How to organize your pantry without spending any money. No need to spend $200 on matching baskets and acrylic containers! I'll show you how I organized my pantry with items that I already had.
You might also like our IKEA built-in wall of storage (one of my most popular posts) or our kitchen sink organization ideas.
I can't live with clutter. I just can't! Every night after the kids go to bed I do a quick 10 minute straighten up of the downstairs. If I try to relax and watch a movie with a cluttered house I am constantly getting distracted and end up making a mental check list of things I need to do instead of watching the movie. I have issues.
But behind my cupboard and pantry doors I have a deep dark secret...
Pantry organization. I do a great job organizing it, but keeping it that way? Not so much. I blame it on excess packaging and my rush to get groceries put away without taking the time to REALLY put them away.
So today I got busy and organized my pantry. AGAIN. I go through and do this every few months. It really doesn't take long to get it looking in ship shape again. And I haven't ever purchased any fancy bins or baskets. Everything you see here is something that I already owned and repurposed to use in my pantry. This isn't a dig on beautiful pantries that are decked out with gorgeous wallpaper, baskets, and matching jars. I love seeing photos of pantries like this. They inspire me to make my home a pretty place as well, on a budget that works for our family! So keep pinning those photos and use them as a stepping-off point when you decide how to organize your pantry on a budget!
Hopefully, the photo above doesn't give you cause to lose all faith in my organizing abilities. If it has, you might want to check out these posts before continuing on. To boost my image back up, haha!
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How to Organize Your Pantry Without Spending Any Money
It's as easy as 1-2-3.
Step 1: Pull everything out.
Don't try to move things around on the shelves and organize shelf by shelf. You'll end up spending more time doing it this way. Another bonus of pulling everything out is that you are able to check the expiration dates on everything before putting it back in. Give the shelves a good wipe down and vacuum the floors. If you have drawers in your pantry, vacuum or wipe out any crumbs.
Step 2: Downsize
Most boxes of food purchased from Sam's Club and Costco only had a few items left, yet the box was still taking up just as much room as it did when it was full. Break down those boxes. Stack the cans inside on the pantry shelves, put the granola bars into a snack basket with similar items, and put bags of crackers and chips together in baskets.
Once you consolidate those boxes you will instantly have so much more space.
Step 3: Put Similar Items Together
Go through your house and find boxes, baskets, glass jars, and clear canisters Use them to store snacks and open bags of chips. Mix and match and rearrange your food storage containers until you find a configuration that works! This is the key step in organizing your pantry without spending any money. I LOVE all of the acrylic storage bins and storage containers available for purchase at Home Goods and have been tempted to revamp my pantry using them. I may do that someday, but for now, it isn’t a priority, and the bins and baskets that I have serve a purpose so I can save my money for other things.
Put all of the cereal boxes together (you can use cereal containers for this as well), put baking ingredients together on their own shelf, make an area for snacks for school lunches for easy prep, and fresh items like onions, garlic, and potatoes together so that they don’t get lost. Trust me, nothing is worse than finding an old bag of potatoes in your pantry. Nasty.
Keep canned goods, sauces, rice,and boxes and packages of pasta together. Store chip bags in baskets or lined up front to back on a shelf.
More Inexpensive Pantry Organization Ideas
- If you don't have a spice rack you can store spices in a lazy Susan or baskets.
- If you have a few command hooks feel free to add them to any empty space to hold plastic grocery bags, aprons, or anything!
- If you have a label maker you can add labels to your baskets. If you don't have one, print out labels on card stock paper!
And that is how to organize your pantry without spending any money. It just takes a bit of time! You can use these steps to organize under the sink or any cabinet shelves. You won't find a photo of this pantry on Instagram, that's for sure, but everything is neat and tidy and I can walk inside! See how much more room was created by downsizing those cardboard boxes? It's amazing.
Now I don't mind putting groceries away because I have room to store everything! It is easy to find where things are and where things should go and it makes dinner prep easy too! Let's see how long it lasts!
Two years ago Sarah, from Clover Lane, guest posted on here about keeping up with her house and 6 children. I still refer to her tips on how to de-clutter a home. Such great ideas!
Janna says
Always keep foods away from heat sources. Instead, store dishes, bake ware, etc. there and store foods, spices, etc. in other cooler areas.
In a tiny kitchen, instead of installing a base cabinet, install another upper cabinet underneath. Top it with a narrow wooden board or have a counter top cut to size. You'll save a few inches.
Save all tins. You can use the small ones for tea bags and small items, and the larger ones for cookie cutters, and other various things.
The thrift stores and dollar stores are filled with all sorts of useful items that don't cost much at all.
Make as much as you can from scratch rather than buying lots of extra foods that are already prepared. Home made is much healthier, and you'll save space because you can make these specialty items as you need them rather than having an endless array of pre-made items.
Serene Home says
I just tried your tip of removing items from their boxes. Absolute game changer! I am happy that such a small task has made my pantry look so much better but annoyed that I hadn't thought of it myself lol. I was about to hire a professional organiser to sort out my entire house but I think I will keep reading and trying myself first. Thanks for the tip and I will continue reading for more!
Jenna Wood says
These warmers really seem to fit your space perfectly! I have to clean out the clutter at least once a year- we always start with good intentions but usually around the holidays things get a little hairy! #client