Pantry Organization

The weather was so nice last week, that it tricked me into early spring cleaning. I decided to do an entire pantry overhaul, on a complete whim. Halfway through it, I had two cardboard cuts (ouch!) on my arms, a broken nail, and a counter covered in stray bits of pasta and flour. It was the best and worst idea I have ever had. But I’m on the other side now!

I received so many messages on Instagram after sharing a few peeks into my progress on InstaStories, so I am going to attempt to answer all the questions, and share my experience!

First things first: supplies. I had no idea how many options there were going to be for storage containers. I fell in love with the simple design of the Martha Stewart Collection containers, and picked up 3 sets on sale. They stacked, too, which was a nice bonus! I wish there would have been a brand/style where i could have gotten every size I needed to match, but after 2 days of googling, I gave up, and settled for mis-matched. You can click on the images below to shop, or scroll to the bottom of the post for all links.

I used the wicker basket for bread items (bagels, buns, etc), since I knew those weren’t “glass jar material”, and it kept them organized. I also used the wire baskets as catch-alls for other items, like soup and easy mac, that couldn’t go into glass jars. On the lowest shelf, I used a wire basket to keep all of the girls’ snacks organized. Now, I can reach into one spot and grab Peyton’s snacks for school! I also used three large glass jars on the counter for our most on-demand snacks.

I used a black paint pen to free-hand label the jars. If I didn’t love how my handwriting looked, it was very easy to wipe off with dry paper towel. I let them dry overnight, before attempting to touch them – and thankfully they all dried without drips! They don’t wipe off just by touching, and it does take some elbow grease with a wet paper towel to get the paint pen off, but it does come off! So you’re not 100% committing to a label 😉

I tried to organize it by “type”. Bottom shelf is all the girls’ stuff and snack food. Then, above it, I have dinner food: pastas, rice, and in the basket, soups, mac n cheese, and taco supplies. Above that, baking! I used a rectangular container to store sprinkles, and it might be my favorite part of the whole thing! On the highest shelf, I stashed our extras and back ups. You know, for the times when BBQ sauces is on sale and you buy four.

A few FAQ’s I received:

1. Yes, it is my handwriting. I didn’t trace over a pencil, I just kind of went for it. Like I said above, it wiped off very easily for any mess-ups!
2. As far as best prices, I found that Macy’s had a code you could use to get a better price on the Martha Stewart Collection that beat the Amazon price.
3. Some of the containers (the ones I used for flour/sugars) come with little scooper spoons, but I plan on using measuring cups or just going in with my hands. (*clean hands!)
4. Now, this hasn’t even been done for a week, but so far, cereals haven’t gone stale and we don’t have ants, so I’m going out on a limb and saying, yes. Yes, these jars keep food fresh.
5. Where do I put extras/overstock of items (for the Costco moms)? I mentioned above storing some extras in a bin on the top shelf of our pantry. For example, I stashed extra pasta in Ziplock bags (since I don’t need 5 half empty boxes taking up space!). We don’t buy giant boxes of cereal, since David and Peyton are our only cereal eaters, but you could do the same for those (or just buy a size bigger in the cereal storage containers!)

I loved these white pop containers, and this Martha Stewart set was perfect for all my baking goodies.

If you have any other questions, please leave them in the comments below, and I’ll do my best to answer them! And you can shop the whole post here: