Here's all the motivation you'll need to (finally!) declutter your pantry.
By Katie Holdefehr, Real Simple
Pantries are like clothes closets—they always seem to collect more, and despite our best efforts, they're almost impossible to keep organized. But half the battle is learning how to organize them in a way that's easy to maintain (read: less work later) and building up the motivation to start organizing. These inspiring pantries spotted on Instagram help on both fronts: They're full of practical organizing ideas you can borrow, and admiring these pretty spaces will make you want to overhaul your own. Here are 5 brilliant organizing ideas to steal from these real-life pantries.
Choose Organizers That Make the Most of a Small Pantry
If you're convinced that your space is too tiny to be organized, here's proof that even a small pantry can be orderly. As a professional organizer, Nialya Suarez knows that the trick is to maximize the space you do have: She added wire baskets to the back of the door and using tiered canned food holders to use shelf space more efficiently. Luckily, her "Shop the Feed" page means we can order all of these clever organizers for ourselves, including the adorable baskets and brilliant canned food holder.
Store Food So You Can See It
This pantry full of labeled storage containers is undeniably pretty—but it also serves a practical purpose. When decanted into clear containers, you can easily find the ingredient you're looking for, and quickly spot which items are running low. The custom calligraphy is a beautiful touch (try it using white paint markers), but any easy-to-read label will work. As a vegan blogger, Steffana's system helps her keep track of the ingredients she'll need for her recipes.Corral (And Hide!) the Clutter
One of the big culprits of a pantry looking like a mess is all of the little packets, boxes, and bags food is packaged in. Rather than cram it all on an open shelf (where it can easily spill out or cause a pantry avalanche), stash it in woven baskets, as the Home Edit team did, above. Assign each basket a category—snacks, breakfast, baking—so you know exactly which one to pull out when you're looking for a packet of oatmeal or a bag of chips.Make Everything Easy to Grab
Food often comes in a lot of packaging that ends up taking up unnecessary space in a pantry. Follow SpacedRight's lead and ditch the cardboard container fruit cups come in so you can stack the cups in a basket instead. Similarly, remove soda cans from the box and buy a container specifically designed for stashing them. It's amazing how much more food your pantry can hold when you get rid of the bulking packaging it comes in.Invest in Pull-Out Drawers
If you're ready for a slightly more serious pantry overhaul, consider installing sliding drawers. Pantries with deep shelves are always difficult to keep organized, and while turntables and tiered spice racks can help, sliding drawers are the best solution for reaching every single item. And if you aren't ready to splurge on this upgrade, baskets can help serve the same purpose. Use them to collect snacks or baking supplies, then just slide them out to reach items stored in the back of the bin.
