Pantries

Your pantry has the potential to be a huge source of inspiration and, best of all, your number-one ally when it comes to getting meals on the table. At its best, a happy pantry is one that holds the staple foods that are the makings of miracle meals, along with ingredients that fuel, nourish, and inspire you to cook. But your pantry is also one of those tricky spots in the kitchen that can easily fall into varying degrees of disarray (hello, four open bags of oats from the bulk bin).

This gorgeous space from designer Jillian Harris checks every mark on the pantry wish list. Natural light? Check. Custom cabinetry? Check. Plenty of space for your favorite treats? Check. Impeccable styling? An obvious check! But even if you’re not blessed with enough square footage for a #pantrygoals space like this, there are plenty of smart tricks packed into this spot for you to steal.

Around this time every year, I go a little crazy. It’s spring cleaning season and for me, that means cleaning out my pantry. My Type A personality comes out loud and clear and my husband knows to just keep out of the way! As the weather is just starting to turn, I find April to be the perfect opportunity to clear out ingredients that I might not rely on as heavily in the spring and summer to make room for new ingredients that I’d rather be leaning on in the warmer months.

Look at any pantry on Pinterest or even on our site and you’ll see all these oh-so-cute canisters (sometimes with special labels) neatly lined up on the shelves like a catalog ad. But look in my pantry and you’ll see these canisters. They’re not exactly Instagram-able, but they sure are functional. Keep reading to find out which ones they are and what I love about them.

There’s nothing more fun to look at (and, okay, drool over) than a well-organized pantry moment. Neatly stacked shelves, uniform jars, impeccable baskets — sign us up. There’s one other thing all the lust-worthy pantries have, too: personalized labels on every single jar and canister. Even if your pantry isn’t totally Pinterest-ready, you can get it one step closer with some super-pretty labels. Not great at Photoshop and have terrible handwriting?

Mason jars are essential for canners. They’re also a favorite storage container for everything from dry goods to soups to cute little salads you put in your purse. But they do have a couple flaws when you’re working in multiples: They don’t really stack (unless you’re really, really careful and basically never touch or walk by them!), they’re heavy to move around, and they’re fairly bulky compared to, say, a plastic storage container.

When it comes to architecture and decorating, nothing beats the design porn that is Houzz! While Pinterest may find you the hack-iest hacks, the solutions you’ll find on Houzz are just breathtaking. Which explains why their most-saved pantry by users in the United States is a totally drool-worthy professional built-in instead of a DIY solution. This pantry, designed by Smallbone of Devizes, a London-based custom cabinetry company, is just stunning.

Breaking news! You may have more space in your pantry than you realize, and here’s why: Pantry doors are actually prime real estate for bonus storage. You can hang stuff or add shallow shelves on the inside of your pantry without having to worry about them hitting the shelves inside. Whether you have a giant walk-in pantry, a little reach-in one, or more of a cabinet situation, these ideas will work for you.

Modern pantries are enjoying a starring moment in kitchen design, thanks to the addition of unique shelving options, envy-inducing organizing methods, and chic lighting options. Another great pantry design trend bringing style to the table? Sliding barn doors. If you’re a farmhouse fan, try one of these charming styles in your own home. This barn door-covered pantry is ingenious!

Want more kitchen storage, without breaking the bank? Do you dream of organized shelving and a perfectly posh pantry? Well, you’re in luck. Gone are the days when having a dreamy pantry means forking over big bucks to a contractor for from-scratch shelving. Homeowners and renters alike are getting super creative with IKEA basics, transforming everything from bookshelves to cubbies into pantries big and small. Here are five we love — all created without a single kitchen cabinet!

Now that we are in the midst of fall and the holiday season is kicking off, there is no better time to give your pantry a quick clean-out to prepare it for all the cooking, baking, and entertaining that’s ahead. Carve out a little time this weekend to purge these five items and you’ll be left with a fresh pantry that’s ready to take on all the fun that comes with this most festive season.

Look, I love The Container Store. I could spend hours wandering the aisles thinking about which bins would be just the right size for my many disorganized zones. But sometimes their idea of how organized I could possibly be is so far off from my reality that I have to chuckle. Take this pantry, for instance: It’s modeling an elfa pantry kit that comes with all the shelves, brackets, and accessories you need to replicate this pantry in your home.

We all know and love Costco for its amazing deals on all of the pantry items (like seriously, all of them). But what do you do when you get home and you realize those bulk items don’t exactly fit in your pantry? We turned to Pinterest to find the smartest hacks for organizing your Costco haul. You’ll just need a few common items — some of which you probably have on hand already.

Have you ever had that dream where you find a room in your house that you didn’t know was there? That’s one of my recurring ones, and I’m sure it probably symbolizes something, but I tend to take it literally. Buying a sprawling, bargain Victorian home in need of some TLC three years ago was like that dream come to life. It had more rooms than I knew what to do with (which was a big adjustment, coming from a one-bedroom bungalow!).