Got a dark, unorganized pantry?  We have the solutions to make it sparkle and stay organized! You will save money and time when you organize your food and kitchen organization.

Here are Nancy’s tips and check out the photos below:

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• What You See is What you Get: if I can see it in my pantry or cupboards I won’t buy it again on accident—when it is in my basement
  
• Location, Location, Location: put most used things where they are most accessible—not in the basement (take cereal out of boxes and stack bags behind the cereal in the shelves)
  
• Once a Year Means Not Here: prime real estate needs to be used for things that get used all the time.  Things that got used once a year got moved down to the basement and the food got moved up. Take this chance to purge and decide if you use things often enough to keep it at all.
  
• Divide and Conquer: I added more shelves in my cupboards and my pantry to give me more space to organize (love Lowes).  See the photos below. You just have to add cleats to the wall and put new shelves down!
  
• Let There Be Light: Mr Beams battery operated motion detection lights added the light I needed to my pantry and to my shelves.  After several months of use, I have only changed the batteries once.  I used the Mr Beams LED Spotlight and the Mr Beams LED Motion Sensor Slim Light for the places you need to reach in to.
  

OK so here is the cute stuff:

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• Paint the walls in a bright color so the pantry makes you smile!
  
• Use a bright color for the shelves (white) so you can see everything more easily)
  
• Paint old bread pans and 9×13 cake pans to sort your foods. You can add cute chalkboard stickers and write what’s inside on the end. If you don’t have old bread pans, check out the local thrift stores and garage sales or ask friends and neighbors if they have old ones.
  
• Use see-through containers so you can see what your foods are (these are from IKEA)
  
• Use baskets to wrangle the things like bags of pasta, rice and beans (these are from the dollar store but I had them before–no need to purchase new stuff)
  
• Use lazy susans for the corners to get the most out of your space.  Mine are from IKEA and only cost $9 each–a great price.
  
• Go up as high as you can!
  

Check out our past show on Pantry Organization!

FYI:  The pantry is still organized and looks great 5 months after I organized it.  Doing this motivates the kids to keep it clean!