Pantry Overhaul

Is there anything worse than opening your pantry and looking at a big mess? Well, I guess there are many things that could be worse but it is certainly one thing that drives me crazy. Even more so when I end up buying duplicates of groceries because I couldn’t even see what I already had. I had enough one day and decided to finally tackle the situation with a full pantry overhaul and I have never been happier! Here are my tips for overhauling your pantry into a space you love.

Before :

1 – Make a List

Take a peek at your pantry and start a list of your most used items. I knew I wanted to use glass jars in my pantry but I had no idea how many I needed. I knew that I often grab for rice, oatmeal and pasta for our meal prep and they often need to me measured so I wanted bigger containers for those. Baking supplies that I don’t use too often like coconut, baking powder or sugar could easily go in smaller containers.

2 – Empty Out & Start Fresh

To make it a true pantry overhaul you need to start with a blank canvas. I don’t mean throw everything out, but empty your pantry. This will force you to go through all your items. I may or may not have found a few canned goods that were well past their expiry date and some baking ingredients that looked a little questionable. Once the shelves were empty I was able to create a plan of where to put things. If you want to love your pantry you have to make the space functional for your family. I love having a snack station for Harper so she can be independent and grab what she wants. That includes keeping cereal on a lower shelf so she can get her own breakfast. I found a lazy-susan in storage and knew it would be so helpful for smaller jars instead of stacking them!

After :

3 – Pick Your Containers

I like the idea of symmetry to I chose to get all new jars from IKEA. They have such a large selection I knew that they would fit perfectly. Want to save some money? Reuse pickle jars, jam jars or any other jar you may have. Just soak off the label and you are ready to go! It took a bit of rearranging (and a couple trips back to IKEA for more sizes) but I finally found the right combination to fit the 3 shelves in my pantry.

Of course, not the entire bag or rice or pasta or chocolate chips fit into the jars perfectly. I picked up a few white bins and placed all the extra packaging in them. Whenever the jars get empty I just pull out the bins and refill what I need to. ** TIP ** Place felt pads on the bottom of the large bins so they can slide out easily without damaging your floors. A pantry overhaul is not worth it if you end up with scratches all over your floors.

4 – Use Baskets

Not everything fit into jars and I didn’t want to waste space or money so I scoured my house for extra baskets and found two sets that worked perfectly. I like to have a snack station for Harper so that she can easily grab her snacks and be more independent. A big wicker basket did the trick! I found a great wire basket at IKEA for things like potatoes, onions and garlic so they don’t end up rolling around.

Baskets really help hide the mess and store smaller items that may get lost in the tall bins on the bottom. They also give your items a designated place to go and keep your space looking clean and uniform. I found a tall basket for those baking supplies like cupcake liners, food colouring and jello mixes and tucked it beside my mixer. I even have a basket to keep the bags of chips and nachos in.

5 – Make it Pretty

I ordered custom labels for the jars to make it easy to know what exactly was in them. This is where you can have some fun and show your style. More modern? Go with a sleek clean label. Love that farmhouse decor? These vintage labels are so cute!

These were so easy to order and I love how you could really customize them to whatever you want. I ordered the 2.8″ square white labels and they fit the larger jars well, but I had to trim them for the smaller jars or else they would crease.

** TIP ** There are always going to be items that don’t fit perfectly into jars or are not the prettiest to display. That’s okay! Find a shelf that allows you to tuck them away. I put all my extra bottles of oils, vinegar, ketchup (you know, the Costco size containers that take up so much space) in the top right corner. These are items I don’t reach for often so a spot that is more hidden is perfect and keeps the aesthetic look I love.

I absolutely love the way the pantry overhaul turned out and it makes me smile every time I open the door. It wasn’t an expensive project and you can really save money by reusing your own jars (like pickle jars or jam jars). Having a space that is practical with storage but is also aesthetically pleasing makes me so happy. I no longer dread when the pantry door gets left often all day. Who knew you could love a pantry so much!

XO
Katrina Gwen Rose

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