Kitchen Pantry Makeover Ideas

Before: Cluttered Chaos

Even though this pantry had savvy shelving, it was still falling under a disorganized curse.

Tip: Opt for wire shelves no deeper than 12 inches so items don’t get lost in the back; customize lengths and heights for your needs. A foundation like this lays smart groundwork for storage add-ons. (Take a peek on the next slides.)

After: Orderly Fashion

Group similar items, then repackage. Place boxes and bags in totes. Transfer dry goods to clear, stackable canisters. Place daily staples on eye-level shelves. Stack cans on stepped risers. Turntables rotate items from back to front. Designate a turntable as the base camp for sweet spreads. Corral tea and coffee on a serving tray that carries easily to the countertop.

Clip It

Ensure snack bags stay closed and fresh with clothespins. Keep clothespins handy by gluing a magnet to a strip of ribbon and attaching your clip holder to a metal shelf edge.

Top Shelf Organization

Dedicate the top shelf to occasional-use items such as cake stands and party supplies. Organize recipe tear sheets in a binder and cookbooks in a magazine holder. Make use of headroom: Stash tall rolls of paper towels and stacks of foam cups here.

Floor Exercises

Reserve floor space for heavy items such as juice and soda bottles. Unwrap food -- even dry dog food -- from bulky or awkward packaging and sort into tidy, space-saving containers such as this lidded pail.

Make a Note

Use frames to highlight dry-erase boards and corkboards on pantry doors. Grocery lists, coupons, and your family's schedule will stay right where you need them.

Before: Cluttered and Crammed

This homeowner's pantry was in need of some serious TLC. It had become the place where items that didn’t fit anywhere else in the home would go. A candelabra even found its way into the mix. With no order, the family often bought duplicates of ingredients and wasted time locating the utensils and ingredients they needed while cooking.

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After: Consistent Order

By adding bins, baskets, and clear containers, the pantry stays clean and organized. Now they can find ingredients quickly, and taking inventory before going to the store is a breeze. The pantry is kept clean by placing newly purchased items in specific places that stay consistent.

• Discover 18 ideas for storing food.

See-Through Storage

Taking inventory on food items is super simple with clear containers. Adding labels to containers ensure that every family member knows which container newly purchased food goes into. When buying containers, look for models that can be stacked to save on additional space.

Storage Tip: Stack items that are used most often at eye-level for easy access.

Evaluate Your Inventory

Before buying organization supplies, decide which items need to be kept, tossed, or donated. After sorting through the pantry, group the remaining items according to their purpose; this will tell you what supplies you need to buy.

Storage Tip: To store food magazines and cookbooks, use magazine holders that can be found at most office supply stores.

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Go Vertical

Vertical wooden dividers keep tins and baking racks in one place and take up less space. Label the space in between the dividers to keep shelves organized. Baskets and bins belong in the kitchen -- use them in your pantry to store bulky, less-used items.

Makeover Tip: Go With Open Shelving

See why you should try open shelving in a pantry to maximize storage potential.

Before: Grocery Graveyard

Even though this pantry was outfitted with floor-to-ceiling shelves, the pantry was constantly a chaotic mess. By using the pantry as a drop zone for groceries, the family could never be sure where items were or what the pantry contained.

After: Peaceful Pantry

By reconfiguring shelves and assessing which items needed to go, this pantry went from chaotic to controlled. No more unpackaged bulk foods or full grocery bags here. Instead, the family can see what they are running low on before going to the store and buying too much.

Grouping is Good

Prioritize what remains after cleaning out your pantry. Group small items like snack bars together and keep bigger items like bulk buys up high and out of the way. If possible, under-shelf baskets are a great way to organize small, compact things. On the floor, only store items that aren’t used every day and don’t take up a lot of space. Maintain a routine of putting groceries away right after returning from the store.

Love Labels

Turntables are a great storage solution for small items that have a tendency to rapidly accumulate in corners. To keep the entire family organized, label shelves according to what foods go where. Cereal goes on one shelf, canned soups on another, and so on. By clearly identifying where items go, everyone can lend a hand in keeping the pantry in order.

Get Hooked

Install hooks on empty wall space or on the back of the pantry door. Use the hooks to hang aprons, oven mitts, or reusable shopping bags for quick access. In a pantry, utilizing vertical storage is essential and in the end, saves on space.

BONUS: Bookshelf Pantry

Squeeze in a pantry almost anywhere with this creative solution.