Pantry Organization Makeover with The Container Store

Aww the pantry. That place in our house that we actually spend quite a bit of time in really if you think about it. We spend time in it looking for something good to snack on, standing in it staring blankly as we try to come up with something for dinner using as little amount of ingredients as possible, loading food in from our weekly grocery trips, pulling kids out of it telling them they’ll spoil their dinner if they eat that cookie, and trying to figure out where to put everything and how to keep it all organized! Well with the help of the Container Store, I’m here to help with just that!! I mean who wouldn’t prefer an organized pantry to a messy chaotic one! Well my kids could care less either way, but I love an organized pantry and I know most moms do too! It doesn’t matter the size of your pantry. Big or small, walk in or not, these great items that I found at The Container Store will help your pantry look and function it’s best! First let’s take a look at the before pics shall we. To shop the items on Amazon, click HERE

Now by no means was my pantry the most unorganized messy pantry in the world….trust me I’ve seen much worse….you know who you are lol!!! But it just looked sloppy all the time and nothing ever stayed organized. I did try to organize it once but it just never took for some reason, well now I know the reason I didn’t have the right organization products.

This is when I attempted to organize the pantry. It looked good for about three days and then stuff just started getting put in the wrong spot and just crammed in wherever it could fit. I didn’t have enough designated bins and storage units to keep everything in it’s place.

And now it looks like this!! I’ll talk more about each product in this post.

So here is my first tip for you when getting ready to shop The Container Store. Well actually my first tip is to not take your three kids and husband with you to the store!! My second tip whether you are going to the store or just shopping on line, is to draw out your pantry and write down all the measurements. I also made a list of my items that I needed to have in bins so I had an idea of how many I would need. Having all the measurements handy was so very helpful!! First I went onto The Container Stores website and added all the items that I wanted to check out in the store to my cart. You could just simply order everything you need on their website and never have to step foot in the store. Their website is very easy to navigate and has plenty of photos and information on each item. I wanted to check out the store in person and of course share it on my Instagram Stories with you all!

The first item on my wishlist  that I knew I absolutely had to have were these ProKeeper Cereal Containers. I tried other cereal containers and they never fit a full box of cereal so I always had half full bags in the pantry. These cereal containers fit a full box of cereal with no problem! Even the larger size boxes! We eat a lot of cereal here so these were a must! I actually ordered two more when I got home because I saw I had the room! So soon we’ll have six containers in total! My biggest pet peeve when we had our cereal just in the box it came in, was I would go to grab a box and it was pretty much gone! Just the crumb dust and a few pieces remained! Well that is no more, and when you dump the cereal into the container you don’t add all that cereal dust as I call it!

The next big ticket item I needed were storage bins for all the kid’s snacks. These Large White Bins are amazing! They hold a ton of snacks and the price is great!! I loaded quite a few of these babies into my cart when I saw the price!! I love that they are low so my kids can easily grab and see whats inside of them, but not so low that they don’t hold much. You could use these bins in all areas of your home! The handle holes make them easy to carry too.

When I was looking on The Container Store’s website I stumbled upon these Large Glass Containers with black lids. I just loved the look of them! Previously I had glass containers here but the lid did not seal like these so things would go stale. The glass containers have a great seal on the lid and just look cute! I have five containers here so even though they are large they aren’t too bulky.

Besides the Cereal Containers I knew I wanted some Expandable Shelf organizers. This item has been a game changer for me!! You can have it small like you see here or expand it all the way to 25 inches!! It has three shelves and they are nice and deep. I am so excited that I can see all the items in my pantry and nothing is hidden behind other large items.

Here is the Expandable shelf extended. I put one on both shelves. Even my kids said that they could see everything now! Plus doesn’t it just make everything look so organized and pretty!

I used a little different Expandable Shelf for my canned good because this one has a little smaller dimensions, which I needed for this area. This expandable shelf can expand to 25 inches and has three rows as well. I have high openings here so I was able to double stack my cans. This came in handy because I like to have a good amount of canned goods on hand.

Here are some great items that I don’t know how I have lived with out! I absolutely love the convience of this InterDesign Clear Linus Divider. I put some of my baking supplies in it. You just swirl it around until you get to the item you need. It’s genius! I also bought the ProKeeper Mini Food container for our cupcake sprinkles. We love our sprinkles so this is really convenient. When you open the lid it has holes so you can sprinkle whatever is in there out slowly, or you can slide the lid and pour more out quickly.

Let me tell you about this ProKeeper Brown Sugar Container. It’s another genius product that I don’t know how I lived without!! It has an air tight seal and that’s not it, see that terra cotta disk, well you can get that wet and it will  keep the brown sugar soft and clump free. So smart right! This container can hold up to a two pound bag. Gone are the days of dried out clumpy brown sugar. Thank you Container Store!

While at the store I saw this MadeSmart White Lazy Susan. At first I wasn’t sure I needed it but I’m glad I bought it. I put all our condiments on it. So I can keep it in the pantry or have it out for parties! Again I just love how I just need to give it a little swirl and see what’s on it.

The lazy Susan fits nicely on the shelf.

We don’t drink a ton of tea but I do keep tea bags handy for guests. I used to have them in a baggy or just thrown on the shelf. Now I have them very neatly organized in this Clear Tea Bag Storage Container. It also helps keep the tea bags fresher longer.

See don’t my tea bags look so pretty and neat in their container? The other nice thing is you can stack it on it’s side like you see here so it takes up less space. 

While we’re on the topic of warm beverages I wanted to share this Acrylic Divided Coffee Pod Box. I got my husband a Nespresso machine for Father’s Day and had nothing to store his pods in. While I was on the Container Store site I saw this and into my cart it went! Now the flavors are separated  and easy to find.

Ok back to before pics! Look at this disaster. This area was just a dump zone of  items I didn’t have room for on the shelves and it just felt like such wasted space to me. I always thought shelves on the wall where my aprons are would be great.

I honesty didn’t think I would be able to ever fit shelves there. There’s really not a huge distance from the wall to the pantry shelves. Thankfully The Container Store sells this Platinum Elfa Pantry Door and Wall rack. It is the perfect size for this space. The largest shelf is five inches deep. Still big enough to fit good sized containers, but not so wide I couldn’t use it. This might have been the best thing I purchased! Look at how much more storage I added! This was just unused space before. Another cool feature is you can also mount it on the inside of a pantry door. So if you don’t have a free wall no problem.

I found this cute Bamboo Hook while I pursuing the isles at the Container Store. So I was able to keep my aprons in the pantry. This hook looks much better than the one I had before trust me….it was just a nail in the wall holding my aprons!

On my very top shelf of the pantry I had miscellaneous items. A food processor, some drink dispensers for parties, tea and coffee, popcorn, glass containers and Lord knows what else. I never liked having all those items on display. I knew I wanted to find some cute baskets to put up, but I didn’t want anything too dark. I felt like dark baskets would make the pantry feel closed in.

So once again true to form the Container Store came through for me! I stumbled upon these beautiful Hampton Woven White Storage Bins. They just so happened to be the perfect depth for my shelf and width. It was meant to be! The fact that they are white is what really drew me to them. I feel like they don’t take up any visual space really in the pantry. I hardly notice them when I am in there. I knew I would need some labels on them since I wouldn’t be able to see what is inside from down below. I found these pretty Gold Bin Clip Holders. They match perfectly with the White Woven Bins.

Doesn’t it look so much better up there now!! Now no one has to know that I hoard drink dispensers for parties lol!

Alright we went from the top to the bottom. Before, as you see here, I just had our water bottles and canned drinks on the floor. I also had my paper towels stacked down there too. The water was always falling over and just looked like a mess. I was tired of it.

I saw this Water Hyacinth Large Bin on the Container Store’s site. It showed it being used as under bed storage which I thought was great, but I also thought it would work perfectly for my water and paper towels. I needed something that was large but not too high because there’s not much height down there. Now our water stays put and my paper towels look nice and neat. I also put our canned drinks in a White Storage Bin.

I grabbed a couple of these Clear Storage bins from the Container Store, which are also stackable by the way. The fact that they are clear is what makes them so great. You can see all that you have in them.

Of course no pantry is complete without a ProKeeper long noodle pasta container and Slide and Pour Dispenser for rice. I wrote the expiration date on the back of the containers with an expo pen. Being in air tight containers also keeps the rice and pasta fresher longer.

Before starting my pantry makeover I had been seeing these OXO Containers on people’s account. They were all raving about them, so when I went to the Container Store I checked them out. The Container Store has a HUGE selection of OXO containers! All shapes and all sizes and at awesome prices, plus they run them on sale too! Now that I have been using these containers I am hooked for life! They are so easy to use you just push the button on top to open and push it to close. It keeps such a great air tight seal. I put all my kids chips and snacks in them. My kids also love these containers. They think they’re fun to use! Plus I love that they are clear so I can see how much I have of each item.

This is the button you push to open and to close. So easy to use.

I did a couple finishing touches to the pantry. I lined all the shelves with this Easy Liner.

I also added this fun Buffalo Plaid Removable Wallpaper to the walls. I think it just gave the pantry a little something extra! Plus it’s removable so I can change it out on a whim!

I wanted to give a big thank you to The Container Store for giving me the opportunity to share all these great products with you!! My pantry functions so well now and has stayed clean and organized. I have more storage space in my pantry than I did before! It doesn’t matter the size of your pantry these storage solutions will work. My previous home didn’t have a walk in pantry and it was always a mess too. I so wish I had discovered all these items back then. Especially the Expandable Shelves, because everything was hidden in that pantry! If you get a chance to walk through a Container Store do it!! They honestly have a solution for every organization/storage problem. But if you can’t get to a store don’t worry their website is just as amazing!! Thank you for reading and I hope this post inspired you to get your pantry organized!! In my opinion an organized life is a happy life!! Thank you for reading please feel free to leave comments and questions below, and be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a post. The month of August is going to be all about organization and Back To School tips and tricks!