How To Organize A Deep Pantry in 5 Easy Steps

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Last updated on January 4th, 2023 at 04:31 pm

One space in every home that is in constant need of attention is the pantry. It’s one of the most used and most replenished storage areas, which means it’s a high-maintenance space. Pantries come in all different sizes. In this post, I’ll focus on how to organize a deep pantry using a recent project I did as an example.

A recent organizing project was to unpack and organize an entire kitchen, pantry included. The pantry in this kitchen is deep, meaning items can easily get lost in the back.

In this post, I’ll walk you through how to organize a deep pantry —from category placement to recommended products.

Step 01. Goals for organizing deep pantry shelves

The first step in any organizing project is to set goals. The client experienced a lot of visibility issues with her old deep skinny pantry, and the same could happen now with deep pantry shelves.

Our goals for this pantry were to:

Increase visibility: create a system so that items in the back don’t get lost.
Place foods by convenience: place foods for different family members at eye and arm level …or high out of reach.
Create a system for storage and upkeep: give the client the “rules” for the system so she can maintain the space.

Step 02. Clean shelves & take inventory.

If you’re organizing an existing pantry:

Take everything out so you can start fresh and reimagine the space.
Clean the shelves – wipe them clean or use a vacuum to clear out the crumbs.

Next, narrow down the food categories. In the case of this pantry, we had:

Snacks
Breakfast foods
Breads
Canned food
Dry goods
Baking
Drinks

You may, like this client, not want every category of food in your pantry. It makes more sense to store spices and cooking oils in a cabinet next to the range.

NOTE: Steps 3-5 are done simultaneously. I repeat these steps each time I organize a category.

For example, when I organized the snacks, I gathered them together, decluttered expired foods, and organized them. Then, I moved to the next category and repeated the steps.

Step 03. Divide into zones

Before putting food back, I divided the pantry into zones that best serve this family’s lifestyle.

Zone 1: Most snacks are on the left lower shelves so the shortest member of the family can help himself. Anything mom and dad want out of reach goes on the top left shelf.

Zone 2: Breakfast items and bread live on the right lower shelves. I wanted these to be within reach for the kids so they could get their own breakfasts.

Zone 3: All cooking items, such as canned foods, baking/cooking supplies, and dry goods, are at eye level. As you’re cooking, everything needs to be quick and easy to get to.

Zone 4: Finally, all the bulk drink items (and snack contraband) and seasonal baking items are stored on the top shelves since they’re not used as often.

Step 04. Declutter.

The client’s last home had very little kitchen storage, so food was stored in different areas. Meaning, many foods were expired.

As you put foods back (or as you remove foods from the pantry), check the expiration dates so you’re not organizing old food!

Step 05. Organize the space.

NOTE: Before purchasing any organizing products, measure your spaces.

It’s a challenge to use really deep shelves in a pantry. But here are some ways to utilize them:

Optimize visibility by using shelf risers (or a shelf riser-turntable combo) and shelf steps at the back of each shelf and cabinet organizers.
Take advantage of built-in adjustable shelves to expand the vertical space.
Use tall containers for the rear of the shelves and containers that can easily stack near the front. Both the OXO and Flip-Tite containers do the trick. (Read my review on these containers here.)

These are the 5 easy steps for how to organize a deep pantry, and really, any pantry!

How To Organize A Deep Pantry in 5 Easy Steps

In this post, I’ll walk you through how to organize a deep pantry —from category placement to recommended products.