Tips on How to Organize Your Pantry

Not everyone is lucky enough to have a pantry, and those who actually have one most likely have a relatively small and narrow one.

Our home in particular came with a built in door pantry, but like Ii said, the pantry is very small, and very narrow. It fits canned goods in it easily, but we really use it to squeeze in just about everything that does not have to go in main cabinets or the refrigerator.

Keeping the pantry organized is what allows us to add more items into it, rather than opening up the cabinet and having boxes of cereal or containers of spaghetti landing on our heads.

The first is to keep larger canned goods at the very bottom of the bracket. If your pantry goes down to the floors level, pile large cans at the very bottom. Having a huge can of peaches or pickles land on your, or your child's head could be very dangerous. So keep the heavy stuff at the bottom.

If you have room, pile smaller canned goods on top of the larger canned goods. If not, place them on the next shelf above them.

Other larger unopened containers of pickles, and so forth should also be kept very close to the floor level, or the bottom shelf if there is room. Heavier items not only pose a danger for falling on you, but they could also cause shelving to actually dip, which in the long run will call for replacement.

Cereal, and boxes of macaroni can go at the very top of the pantry for easy storage. Placing them side by side, will allow for more room.

I highly recommend placing macaroni, and cereal in air tight containers to keep out moths and other creepy bugs. Doing so will also keep foods fresher for far longer.

If space in an issue, and you buy snacks that come sealed in individual packages, you can remove each item from the box, and sit them in the pantry on a rack that you can hang on the door, like the one you see here. Do not place jars, or other heavy items on this rack though. If you pull the door open too hard, they could cause heavy cans to land on your toes, which could actually call for stitches depending on where and how it landed.

It is all basically a simple rule to remember; heavy stuff at the bottom shelves or the floor, and lighter boxes on the top shelves.