Come on now, your pantry is a disaster zone and you are sick of shelling out the cash to make it remotely organized. I know what you mean, I have been there. You go into the kitchen store, you look at those nice organizational systems, you are broke and yet you still cannot find your spices. And well, guess what? Not to sell a kidney to make a functional, organized pantry that works.
I have spent my year trying to organize my pantry with even less than a shoestring budget (who has money to spend on 50 dollar storage containers anyway?), and I am here to get you the secrets to actually getting it done. Not these Pinterest-perfect solutions that break down within a week, these are actually real life, on a budget ideas, not fancy, to reorganize your messy pantry to a place you feel proud to open the door.
Use Mason Jars for Everything
Now this is the thing about mason jars, cheap, looks great, mostly indestructible. I have used them in storing dry goods approximately three years ago and honestly speaking, it has changed a lot.
You can get a dozen mason jars for less than the price of 2 fancy pantry containers. Also, they’re transparent, so you can actually see what’s inside without playing the “mystery container” game at meal time.
What holds up well in mason jars: • Rices, quinoas and other grains • Nuts and seeds • Spices and herbs • Pastas (small shapes) • Baking notions such as flour and sugar
Pro tip: Purchase the wide-mouth ones. This will be appreciated by your future self when you are making an attempt to pour flour without a kitchen snowstorm 🙂
The great thing about it? You can write straight on the glass with a dry-erase maker for quick n’am labels or invest in some cheap chalkboard labels for longer-lasting use.
Repurpose Shoe Organizers
You ever wondered why these shoe organizers are only shoe specific? I found out about this hack entirely by accident when I had an over-the-door organizer just sitting around in my closet not being used. Now it has all my miscellany of pantry articles and wrappers.
Pin one to the inside of your pantry door and you are now 30+ pockets to: • Spice packets and seasoning mixes • Tea bags and coffee pods • Small snacks like granola bars • Condiment packets (we all hoard them, we do it)
| Storage Type | Cost | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Shoe Organizer | $10-15 | 20+ small items |
| Spice Rack | $25-40 | 12-16 spices |
This is a cheaper option than purchasing separate racks of spices and provides you with a lot more functionality. FYI, I have tried fabric and plastic ones, for anything that is leakable use the plastic type.
Create DIY Pull-Out Drawers
Construction of the pull-out drawers may seem to be complex but listen to me, this is not like you have visit Bob Vila to get this done. Mine is constructed out of plastic storage bins and some simple drawer slides found at the hardware store.
Three pull-out drawers-how much does it make? About $40. And that is compared to custom pantry drawers that cost 200+ each, and now you are patting yourself on the back about your do it yourself prowess.
Materials you will need: • Clear plastic storage bin (the kind that is rectangular work best) • basic drawer slides • a drill and some screws • an hour or so of your time
These are particularly effective to use with heavy objects such as canned foods or roots. No more trouble reaching in the way back of a higher shelf to see whether that can of tomatoes expired in 2019.
Use Tension Rods for Vertical Storage
This could be the most inexpensive hack on the list and truth be told, it is genius. Tension rods are inexpensive (approximately 3 and can be installed in moments of putting up bed time shelving or partitions).
I have them arranged vertically in my pantry to make seccions where I put cutting boards, baking sheets and also big platters. On the horizontal they can be used perfectly on hanging lightweight objects or make some temporary shelves.
What is great about the tension rods is that they can be fully adjustable and removed. It would be like adjusting the placement of your pantry to now be able to just step up or down a rod.
Maximize Door Space with Hooks and Rails
Your pantry door is high-rent real estate that’s probably just going to stay an empty space. I installed some adhesive hooks and an instant rail system for less then $20 and it bumped up my space more then 2 fold.
What do you hang on doors of pantries? Measuring cups and spoons kitchen towels, lightweight baskets, cleaning supplies, reusable shopping bags
The trick here lies in making it a reasonable amount of weight, you do not want to break your door or turn everything into ruins the moment you open the door. Don t do what I did, and test the weight limit of it before filling it all up :/
Label Everything (Seriously)
I thought that labeling was excess until I lost 10 minutes trying to find out my baking powder that was right in my face. Now I put labels on everything and it has made my kitchen infinity more practical.
You also don’t need fancy label maker. I have used: • Masking tape and a Sharpie (super cheap and removable) • Dollar store chalkboard labels • Clear tape over the written labels • (even) Sticky notes in a emergency.
It is not about Instagram perfection- it is functionality. Each member of your home is aware of the place of things thus actually keeping your stuff arranged.
Stackable Bins for Bulk Items
The indisputable paladin of bulk storage is a clear stackable bin. The discount stores sell the generic brands instead of name-brand containers and they are as effective but much cheaper.
Best things to put in stackable bins: • Snack things like crackers and chips • House cleaning supplies • Pet grub and treats • Something seasonal that you mightn’t be using so much • ditto potatoes and onions (get your own bin for each of course)
The transparent plastic helps in viewing what is inside and the stacking makes your vertical space be maximized. Simply ensure that you can pull the top bins when they are full and that I learned especially the hard way when I had filled the bins to overwhelming levels thus requiring the use of a step ladder before I was able to access some crackers.
| Bin Size | Best For | Approximate Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Small (6-8 qt) | Snacks, spices | $8-12 |
| Large (12-16 qt) | Bulk items, produce | $15-20 |
Wire Shelf Additions
Better storage space is likely to be added to the cost of wire shelves as an extra price that is worth the money. Some simple wire racks in the inside of present shelves will give you twice or even thrice the capacity of your shelves.
I especially like those making a second tier -now one shelf is two and you can still have everything in full view. They are ideal to put canned products, jars, or any thing that does not require taking the entire height of a shelf.
The adjustable ones are worth a couple extra dollars as you can change them to your particular items. This is one of the upgrades (to me) that is worth more in functionality than it costs in less than a week.
Bringing It All Together
See, a budget pantry makeover is not about getting a magazine cover-worthy pantry — it is about getting your kitchen to work in the real-life that you have. All these eight concepts would have saved me hundreds of dollars more expensive organizing systems, and more importantly I have found cooking and meal planning much easier.
The best of it? These will be able to be implemented gradually. Take the one or two items that immediately grab you, get them up there in your place and then add others as you need them. It does not need to be ideal overnight, but these cost-effective solutions can make it functional.
Keep in mind, the object is building a system that actually works for the way you really cook and live, not for how you think you should cook and live. So go gather some mason jars and hang a shoe organizer and forget about your pantry being a pain in the chair. Go for it!!!