About a year ago, I realized my trips to the grocery store were becoming more and more frequent. With 3 growing kids-one of them a teenage boy- this was bound to happen.  The problem wasn’t my children’s ability to consume enough food daily to feed a small village.  The problem was my lack of pantry space.  In fact, I had no pantry to speak of, just overflowing kitchen cabinets.  I was on a mission to solve this problem without spending a ton of money (I needed that for my grocery bill).

First, I emptied out our front hall closet.  I moved the coats, hats, scarves, and umbrellas to a basement closet. I also considered storing these things in bedrooms.

Next, I had my handy dandy husband build some simple shelves on one side of the closet (a bookshelf would have worked as well). On the other side, I stacked ordinary large plastic storage drawers.

After evaluating how much space I needed, I labeled each shelf and drawer with categories- Rice & Grains, Canned Foods, School Lunch Foods, After School Snacks, Breakfast Cereal, Sauces & Dressings, Baking, and Spices. I used drawer dividers and shelf  raisers (my youngest calls them Barbie stairs) to be sure everything had a place, was visible, and easy to find.

Finally, I stocked my new pantry and created some much needed space in my kitchen.

Mission accomplished!

Do you have a pantry tip to share?  We’d love to hear it