How to Organize a Deep Pantry
If you’ve ever rented an apartment or live in the southern US, you’re probably familiar with this dreaded pantry style: the deep closet pantry.
This style is basically like a closet, filled with wooden shelves, sometimes wire. Each shelf is particularly deep, which makes it difficult to place items without them getting lost in the back of each shelf.
This leads to utter chaos, expired food, and leaves many homeowners and renters unsure of what to do to keep it organized.
They usually look something like this:
So How Do You Organize a Deep Pantry?
Do you have a deep closet style pantry?
Are you constantly losing things in it?
Buying multiples of things you already own just because you can’t see what you actually have?
Are you often discovering expired food months later because you had no clue it was in there?
I get it. It’s frustrating!
The good news is that no matter what type of pantry you have, there’s a way to get it organized and KEEP IT THAT WAY!
Yes, even with a deep closet pantry.
You just need the right tools for the job.
Take a look at this before and after of a deep closet style pantry I worked on in a rental home:
Here’s What You Need:
Tall Canisters
You’ll notice in the top shelf of this pantry, I’ve utilized some tall glass canisters for pasta and rice.
The height is important, because if I need to use the shelf space in front of those canisters for more items, it won’t fully hide what is behind it.
If you are short like me, it helps to label them towards the top of the canister, so you can always know what is in each one, regardless of whether there’s items in front of it or not.
You can find these canisters at stores like Target, The Container Store, Home Goods, Bed Bath and Beyond, and even Amazon.
And they don’t have to be glass. You can also opt for plastic containers.
My favorite plastic canisters are:
Want a fun, easy way to store cereal? My absolute favorite are the OXO Good Grips POP Cereal Dispensers. You can find them at The Container Store in multiple sizes.
They’re airtight, so they keep your cereal much fresher than those cardboard boxes they come in.
Plus, they’re clear, so you don’t even have to label them to know what’s in them. You can just take a quick glance and easily see how much you have left.
Best of all, they’re easy to use and make pouring a bowl of cereal absolutely effortless. Simply push down on the back of the lid to open and push down at the front to close.
Get the 3.4 quart 3-piece set here.
Can Risers
Organizing cans can be a tough thing in a pantry, but again - there’s an easy solution! You just have to utilize height to your advantage.
Head to The Container Store and grab one or more of these expanding tiered shelves for your pantry:
These tiered shelves are a lifesaver for can organization in any pantry. Simply stack your cans on each shelf and voila - you can see everything you have!
Can Rollers
If you prefer a different way to store your cans, try a canned food roller!
Simply roll in each can on its side and roll them out when you’re ready to use them.
As mentioned previously, try to stack the same items one behind the other so you know where everything is. That makes it much easier to keep track of how much you have of a certain item.
Get this one - the FIFO Can Tracker Food Storage Organizer - at Bed Bath & Beyond.
Source: The Closet Works
Pro Tip:
I like to stack three of the same item from front to back for easy grabbing.
For example, if I have three cans of corn, I’ll put one can in the first row, the second can directly behind it on the second row, and the third can directly behind that on the final row.
This makes it easy to see how much you have and when you need to restock on something.
Long Bins
My next favorite item to use in deep closet style pantries are long, deep bins. I use the iDesign Linus Deep Drawer Bins from The Container Store myself, but you can get deep bins elsewhere, too.
These bins are typically more narrow, and range from 4 inches wide to 8 inches wide. Each bin is approximately 16 inches deep, which is GREAT for deep pantries.
Just fill them with items (I chose to use mine for sauces and vinegar) and slide them into your pantry. Make sure you label them!
Then, when you need a sauce, you can just slide out the sauce bin, set it down on the counter, and easily view and grab whatever you need.
No more wasted space in the back of your pantry shelves!
Lazy Susans
You normally see lazy susans - also called turntables - in the middle of a dining table to hold dishes, utensils, sauces, napkins, or decor. But did you know they’re also an excellent tool for organizing your deep pantry?
If you’re not familiar with them, lazy susans are circular trays, which spin for easy access to all the items on the tray. No more reaching to the back to grab something. Just spin it!
Make sure you orient the bottles outward, so when you spin the lazy susan, you can easily see what everything is!
You can get this one for less than $10 at Walmart by clicking here.
You can also find them in acrylic, bamboo, ceramic, and other pretty styles and colors.
Looking for even more storage?
Grab a two-tier lazy susan instead! Remember - in a deep pantry, the more vertical space you can use, the better!
Grab one of my favorite two-tiered lazy susans below:
Over-the-Door Spice Rack
Okay, this thing is a total gamechanger.
When I got my second apartment, I had a weirdly narrow pantry door. Like, insanely narrow. (See photo to the left of my actual pantry door from that apartment.)
I had gotten some over-the-door shelving to put inside, but even at only 18 inches, it was far too wide to fit on this tiny little door. I had tried shelving from The Container Store, Walmart, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, and even Lowe’s - and no luck. They were all too wide.
And then I found this: the Closetmaid 8-Tier Cabinet Door Organizer in a 12-inch width! Hooray!
I quickly picked one up and installed it on my pantry door, and voila - it was PERFECT.
This little thing fit perfectly on my teeny tiny door and gave me tons more storage space.
For someone living in a small 600 square foot apartment, this was a huge improvement! If you’ve ever lived in an apartment, you know how challenging it can be to utilize small spaces to the best of your ability and maximize storage.
If you’re not comfortable using a drill or you’re renting, this can simply hang over the top of your pantry door - no holes needed!
