I will admit I’m not much of a gourmet cook, but I do like to have a pantry stocked with some of our family basics for quick, frugal and healthy meals. I’ve found that if I keep enough ingredients on hand, I don’t have to worry much about meal planning during the week. We may have a couple of planned meals and the rest end up being “pantry dinners.” We don’t cook a lot of fancy or creative things from our pantry, but it is nice to be able to put together something easy and nutritious (if not delicious) with what we have on hand.
We are fortunate in my own house to have a small pantry with shallow shelves right off of our kitchen. But in previous houses, we’ve created pantries in basements and wherever we could find space. This week I felt a little chill in the air, reminding me to do a little pantry nesting and fluffing for the season ahead. In preparation, I’ve gathered a few ideas to share with you all.
Storing goods in clear glass containers makes it easy to see what is there and when it needs to be replenished.
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I love shallow shelves to make the most of a small space. If your pantry shelves are too deep, it is easy to lose things in the back.
Really short on space? Create mini-pantries on the wall! Charming containers make this part pantry a part of the kitchen’s ambience. Containers on the counter keep everything within easy reach.
Free standing cabinets can be perfect pantries.
Why not stash pantry goods in cute boxes or containers?
Deep cupboards can be customized with pull out pantry racks!
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Incorporating recycling areas into your work spaces saves precious time and makes recycling a part of the daily routine.
I took a quick look in our pantry to see what we have on hand. Something so comforting to see a pantry with some good basics for a meal. You can see we don’t keep a lot of fancy things, but this pantry saves us lots of time and money because we always have something to eat. Combined with some basics such as shredded cheese, plain yogurt, fruits or vegetables, tortillas or bread we can make quick meal in a matter of minutes!
rice
pastas
canned beans (black, pinto, kidney)
canned corn
canned tuna & canned wild salmon
canned mandarin oranges
vinegars: red & white wine, balsamic
extra-virgin olive oil
soy sauce
Dijon mustard
salsa
baked corn or black chips
taco shells
capers
fresh garlic
dried herbs
peanut butter
chicken and vegetable broths
mustard
vinegars
whole and diced canned tomatoes canned
crushed stewed tomatoes
tomato paste & sauces
Organic soups from Trader Joes (we love roasted red pepper!)
Chicken Broth
Annie’s Mac and Cheese for the quick kids’ meals
pasta sauce
honey
brown sugar
cocoa
granulated sugar
whole wheat pastry flour
powdered sugar
vanilla
baking soda/powder
oatmeal
semisweet chocolate chips/dark chocolate chips
maple syrup
jelly, preserves & marmalade
slivered almonds
walnuts
popcorn
Our grocery list tip: Everyone has a different way of handling their grocery lists. Some people write their needs as they find them on a charming kitchen chalkboard and then transfer the items to a shopping list, some folks have organized and detailed preprinted computerized shopping lists they can simply check off the needs before shopping, and then there is my family. We use a calculator paper roll hanging from a ribbon. Not too glamorous, but it works great for us! We add items as they are running low, then we unroll, rip off and take it to the market! Simple, easy and effective.
I love all those pantries! Great tips, too! I have deep pantry cupboards and really need to get those pull-out shelves to make life easier. I love the chalkboard paint on the doors!
Lisa @ Stop and Smell the Chocolatess last blog post..Short and Sweet
Hi Melissa – do we get to see what your pantry looks like?
IF we re-do our kitchen (not a good time, economy wise!), I’ll put in a nice pantry, hopefully. For now, mine is pretty small and I utilize cupboards in the garage! It works!
Happy Day!
Sandy
Sandys last blog post..Beautiful Apple Butter!
oh i love the one with the red B on the wall.
i have to tell you about my friend’s pantry. they just built a new house with an open kitchen to the living room/dining table area. the kitchen is a fair size…not too small but not big. she has a one tall cabinet and then her regular over the counter ones. you open her tall cabinet and it’s a hidden room! a big pantry ROOM that opens to her garage!!! so she can dump her groceries right in there and not lug them through to the kitchen. it is so amazing! such an awesome idea. you would love it.
ok…talk to you later!
meg duerksens last blog post..much happier now.
Great post!
So many fantastic ideas.
I can’t wait to use them for inspiration.
As always, thank you for sharing.
xo
Brooke
Brookes last blog post..Big Daddy’s Antiques
Thank you for sharing these kitchens with us. They’re all so warm and inviting!
I wish I had a pantry to make all cute and functional like the ones you shared. So many wonderful ideas – but I see a common thread by using glass containers for storage. Brilliant!
xo
Becky
What a great pantry post.
I love, love, love pantries and any talk concerning them so I was happy as can be when I got linked to this post.
I also enjoyed reading about the different pantries in the comments section.
When my husband closed in our carport to make it into a sitting room, there were three rooms adjoined to it. He turned one into a laundry room, one into my much longed-for walk-in pantry, and the third is still waiting to become a half-bathroom.
Cajun Cottages last blog post..Happy Birthday, Chelsea Leigh-Ann
Boy do I love this post! So timely for me. My husband and I are currently working on revamping our pantry to make it more space effective. We’re about 3/4 of the way through. Almost there!
Ambers last blog post..A few of my favorite things…
This was just an excellent post! Some beautiful pantries to inspire us to use the space we have, and some practical advice on how to make our pantries work for us.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Alesha
Aleshas last blog post..Friday, October 10, 2008
Melissa, This sooo inspired me. Check out my blog for your shout out and to see how I used your post! Thanks, you NEVER disappoint!
♥Jen
jens last blog post.."Chalk" full of fun
I love the beautiful pantry ideas, especially the ones with the screen doors!
Be still my beating heart!!! I love to browse pantry ideas, this is a plethora of organizing genius ……someone bring me a napkin to wipe up the drool.
I just found this site today, it’s great! Lisa commented above about taking a jig saw to her cabinents and getting creative. Here is what I did to TOTALLY redo my kitchen for only $3700! I had a friend who was redoing her kitchen, her cabients were builder grade, but much better builder grade than mine (and newer). So with my measurements and the cabinent measurements, I figured out how to work all of them into my kitchen and made a new layout. I sanded them down and re-varnished them. I did add a few unfinished shelves that I stained to match and on the ends of cabinents that ended up exposed, I put beadboard that I also stained. I worked with the local tile shop after I selected my tile and found out it was way out of my budget, they found me comperable styled tile at a fraction of my original choice. I used 1 inch glass tiles as an accent around the backsplash so I only needed 3 sheets of it since it was still really expensive. I did go with laminent countertops from a local fabricator maybe some day I’ll upgrade, but in my townhome, just having a newer kitchen will be a huge selling point. I asked for help from friends and paid them in beer and pizza (hold off on the beer until after they finish!). We installed the cabinents in a day. Not only did I get an amazing kitchen for a steel, it was more enviornmentally kind than the cabinents going to the dump! So, where can you score free cabinents? Try craigslist, a friend of mine found her’s used there, or talk to friends, another friend did the same as me, we started asking friends if they knew anyone redoing their kitchen and managed to find her great cabinents for free also!
It’s nice to meet a fellow pantry fan! That really inspired me to post a picture of my walk in pantry….watch for it this Monday…I’m totally going to do that!
Caio!
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I love all the beautiful pictures of pantries. I grew up with a well-stocked pantry as my Mother grew and preserved much of what we ate(not everything-it was the 70′s and we lived in the suburbs. A good pantry is essential to feeding my family of six. I have a 24×24″ pantry with heavy wire pull-outs in my Ikea kitchen. In my basement, I have three 30″ wide pantries that are 60 ” high and about 12″ deep. In the basement pantries I store all the multiples of my supplies and dishes I use for entertaining. I belong to a food buying co-op that allows me to restock staples easily. My pantry list is very similar to yours. I plan on blogging about pantries soon.
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Twitter: berrymorin
says:
We used to have a pantry in our old apartment. I loved it. Our latest apartment has plenty cupboard space so no need for a pantry.
I saved your list such I’m stocking our new kitchen cupboards.
Thanks for having such an informative blog. I really enjoyed my visit.
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Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information?
I need ideas for a small pantry door…16 wide 78 long!! I want to take the door down that is there now…but I have no idea what to replace it with. Any ideas??
Thanks
Beth
I love all of these ideas! I feel like you read my mind about re-doing my pantry! We are nearing the end of our kitchen remodel and our food is all in giant rubbermaid containers. I am so excited to get it all back out and in the pantry!
Thanks for all the great inspiration!!