I know we usually do “spring cleaning” in the spring, but honestly, something about a new school year also motivates me to get certain things in order! Life is just simpler when you have your home in order.

One part of my house that seems to always need help is my pantry! With my kids constantly getting in there, it’s definitely a zone in my house that needs to be revisited often! Sometimes I’m more on top of it than others, but I always appreciate when it’s orderly and functional!

A few things I’ve learned (and some tips I’m still learning) about keeping your pantry as organized as you can:

• Bins, bins and more bins! My pantry when we were first married pretty much consisted of lots of cans and everything shoved in between and on top. It always looked like a disaster and it was so hard to find stuff! Over the years I’ve collected baskets and bins to help organize the space, and it makes such a world of difference! Having all my open chips/crackers bags in one big basket is so much more convenient than just having them shoved randomly on the shelves. I love having a basket for my chocolate chips, my baking stuff (like yeast and cocoa), my often used condiments, etc. It can be pricey getting tons of bins, but it’s so worth it! Start with one bin a month if that’s all you can afford. You can also use small cardboard boxes in the meantime if you need to! Sometimes that’s helpful just to get a feel for what sizes you might need, and to know what’s actually helpful when kept in a box, and what’s not.


• Can racks. These can get pricey too, but if you budget correctly, and just buy one a month, you can soon have all the racks you need! I love these because it makes it SO easy to rotate my cans when I buy them in bulk. It also keeps things looking cleaner, and I don’t have cans stacked on top of each other that are constantly falling and getting dented!


• Don’t keep things in the pantry that you don’t need to. Sometimes the pantry becomes a stuffing place because it’s convenient and hidden- but then stuff just stays there! I’ll come home from the grocery store with a birthday present for one of the kids and I quickly shove it on the top shelf to hide it. But then it stays there, cluttering my pantry for way too long! Just make it a rule that you never put anything in the pantry that doesn’t belong there.


• Regularly clean it. Schedule it in- once a week, once a month, whatever you feel you need. Make it part of the regular housecleaning routine to go through the pantry and re-organize anything that may be out of place. It’s so much easier to do this before things get way out of control!


• Make it functional! This seems so obvious, but I have found myself falling into the trap of trying to organize things according to how they fit instead of thinking through my daily routine. My kids always have snacks, and so it makes sense to have the snack food within easy reach, and grouped together. My oldest kids make peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, so I keep the sandwich stuff in a basket on a lower shelf that is easy for them to reach. Think through what you use the most often, and what stuff you often use together, and organize your pantry according to that!

What other tips would you offer for pantry organization? I’d love to hear them! Share your wisdom in the comments below!