9 Game-Changing Tips For Organizing a Family Pantry

A: Every single pantry needs to have some form of a basket or bin to contain the general categories. Even if you like (or prefer) canisters and jars, you can incorporate a few or many to accompany the baskets.

Canisters are great for dry goods and staple items, but it's still important to have some large categories for groupings that aren't overly specific or singular. For example, a "Dinner Bin" can hold everything from boxes of pasta to cans of soup or taco shells — so you are never stuck with an item that doesn't have a home.

A: We like to group categories in a flow that makes sense: dinner items leading into breakfast, all the snacks grouped together, cooking and baking ingredients, etc. The top shelf of a pantry is always important to consider because it should hold backstock or less-utilized items, but also shouldn't be too heavy when reaching overhead.

A: The biggest mistake is thinking you can organize your items without taking every single thing off the shelves. It's truly the only way to do it — there's just no shortcut.

Once everything is out, you can see what you have, check expiration dates, toss anything old, and combine any duplicates.

A: Label your categories! If you label a bin as "Breakfast," it's very hard to put a bag a chips in it without feeling (appropriately) guilty. Labels are really the key to long-term maintenance.

A: It depends on whether you want kids to be able to help themselves to food or whether you want them to require assistance. We generally like to put school snacks down low and keep sweets and treats at a higher level. This allows kids to be independent when they want a snack or when packing lunches, but limits the selection.

A: Make a grocery list while you're in your pantry so you can see which items are low in stock and what you need to replace. This will keep you from overbuying at the grocery store, which will not only save you money, but help streamline your pantry inventory.

A: Choose canisters with a hermetic seal to keep food fresh for longer! You can use glass items or BPA-free plastic — whatever fits your preferences!

A: If you have a small pantry or limited cabinet space, it's important to be very cognizant of your limited space when shopping. If you overbuy and don't have the shelf or drawer space to accommodate the items, it will be very hard to stay organized.

A: A quick 15-minute pass-through each month to weed out expired or nearly finished items goes a long way in long-term maintenance.