Simple Life of a Fire Wife

One of my favorite ways to keep things organized is by using baskets, bins, containers, and of course, LABELS! The pantry is an important place to keep things organized. Otherwise, you run the risk of double buying foods that you already have, or not using up what you have before it goes bad because you didn't know it was even in there. Pantries typically have deep shelves but no lighting, so if you aren't careful you could end up with all sorts of stuff shoved in the back! Baskets or bins are great because you can easily pull them out to reach things and won't waste all that extra space in the deep, dark back of the pantry! We luckily have a wide and not terribly deep pantry. But I still use bins to keep things together and organized so I can easily find what I am looking for. And they are especially helpful for reaching things on that top shelf :)

This is the overview of my pantry. (There is a small recessed portion behind the wall to the right that you can't see.) Now, this is far from my dream pantry, which would include beautiful baskets with labels hanging from ribbons and no cardboard or colorful logos in sight, but this works for us and is quite functional.

I tried to sort things out per shelf so that like items are all together. I also strategically placed breakfast items on the bottom and snack items one shelf up so kids can reach these things easily. I have a space at the bottom where I keep multiples of things we use frequently. I also have a large shelving unit in the basement for keeping extras (gotta stock up when sales and coupons collide!)

Here's a look without all the words in the way:

Bins with labels-makes life so much easier! Again, I would prefer beautiful baskets, but I had these dollar store bins already on hand so they are making the cut for now.

I use a Lazy Susan to keep all my sprinkles on (right side of the photo).

I've been using this can organizer for a few years now. We sort of have a love/hate relationship. When all the cans are in it I love it. It utilizes space well and keeps the cans organized. But when I have to take a can out or refill the shelves I sort of hate it. In a perfect world the shelves would be about an inch wider and an inch taller to be able to get things in and out of it more easily.

My spice organizer. I love this baby!! Everything tucked away in it's spot, and you just pull out a shelf when you need it. LOVE! I have seen these many different places, but I picked mine up at Bed Bath and Beyond for around $20.

Our snack shelf. I absolutely adore these containers from The Container Store. They come in multiple sizes to fit just about anything you need, and they are quite affordable (no I was not paid to say that, it is just my favorite place on the planet!) And while I am not a fan of all the different colors, packages, etc showing, the clear containers are SO functional. When I get ready to make my grocery list I just open the pantry doors and can immediately see what we are running low on. (don't judge my large snack supply...4 kids eat a lot of snacks!)