My Pantry Organization Project
When we bought this home, one of the things I liked the most about it was how big the pantry was! With my love of cooking and entertaining, this was a big priority for me. The pantry was an excellent size, but I really needed to find a better system to store all my dishes and pantry items. I happened to see that one of my followers had an organizing business and when I clicked on her profile I was so excited to see that she was near my Highland, Utah home. I reached out and she graciously agreed to come help me tackle my pantry organization project. This job seemed so overwhelming at first but with the help of a professional organizer, it was a total transformation! Keep scrolling to see these pantry organization tips that sparked such a positive change in my home!
The Before Situation
(Before Organization Project)
The After Transformation
Alicia immediately shared so many great pantry organization tips to make this pantry organized and functional. She was thorough and asked me questions about our use of the room, took photos and measurements and was off to work! She came back later with bins, boxes, baskets and other storage items that worked with my style and the functionality we wanted in our pantry.
Dish Storage
I get asked where I store all of my dishes quite frequently. Before I met Alicia, I had some of them in the back of the pantry stacked in order with similar colors and styles. I stored others in cupboards and other cabinets in the kitchen. When I’m creating my tablescapes, I’ve found that I need to be able to see all the dishes in one place and have easy access to them. The pantry organization by color helps me save a lot of time when I’m in my creative mode! Alicia took this piece of information and decided to make a few changes from my previous set up. She suggested that we move the dishes to the front of the pantry and the food and other items to the back. This way when the pantry door is open, you see the beautiful dishes instead of all my food and I LOVE the way it turned out!
(Pantry Entry)
(Dish shelves in the pantry)
Organization Continued
For my food and other pantry items, it was important for me to have the storage solutions be easily accessible and functional. I wanted it to look nice and organized, but at the end of the day, I need efficiency! Alicia separated out all the food and organized it by different types. We’ve got a bin for salty snacks, sweeter snacks, and one for our crackers and chips. She used different storage containers and systems for canned goods, perishables, and my paper goods. She helped us store all of our non-aesthetic kitchen accessories in the right places. This will also keep them organized (like our zip lock bags, food storage, and bulk items).
This has made such a huge difference in the functionality of our pantry from before! We are loving the changes and it has been easy to maintain. It took a week or so to remember and get used to where everything is stored now, but it has been nice having the set spots to keep things clean!
I learned so much from Alicia! Here’s a few of the pantry organization tips I took away from this whole pantry organization project that can hopefully help you brainstorm ways to incorporate some of these things in your living space too!
Holly’s (and Alicia’s) Pantry Organization Tips:
*When buying your storage and organizing items, make sure they are functional for YOU and your needs!
*Arrange items that are similar in style or in usage together so it is easier to keep it organized longer!
*Make sure things are labeled well and that you do a walk thru with your family to show them where everything is so that everyone can help keep it organized. You can even enlist their help! I have always included my kids in projects around the home as I think it gives them ownership and helps them learn good skills at the same time.
*Throw out things that have been around for way too long! Purging feels so good! Before Alicia came, I made sure to purge items I no longer needed and any expired food items. I think I threw out at least 10 bags of half eaten chips. Please tell me I’m not the only one who has done this!
*Put things you use more frequently in easier to reach places. I am short, so I keep a step ladder in the pantry so I can reach the upper shelves.
Isn’t She Amazing?!
*Organize bins for things you use frequently together. One of my favorite ideas that Alicia had was creating a smores bin. We have a fire pit out back and love using it with the kids! The bin has everything we need for smores, and it has made it easy to take the whole bin outside! Depending on your needs, you can create bins for things you use the most. I wanted a basket or bin for baking items so I can just pull out the bin and everything is there.
*While stacks of OXO containers may look beautiful with all of the snacks in them, it might not be realistic. Especially for families with little kids who go through snack items quickly and change up snacks frequently! A big basket of snacks, like we put in our pantry as well, is a lot less maintenance!
*Organize your dishes and serving pieces stored by color! This has worked so well for me, but I am also aware that not everyone hoards (or collects as I like to say) dishes like I do!
Organizing your space takes a little time and money up front, but if you stay on top of it regularly, it becomes habit and saves you time and money in the long run! After my experience with Alicia from Lux Simplicity Professional Organizing, I’d highly recommend her. Her services are great for anyone needing a little assistance tackling those organization and storage projects!
I hope you enjoyed seeing my pantry organization project and the amazing transformation!
XOXO,
For more inspiration on dish collecting/hoarding head to my friend Leslie’s -My 100 Year Old Home– blog post My Life as a Dish Whore-Der
You might enjoy seeing these tablescape where I’ve used some of the dishes from my collection.
Green and Blue Spring Tablescape
Shop the Look
Sources linked below. Just tap on the image. Some items may be out of stock so I’ve linked similar items.
Holy Moly Holly!
Your pantry is what dreams are made of. Especially, the area where you have all your beautiful dishes. Great inspiration! I love it!
How great!!! Love your dishes and it’s very nice to showcase them! I wish we had a pantry but we live in a vintage house and there is no room for such things. But it’s fun to see yours!!
Love these ideas Holly! And those shelves of serving dishes right when you open the door are both beautiful AND inspiring. Serving platters, dishes and cake plates are my weakness. 😁 Thanks for sharing!!
This was filled with simple easy tips for any size home. Big or small keeping it organized is sure to be a time saver in the long run. Thanks for this beautiful and easy to follow recipe for a more happy organized pantry. Great job Holly! Thx Alecia!
BEAUTIFUL pantry! so excited your blog is finally up! I can’t wait to follow along. Everything you post is always so gorgeous!
Quick question. I have the Oxo containers to and my biggest prob/concern is once you place flour etc in the containers, how do you keep track of expiry dates on things?
**IG –> @jacqueline_lise
Thank you Jacquie! That is such a good question. If you get those chalkboard labels that I linked you could put it on one of those! If you don’t want it to show, you could put one on the back or even underneath to help you keep track! Hope that helps 🙂
WOW ! Love your organized pantry and ALL your beautiful dishes.
Thanks Kim!
I love this Holly!!!
Thanks Camilla!!
What a beautiful Pantry you have now ! I would spend a lot of time in there ! Inspiring !
Thank you Coralie! I love how organized it is now!
Holly I love your pantry its so big and oh the pretty coloured dishes.They look amazing! Great job n the blog. It’s great!
Thank you Shelley! I’m so happy you like it!
Your pantry looks amazing!! My pantry is not big enough to store all my dishes and decorations, so I have not taken over 1/2 my hubby’s office. Enjoy your weekend. Tammy
What you don’t see is all of the other cabinets full of dishes too! This pantry couldn’t fit them all, but I shouldn’t admit that!
Beautiful pantry and great tips. I am a dish hoarder too and love the idea of storing dishes by color. It’s how I hang my clothes in my closet.
I’ve loved having these organized by color! It makes planning my tablescapes so much easier! I hang my clothes in color order as well 🙂
Congratulations on this fabulous blog! It looks so nice and I can’t wait to start learning tablescapes from you! I don’t have nearly as many dishes but I need to learn the process 🙂 Love this and I will be back! Already bookmarked the page!!!
Thank you!! I’m so happy you love it!
Congratulations on the blog!! It looks really nice and I can’t wait to learn your secret behind your fabulous tablescapes!! I have already bookmarked the page and will be returning often. Congrats!!
Thank you so much! We are thinking about putting together a fun little tablescape class! I have had so many people ask and they are so much fun to make!
It looks amazing Holly!! I now have pantry envy! I have a huge planned for our next big construction project, so I can’t wait. Happy to blog up and running!
Thank you Holly!
Great tips, Holly! I will be putting them to good use as I tackle changing my current pantry to an open butler’s pantry and changing my current laundry room into a storage closet! My sister thinks it is really funny if someone asks if they can have a plate and she just starts opening cabinet doors…they are all full of plates and dishes!
I totally know how you feel!! So many dishes. Good luck with your remodeling projects! Let me know how they go!
Holly! This is my dream pantry!! Working on designing my new one now! Yours is fantastic!! I am so happy to finally see your new blog. Congratulations! I know it has been a tremendous amount of work! XO, Holly
Thank you so much! Blogs are so much work, but I am having so much fun!
Oh my goodness!! You girls did the most amazing job!!!! Holly, your pantry is a dream! Can’t wait to see it in person! Bravo, my friends! xoxo
Thanks Summer! We can’t wait for you to see it either!
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I love your dish collection and your organized pantry!!
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Thanks so much KariAnne! I hope you get to come visit me someday and tour the dish pantry! Thanks so much for always sharing my post! You’re the best!