How To Organize Food Without a Pantry

I am a brand ambassador with The Container Store and this blog was written in partnership with them.

Let’s talk food storage and organization! Sadly, we are not all lucky enough to have gorgeous, spacious walk-in pantries but we do all need a system for food storage in our kitchens. Whether you live in an apartment and have to find a balance in using cabinet space for food and cooking tools or, perhaps, a gorgeous row home that just wasn’t designed for today’s living it is important to create organization that works for you.

Today I am talking through my top five tips on how to store and organize food in kitchens without a pantry. Using the tips and tools below will allow you to set up your kitchen to not only streamline your day to day cooking but help you avoid over shopping and utilize what you have on hand.

For this client’s kitchen we needed to focus a majority of their food storage in two cabinets that spread across categories like snacks, baking and canned goods. We used the tips below along with products from The Container Store to organize their space and avoid the dreaded tumble of products when opening the cabinets.

Top 5 Tips for Food Storage Without a Pantry

Group Like Items Together: As with most organizing, it is important when organizing your kitchen to focus on keeping like items together. In this tight kitchen we created sections for each group: soups, baking supplies, snacks, pasta, etc. We used different bins to keep each group organized and allowing the client to know where new items should go after a shopping trip.
Use Turntables: Turntables are one of the greatest tools when organizing a small cabinet space. As you can see with the oil and vinegar organization the turntable allows you to fully utilize the whole space but also still easily see each item and grab what is needed.
Utilize Height: For this cabinet we used the height in a few different ways to maximize space. We used risers to create levels for the different canned and jarred good storage as well as focusing the taller items on the larger shelves (like the boxes of soup).
Decant Items: Excess packaging can take up a ton of space in your kitchen! Decanting items like flour, sugar, snacks, cereal, etc. into canisters (like these here) not only allows you to see everything you have and how much you have but also maximizes the space.
Create Easy Grab and Go Sections: Deep cabinets can be especially tricky to organize while ensuring you are using all of the space. Using bins or baskets to create grab and go sections are a great way to utilize the full cabinet. You will see in this kitchen we created a couple section for baking and snacks. This allows the client to pull out the appropriate basket, grab what they need and pop the whole thing back in – no more reaching over bottles of olive oil hoping you don’t knock them over.

I have linked all of the products we used from The Container Store below so you can overhaul your own kitchen space (no matter how small). The Container Store is always my go to for kitchen products and has all essentials you need maximize your space and keep your kitchen running smoothly. As an added bonus to encourage you to take the plunge in organize your kitchen The Container Store Kitchen and Pantry sale is running from now through April 5th 2020.