Operation: Organization 2017 - Organized Pantries

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Creative pantry organization tips for pantries of all sizes! | 11 Magnolia Lane

If you’ve been following us for any amount of time, then you know that we host our Operation: Organization series every January and September (the Back-to-School-Edition). Today, we’re thrilled to be kicking off this year’s series, with a group of very talented bloggers joining us, including our friend Sam at Simply Organized, who’s also sharing over on her blog today.

Today I’m sharing some tips on making your pantry beautiful and functional. Since Amy and I have been blogging together for more than six years now, and we’ve lived in eight houses between us during that time, we’ve posted quite a few of our pantries on 11 Magnolia Lane. Whether your pantry is cupboard-sized or a great, big walk-in, we’ve got ideas for you!

First, here’s my cupboard pantry in the original 11 Magnolia Lane house {full home tour here}.

Organized small pantry with contact paper on the cupboard doors | 11 Magnolia Lane

This was a smaller space and I had to maximize every inch. I added chalkboard contact paper on the cupboard doors, lots of baskets and jars for storage, and a fun chip rack that we still use to this day (it’s perfect when we have casual parties or cookouts). You can read the full post {here}.

Our posts contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking on these links, we will earn a small commission, which helps to keep our content free. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise, since that would be tacky! Read our full disclosure policy here.

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Sources: | chip rack | chalkboard contact paper | baskets and canisters: HomeGoods |

In 2011, we moved to Nashville, Tennessee (see that home tour here), and we suddenly had a large corner pantry. It was full of white wire shelving (my nemesis), so I ripped it all out and built solid shelving instead. You can read how I did it {here}.

If you have a corner pantry, adding turntables or lazy Susans in the corner is a great idea to maximize your space. Nothing gets lost in the back corner!

While we were in Nashville, Amy and her family were living in Virginia Beach (view her home tour here; this house was one of my favorites!). Their home had a closet pantry, and she did a great job of making every inch count.

Organized closet pantry uses every inch of space | 11 Magnolia Lane

Some of my favorite things about this pantry are as follows: adhesive shelf paper to cover cork board on the door, a shopping list on a clipboard, a lunch station on the door that makes it easy for the kids to pack their own lunches (plus baskets of grab and go lunch supplies in the pantry), and great use of vertical space. See the whole space in detail {here}.

Now we’re living in North Carolina again, and I actually converted an empty closet off the kitchen into a pantry. It was originally meant to be a second powder room, so it’s about the size of a half bath, and so we added lots of shelves from IKEA (see the entire post here).

In addition to lots of lovely (non-white wire!) shelving, we also built this lovely DIY plate rack for about $40. I LOVE IT.

DIY Plate Rack for $40 | 11 Magnolia Lane

| How to build: here |

Another space-maximizing project in this pantry is the wall mounted DIY chip rack we built. It was so simple–the tutorial is here.

DIY chip rack maximizes vertical wall space in a pantry | 11 Magnolia Lane

This section of the house is one of my favorites, because it is so functional for a busy family. Just outside the pantry door is my week at a glance chalkboard wall calendar that we couldn’t live without. Seriously. This has been on the wall in our last four houses!

| DIY chalkboard wall calendar |

I also created an unused art niche into bookshelves for my cookbooks:

DIY Built In Bookshelves | 11 Magnolia Lane

| DIY Bookshelves |

And we converted a coat closet into a mudroom drop zone:

DIY closet turned mudroom for renters | 11 Magnolia Lane

| DIY Closet Mudroom for Renters |

I don’t know about you, but now I’m feeling inspired to go and tidy that pantry so it looks like the photos again! Be sure to visit previous Operation: Organization posts {here}, and please head on over to Simply Organized, too!

Monday January 9th
Simply Organized
11 Magnolia Lane

Wednesday January 11th
Sunny Side Up
Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss

Friday January 13th
Just a Girl and Her Blog
Dixie Delights