The Walk in Closet of the Kitchen: Pantry Storage Ideas

Having a well laid out pantry can be a luxury in a kitchen, much like a walk in closet in a bedroom. No matter if you have a big or small pantry, there is a lot that you can do to make the best, and get the most storage out of it. Here are some creative kitchen pantry storage ideas to help transform whatever sized space you have.

A Quick Look and Keeping Stock

For a lot of food items, it would be a good idea to store them in glass or see through plastic storage bins and containers. This way you can quickly see what is inside each one, but also how much is left. The same can be done with vegetable draws, just like the ones in picture (2).

Making it Look Good

With so much being stored in a kitchen pantry and it being used daily, you’ll want to keep it tidy and uncluttered. One way of doing this is to use matching containers. You can find containers that have different colored lids to help stay organized. Or use chalk board paint or printable labels to help organize the containers.

Here are some ideas for good looking storage containers: wicker baskets (3), wire baskets, glass jars, enamel containers, and porcelain containers. For more ideas have a look here: Vintage Kitchen Storage Ideas: From Milk Baskets to Wicker Baskets.

More Than Food Storage

Apart from storing food items in the pantry, you can also store things like:

Cookbooks
Recycled plastic bags
Serving trays
Occasionally used large appliances like a batter mixer
Have a wine glass and bottle rack
Extra roles of paper towels and trash bags

Or how about setting up your own mini kitchen garden in the pantry

A command center can also be set up in the pantry. This can be made up of hanging file organziers, a chalk board, and a place to store shopping lists and coupons. Have a look at this Ideas for Setting up a Family Command Center in the Kitchen mood board for more ideas.

Making Good Use of the Space

If you have available wall space inside of your pantry, then a peg board can be hung up. Hang things up with hooks, or put a plank of wood over two pegs to create a shelf.

Other smart pantry storage solutions for your walls include fitting towel bars that can store rolls of paper towels, trash bags, aluminium foil or saran wrap for easy access.

Check out the cheap DIY lazy Susan modification to the corners of the pantry in picture (4). This lets you have easy access to the items stored at the back of the shelf.

If you look at my kitchen storage mood board you’ll see how simple tension rods have been added to shelves. This makes it easy to store flat items like trays on their sides, saving a ton of space.

The back of the pantry door, and any cabinet doors can have storage space added to them. You can get over the door organizers that allow you to hang items up. Simple shelves, hooks, racks and railings can also be fitted to the back of the doors.

To take advantage of the height in the kitchen pantry, see if you can add a good looking wooden ladder or step ladder.

Built in or Free Standing

When it comes to putting shelves in a pantry room there are two ways to go about it. 1) Built in shelves or a storage system make the most of the space, as they are custom built to the layout. They can be built all the way up to the ceiling, or even over the doorway. And they create a uniformed look in the space. 2) Free standing storage shelves are inexpensive and quick to set up, but usually won’t make the most of the space.

You don’t even need much space to create a pantry. Check out the very shallow pantry wall in picture (5), with the amazing sliding barn door.

Lighting: A Better View

Another way to make the most of a pantry storage space is to have it well lit. Having a ceiling light is one option – but sometimes this light won’t reach individual shelves. A simple and cheap way to light up the shelves is to buy battery powered puck lights – either motion sensor ones or tap pucks. They simply stick to the underside of the shelves.

Going on a Road Trip

If you have space, a small portable rolling storage unit – just like the one in picture (6), would be a great addition. It can be used to store items that are often used to cook with. The cart can be rolled out when cooking, and stored away when it’s not in use.

Finding A Shortcut

If you are lucky enough to have a pantry that shares a wall with your garage, you can have a little door (locked from both sides) connecting the two. This way you don’t have to carry your groceries all the way through the house.

image credits: 1/2/3/4/5/6