What's the Easiest Way to Organize My Pantry?

Macro sorting is a great way to start organizing the pantry.  Creating those broader categories is almost always where I suggest getting started.  It's simply putting like with like and taking it shelf by shelf.  With so many pantry items coming in it's own box, bag or can this can usually be done with or without additional containers. Yes,  I love a good container and it's usually the second step when I'm working in this space but like with like is the start. 

Think of your pantry or food spaces as your at home grocery store.  Canned goods get homed together.  Usually grains and pastas are nearer each other.  Perhaps cereal and breakfast bars share a shelf.  Imagine each shelf or spot as an aisle of the market and sort into groups accordingly.

Sometimes I expand my mental aisle planning based on who uses what on what level and work my way around those.  This expansion came into my brain when my son was younger and got more into making his own lunches and getting his own snacks.  He couldn't reach the top shelf so there was a kid snack section dedicated just for the things that were mostly his use and placed at his level.  With a larger label that said PICK ONE to try my best at keeping a few there for the whole week. The by person and place came into great play as he's gotten older because as he grew his snack shelf rose.  Now most of his stuff are in the upper part of the pantry and mine are more in the prime zone of my height.  We have one of those standard hardware store pantries with the smaller door on top of the multi-shelf bottom section.  I can stand under the upper door without concern of hitting my head so it was perfect when he got taller and his stuff moved above my height.  Over time we added more and more clear containers to the pantry space so even the above my eye level stuff was clear on what goes where or what is missing.  

Connect with me here if you have an organizing question or topic you want to talk about. Let's get the conversation started!