Pantry DIY and Organizing Tips

Quick and easy pantry diy and organizing tips


Updating your kitchen a pantry is no easy job. No matter how small the job or large the impact is the same. Your kitchen is a complete disaster until it's done. Plus, the job always has a ripple effect.






Like you add a new sky light. Ok, no sky light but I do have 2 gallons of grey paint so we can repaint the walls, plus 4 cans of white to paint the kitchen cabinets on the other side of the kitchen. Ripple effect! 

You saw the above pic, which shows what my pantry used to look like. Which is what I thought I needed for my kitchen. It turns out I was wrong. But don't tell my husband. Below you will see the DIY husband of the year tearing out the cabinets to make way for three new 6 foot tall pantry cabinets to add the one black one we already had in place.



Quick and easy pantry diy and organizing tips

 On the back wall of this kitchen was a large deep nook that wasn't functional. So we covered the wall with stained wood and added shelves like you saw above. The hole has now been dry walled up properly because it was visible above my new pantries.





Quick and easy pantry diy and organizing tips

Inside that old nook was huge but unless you were on a ladder or 6 feet tall it wasn't reachable past 5 inches inside it.


Quick and easy pantry diy and organizing tips

A couple of filler strips later and we have things in position and can now start the lovely process of painting. Three coats of paint to be exact.




Quick and easy pantry diy and organizing tips

I ordered twelve pull out metal shelves for the cabinets. I also inserted two tension rods in one upper cabinet that we use for paper plates and the plastic holders that support them. See the lower picture on the upper right side.


Quick and easy pantry diy and organizing tips

I used my kitchen island to paint the door much to my husbands dismay. The light in our basement is dismal to say the least. So I wasn't even going to attempt to paint down there.




Quick and easy pantry diy and organizing tips


Quick and easy pantry diy and organizing tips

We also finally redid the pot light situation in here too. There are now two brand new pot lights in front of the pantry and we also put one where a chandelier used to be. 

Little secret unless you follow me on Instagram, I got tired of my kitchen table being a dumping ground for my purse and crap, so I gave it away.


Once I get the other cabinets painted, I will do another kitchen tour to show you the new look. I'm hoping to get them done before Spring hits. If you're a gardener you know how busy we get.



Quick and easy pantry diy and organizing tips

I am slowly categorizing each shelf to help me find things and know what I need to add to my shopping list as well. The best tip I can give is buy pull out shelves. I don't know about any one else but trying to dig deep in the pantry to dig out that last bottle of water or can of soup in the back is ridiculous.





Quick and easy pantry diy and organizing tips

It wasn't long before Blitz found the new spot where his dog treats are being stored. I need to mop the floor in here but we still have work to get done so I am in full procrastination mode for now.

Buying for tall pantries was the decision I should have made before but I was afraid to spend the money. Now the two lower cabinets are down in Greg's man cave for storage, so we didn't lose any $$, but it was a hard lesson I learned. Don't cheap out or be talked out of what you need for your work space. You'll be grateful you did.


So far I have the following shelves or categories in my pantry, due to some things we buy in bulk to save money:



  1. Baking
  2. Side
  3. Snacks
  4. Greg's grab n go (granola bars and cheese crackers)
  5. Soda
  6. Beer
  7. Water & Tea
  8. Mixer storage
  9. Slow cooker storage
  10. Paper towels
  11. Garbage Bags (see below)

Quick and easy pantry diy and organizing tips

I'm still using the pantry and that's how I am coming up with what works for me, but the list above is working well so far. The metal shelves were easy to install and fit perfectly. They're deep and each one can hold 50 pounds of weight. Which means my Kitchen Aide Mixer doesn't have to be stored on the counter anymore.

Quick and easy pantry diy and organizing tips


Quick and easy pantry diy and organizing tips

I hope you've liked this quick tour of the latest diy project we started and I hope to show you the rest in a couple of weeks. I'm not going to fool myself that this is going to be a quick 2 day project. But I do have a hubby who is on vacay this week so I am going to use him wisely! 😉

P.S. As well as updating my template for my blog, I have also decided to update my comment system as well. The down side is, it will not show up until a new blog post is created. So sorry for the trouble.





Quick and easy pantry diy and organizing tips