged snacks in bins.
• Tip 3: Have a Dinner Today Bin
• Tip 4: Assign your cans into different categories and label them.
• Tip 5: Use Labels like Salty Snacks and Sweet Snacks on your snack bins.
• Tip 6: Use mason jars for your legumes.
• Tip 7: Keep all heavy items closer to the floor.
• Tip 8: Use big bins for snack containers in value-size bags.
• Tip 9: Use a Tea Box for loose tea
• Tip 10: Hang a Grocery List Pad and pen in your walk-in pantry
• Tip 11: Use shallow bins for spices and herbs.
• Tip 12: Have a section of your pantry for extra cleaning supplies. 
• Tip 13: Hang wire shelving on any unused wall for extra storage.
• Tip 14: Hang bottles of spray with the handle off a wall wire shelving. 
• Tip 15: Have a section just for your extra plastic wrap rolls for leftovers. 
• Tip 16: Put soups all together on a tiered organizer.
• Tip 17: Create rows from front to back of the same items.
• Tip 18: Store Pet food as well as Your food in the pantry.
• Tip 19: Have a Bin for Oatmeal Packets
• Tip 20: Use small wire containers

Tip 1: Use see-through containers in your pantry.

The first tip is to buy clear containers. This way, you can easily see the food in it, and you can label (Affiliate Link) it at the end when you finish transferring the food to these containers. There is a variety of them now; some are acrylic, and some are plastic. Just make sure they are the right size and type for you and your family's needs.

Tip 2: Place individual-sized packaged snacks in bins.

The next tip is to use individually packaged portion-sized snacks in a snack bin. This worked great for our family when the kids made their lunches each evening for the next day. Get more tips on my ORGANIZING KITCHEN TIPS FOR BACK TO SCHOOL.

Tip 3: Have a Dinner Today Bin

Placing ingredients in the labeled "Dinner Tonight." will help your family know what they will be having. And, if you are lucky, your family may even cook your menu items.

Tip 4: Assign your cans into different categories and label them.

Use different-sized stepped shelves (Affiliate Link) for cans and assign different stepped shelves (Affiliate Link) for different categories. Some categories you can use are veggies, legumes, and fruit. You can also label the wire shelves (Affiliate Link) that describe the content on the shelf.

Tip 5: Use Labels like Salty Snacks and Sweet Snacks on your snack bins.

Separating your salty and sweet snacks makes it easier for everyone craving a particular snack. I like to get individual sizes or use sandwich bags and divide the snacks into portion sizes. Using an open shallow bin works nicely for the grab-and-go snacks.

Tip 6: Use mason jars for your legumes.

Mason jars (Affiliate Link) are one of my go-to organizers since they are a lot more affordable to buy than individual plastic containers (Affiliate Link). And they are glass! Make sure you have a label maker (Affiliate Link), or visit my post about the best way to label mason jars.

Tip 7: Keep all heavy items closer to the floor.

For safety reasons, you should always keep heavier items near the ground. Your shelves (Affiliate Link) may not be able to handle the weight of the items. And they could fall on someone.

Tip 8: Use big bins for snack containers in value-size bags.

Snack bins are super helpful! They keep your snacks fresher longer, and everyone can see what snacks are available to eat. I particularly like the OXO brand, but there are a variety out there. This link is from Amazon (affiliate).

Tip 9: Use a Tea Box for loose tea

Another tip for organizing a pantry (Affiliate Link) is to have a few tea boxes (Affiliate Link) to store all your loose, prepackaged teas. These boxes (Affiliate Link) are available everywhere now. Here are some I found on Amazon (affiliate). This will allow you to eliminate all the cardboard boxes (Affiliate Link) that constantly fall over because they are so light. There are ones with lids and others with openings in the front so you can see all your tea bags. There are even ones with drawers, so you can slide them out depending on what you are looking for.

Tip 10: Hang a Grocery List Pad and pen in your walk-in pantry

Having a place to write down what you run out of helps you when you have to rush to the store. Your family can add to the list as well by hanging the paper pad in a reachable and visible area. A Shopping Checklist Pad that already preprinted with the items you buy helps everyone.

You can also add chalkboard Self-stick paper to the wall or back of the door and add chalk for people to write in what is needed. Check out my DIY project and how to make it.

Tip 11: Use shallow bins for spices and herbs.

Another tip is to lay the spices (Affiliate Link) and herbs containers down and stack the bins in your pantry (Affiliate Link). Label (Affiliate Link) the front of the bin if they are spices (Affiliate Link) or herbs. I talk a lot about how to organize spices (Affiliate Link) and herbs. Here are just some of my popular posts on the subject.

HOW TO CREATE AN INVENTORY CHECKLIST FOR ORGANIZING SPICES AND HERBS

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO ORGANIZING HERBS AND SPICES

HOW TO MAKE A SPICE DRAWER ORGANIZER IN A SMALL SPACE

HOW TO INSTALL A PULL-OUT SPICE RACK ORGANIZER

Tip 12: Have a section of your pantry for extra cleaning supplies. 

Buying multiple cleaning supplies is sometimes cheaper, but where to store the extras? Try making a space for it in your pantry (Affiliate Link). Check out how I organized my cleaning supplies in this post for more ideas.

Tip 13: Hang wire shelving on any unused wall for extra storage.

Usually, the wire shelving (Affiliate Link) the builders place in a pantry (Affiliate Link) is never enough. If you know, you need more shelving (Affiliate Link). Buy shorter or longer shelving (Affiliate Link) and add more. I like to have one entire wall full of shallow 12 to 18-inch depth shelving to support all my pantry (Affiliate Link) items.

Tip 14: Hang bottles of spray with the handle off a wall wire shelving. 

If you have bottles with handles for cleaning, having a cleaning supplies section in your pantry (Affiliate Link) is a must. I had a shallow wall hanging wire shelving unit in my pantry (Affiliate Link) where I stored my supplies; when it was too full, I would hang the handle onto the bar like the image below, and it allowed me to add more storage to that area. Yay!

Tip 15: Have a section just for your extra plastic wrap rolls for leftovers. 

If you are like us, we buy in bulk plastic wraps and gallon bags, so we always have a place to store the excess containers until we use them up. These extra containers are stored in the back upper part of our pantry (Affiliate Link), visible to everyone when they need them.

Tip 16: Put soups all together on a tiered organizer.

Soups can be tricky if your family likes different options. Placing them on tiered shelves (Affiliate Link) works nicely for viewing the soup easily. There are expandable ones as well as ones that have a lip on the edge so the cans do not fall off the step.

Tip 17: Create rows from front to back of the same items.

If you buy the same items like cans soups, you can easily stack the same type of cans in the front and place them going to the back of the pantry (Affiliate Link) shelf. This way, you know how many cans you have of a particular type. Depending on how deep and high your shelf is, you can hold several cans.

Soda/can organizers work nicely for cans if you want to lay them down on their sides.

Tip 18: Store Pet food as well as Your food in the pantry.

Do you have a large pantry (Affiliate Link) and store your pets' dog food and treats in the pantry (Affiliate Link)? Buying the right size container that seals well is best if you leave your pantry (Affiliate Link) open.

Tip 19: Have a Bin for Oatmeal Packets

If you eat oatmeal often, have a plastic food-safe storage container of all the items you may want to add to your oatmeal, like nuts, raisins, dried cranberries, chia seeds, and flaxseed. 

Tip 20: Use small wire containers

Another pantry (Affiliate Link) organizing tip is to use smaller wire container accessories that attach to the wire shelf so small items will not fall through the wire shelves (Affiliate Link). It's perfect for those small Jell-o boxes (Affiliate Link) since they tend to fall through the wire shelving (Affiliate Link).

Some people have wire shelving (Affiliate Link) in their pantry (Affiliate Link). If you do, you may want to visit our Pantry Wire Shelving Accessories to Maximize Your Storage, where I placed several items together to help reduce wasted space in your pantry (Affiliate Link).

I hope this list of pantry (Affiliate Link) organization tips gives you the inspiration to get your pantry (Affiliate Link) organized. Your family will love it! They will be able to find everything they are looking for when they want it.

Get more pantry tips!

Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn affiliate fees if you decide to make a purchase.