The Pantry

We've all seen them: beautiful, Pinterest-worthy pictures of pantries with matching baskets of snacks, jars full of pasta and beans and other dry goods, all with flawless, hand-lettered calligraphy labels. It's gorgeous, it's tidy, it's everything you've ever wanted your home to be.

It's also wildly unrealistic for most people, not to mention completely unnecessary.

How you set up your pantry depends on your own needs: which items do you reach for most often? Do you typically keep a lot of canned goods? How about packaged snacks? Where do you store pots and pans? Do you prefer glass or plastic for decanting your dry goods? Do you want to decant them at all? Do you have the budget, space, and desire for matching containers? What about labels? Do you have the time to maintain all of this?

These are all questions I ask my clients as we begin work on a pantry space. Very often, the result doesn't match the Pinterest boards, but it DOES make the space more functional, and optimized so the client knows what they have and won't be finding long-expired goods hiding in corners. Or worse: pests. A big part of food storage is food safety: storing your food in the right type of containers so it lasts as long as possible and won't attract ants, moths, or mice.

This picture is of a pantry project I worked on with a client. Below, I'll list some of the tips and tricks I implemented to make this space work for them.

• Jars, jars, jars: This client uses a lot of nuts, seeds, and grains in their kitchen, so finding a way to store them that not only looked nice, but kept everything sealed in airtight containers was key. You'll notice that the jars don't match, and they don't need to! We took an eco-friendly, sustainable approach and used containers the client already owned, plus some thrifted pieces. So there are several sizes and styles here. On the top right, you'll even notice a plastic, vacuum-top container for flour.

• Labels: There are none! The client chose to forgo labels for this pantry. Since the jars are glass, you can clearly see what's in them. The client also doesn't always keep the same items in the same containers, so any permanent labels would be inconvenient, or sometimes even wrong. Level Best Tip: keep a roll of painter's tape and a marker on hand for easy, removable labels. This works great in the pantry, but also in the fridge and freezer! Plus, if you want to keep the instructions from a box or bag that you've decanted (ex. rice) you can cut them out and use the tape to attach just that section to the container.

• On Display: If you have a favored piece of dinnerware that you want to keep on hand somewhere visible, leaning it up on the back of a shelf is a great way to do that. Every time you look at your shelves, you'll get to see a piece you love, like the hand-painted floral serving tray on the bottom shelf. In this client's home, that shelf is just about eye level, so they get to see their favorite piece all the time!

• Baskets: Anyone who likes to bake knows that it's far too easy to accumulate all kinds of little odds and ends: food coloring, vanilla extract, cupcake wrappers, specialized tools and utensils... it adds up fast! Grouping things by category of use and storing them in a basket makes them easy to find. This client likes to bake, but not so often that these items need to be accessed every day. So we corralled them in a storage basket and put them on a slightly higher shelf - out of the way, but still easy enough to get to.

• Within Arm's Reach: You can see on the top shelf in this photo that the client has a bundt pan, a cake stand, and the lid for the cake stand. These things are nice looking, but definitely don't need to be reached every day. Store items that you use the least in the spots that are hardest to get to. This client keeps a folding step stool for when they need to reach the top shelf, so the items that go up there are definitely the ones that they use the least!

If you're the type of person who wants everything in matching containers with matching labels, then I say go for it! But for this client, and many others, it's more realistic to use what's available and set it up in a way that's easy to maintain so that they can maintain an organized environment long-term.

I hope these tips and tricks for pantry organization are helpful for you!