Today, I’m sharing my functional, pretty organized pantry. I’ll start with the build-out of the pantry and how I’ve organized it to fit my family’s needs.
Pantry Before
Let’s start by looking at the overall size of the pantry. As you can see from the construction photo shown here, this is not a large pantry. I would say it’s a medium size pantry with ample space to store a lot of food and some additional household items.
Our pantry came standard with builder-grade shelving that was functional and could work with bins, baskets, and other organizing items.
When I saw the pantry in person, I knew I could elevate it and make it a lot more functional. This space resembled my last pantry (here), so I had everything necessary to organize this pantry without spending any additional money. Although I could have proceeded in that manner, I decided to add some elements that I thought would 1) hide a lot of the kids’ snacks and 2) provide a countertop for my toaster and eventual stand mixer.
If you’re like me, you probably buy in bulk from Sams or Costco, and I would stuff all these items in the woven bins and keep it moving. Again, this works well if you don’t want to visually see everything.
I personally wanted to design a pantry and provide hidden storage that was kid-friendly and visually appealing. We achieved that with the design and updates to the pantry.
Build-Out / Update of the Pantry
Basically, we removed one of the shelves on the long wall and replaced it with a base cabinet. On the opposite side of the pantry, I had the builder install an electrical outlet and omit the lower shelves. My contractor also built a base cabinet for this side as well.
I pinned several pantries that had these pull-out drawers, and I fell in love with the concept of pull-out deep drawers for my new pantry. After I showed the inspiration pictures to my contractor, he stated that he had already built some drawers like this. I was thrilled, and we moved forward with figuring out the drawer sizes and locations once we started the build process.
Pantry Build-Out Process
This video shows the process of the build-out of the base cabinets and updating the shelves to give them a finished look.
The contractor built everything on site, and I was so impressed. He communicated with me about the details throughout the process, and he allowed me to make changes throughout the process.
This was by far one of the best experiences I’ve had working with a contractor in a very long time.
After the base cabinet build-out, my contractor began working on the pull-out drawers. Once I saw them come together, I got so excited. He built the drawers, and then he added the drawer fronts.
On the left, top drawer, I decided to go with a divided look. I initially thought I would store a lot of vegetables in this drawer; however, I changed my mind once I started organizing the pantry. Besides, I needed a place for my adult snacks! It didn’t make sense to divide all the drawers since I wanted the option of switching up what I put in the drawers over time.
I also went with cabinet doors to hide my new, very large air fryer. The contractor built a very deep, pull-out drawer that can be used to store small appliances. In the future, I would love to add another pull-out drawer to store my vegetables.
For the countertops, I went with a butcher block. I initially wanted to go with a quartz countertop remnant; however, the process of finding the exact countertops (MSI Calcutta Classique) proved to be daunting. Since the house was a hot mess, I didn’t want to prolong the process of completing the pantry.
So you’ve seen the process of the build-out of the pantry, now let’s get into organizing the pantry!
Updated Pantry – Shelves
As I said before, I had most of the bins and containers from my last pantry. The new items added more functionality. This was very important since I have kids who seem to camp out in the pantry looking for snacks.
Let’s start with the countertop organizational items. These are items that the kids can easily access for their breakfast and snacks!
Of course, I moved my new Smeg toaster into the pantry! The kids love using the toaster to make their toast and waffles in the morning.
Now let’s look at the shelves. Can you believe that these are the same shelves that you saw above? Well, the builder added the face frame to the existing shelves and really elevated the look of these shelves.
On the right-hand side of the pantry shelves, I re-used all the items that I had on hand from my pantry in Virginia. I’ve had these OXO containers for over 4 years, and I love them. They are airtight and really help keep dry goods fresh. I purchased them from The Container Store; however, they have updated their look and feel over the past couple of years.
Of course, I purchased a Cricut Joy to make labels for all of the bins, baskets and containers. I used my old bin clip label holders for the bins and baskets.
These water hyacinth and Tosca baskets are my all-time favorite for organizing my home! I have almost 30 of these bins in multiple sizes. This is where I keep all my backstock!
As you can see, I did store some decorative items on the top shelf. These are items that I don’t reach for often and take up too much space elsewhere.
If we move over to the shelves on the left side of the pantry, this is where I spent money to make my pantry more functional and pretty. I purchased these glass jars with bamboo tops from Amazon. If you’re looking for quality glass jars, I can’t recommend them enough. The remaining dry goods and bulk spices wee stored in these jars, this creating some contrast between the left and right sides of the pantry.
The varying heights of the jars allow me to easily see the items and grab them.
To illustrate, I also achieved varying heights with the bulk spices by using this 3-tier expandable bamboo shelf. The bulk spice containers are 14 ounces, which are over 3 times larger than my everyday 4 oz spice container.
I wanted to create a section of the pantry for specialty boxes, so I picked up these plastic bins with bamboo lids from The Container Store. We have dedicated boxes for some of our favorite meals with our meal prep items enclosed. We even have a movie night bin with our candy!
Updated Pantry – Drawers
Undoubtedly, these pull-out drawers are my favorite part of the pantry update. I have dreamed of well-organized pantry drawers for years! Am I the only one who pins beautiful pantries on Pinterest almost weekly? When I say I love organized pantries…..you just wouldn’t understand!
Unlike my “adult” drawers, the kids’ snack drawers are #goals! I was ordering all the snacks from Costco and, I was organizing them over a period of two weeks. They were losing their minds looking at all these beautifully organized snacks that they couldn’t touch! I made sure I set aside some snacks for them to take!
I wanted to make sure I separated the snacks within the drawers, so I added these stacking bamboo bins from The Container Store. Along with the smaller ones, I added the divided ones for easier separation. These are game changers for organizing inside drawers!
Once I got to the bottom drawer, I wanted to use the plastic bins I purchased on Amazon. They are drop-front, so they work so well. It should be noted that they are a perfect fit for the drawer and easily separate the different types of items stored in this drawer.
Since I’m on this healthy kick in 2022, I decided to allow myself one snack drawer! I put everything I love in this drawer! As you can see, this is the one drawer with built-in dividers.
Clearly, I love containing items within separate containers. This really works for things like the paper products backstock, my coffee pods, and my favorite tea cookies.
The other drawers are not as fun; however, they provide the functionality that I need for items that we use in the kitchen daily. As things change, we can always store more food items in these drawers and move the paper products to our storage closet right outside the kitchen. It should be noted that I love to build in the flexibility of switching up how I use my storage solutions over time.
Not only did I want to show you how I organized my new pantry, but I also wanted to share all of my sources for the organizing solutions that I used in the pantry. These tools are always helpful to me when planning a project, so I wanted to answer any questions that I typically get from sharing my organized spaces.
Pantry Sources
Click on the purchase link to be redirected to the actual products from my organized pantry.
Where to Shop – Pantry Shelf Organizers
Where to Shop – Pantry Shelf Containers
Where to Shop – Pantry Drawer Organizers
This was a fun space to organize, and I love the overall function and style of the organized pantry. Please let me know down in the comments your favorite organizing solutions for your pantry. Also, please follow along on Instagram as I share additional spaces that I’m organizing.
