60 Pantry Shelving Ideas And Organizing Tips

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Get your home in order with these 60 pantry shelving ideas and organizing tips!

A disorganized pantry can make you feel like ordering take-out or zipping off to the nearest restaurant. It can also drain your wallet because you buy things you already have (you just can’t see them).

If you think your pantry is too small, cluttered, or just a lost cause, check out these space-saving pantry shelving ideas.

Small Pantry Shelving Ideas

Do you want a simple design for your small space?

A small pantry can still pack a lot of storage space. Just check out these ideas that show you don’t need much space to create an organized pantry.

1. Install Pull-Out Shelves

Atta Girl Says uses pull-out shelves to easily access hard-to-reach food items.

2. Use Tiered Shelves

You can find these tiered shelves on Amazon or home stores to give food in the back of your pantry a lift.

3. Hang Pantry Door Shelves

Don’t limit your storage to your pantry shelves. Every inch counts, so install shelves on the back of your pantry door like Citrine Living.

4. Double-Up Your Storage

This handy space saver doubles your storage potential, adjusting to your available space.

5. Maximize Wall Space

Don’t forget about the walls; they are valuable storage real estate.

This pantry on Apartment Therapy shows how you can install hooks to hang baskets for produce and other items.

6. Use Hanging Shelf Baskets

Check out these super easy hanging baskets. They slip onto existing shelving to utilize dead space.

Open Shelving Pantry Ideas

Are you considering a pantry makeover with easy access everyday items? If so, open shelving is a great addition to your pantry design.

1. Turn Food Into Decor with Glass Containers

If you’re using open shelving, turn your food storage into part of your kitchen decor. Use pretty baskets and store dry goods and other items in glass canisters. You can even transfer contents from cereal boxes into clear containers.

2. Recessed Shelves

You can install shelves in a nook like Fox Hollow Cottage or even carve out shallow shelving between wall studs.

3. DIY Wooden Shelf Wall

A Beautiful Mess creates a stunning wall of wooden shelves for storing pantry items and displaying kitchen accessories.

4. Repurpose a Bookshelf

Give a basic bookshelf new life as a free-standing pantry like the Red Cottage Chronicles. If you don’t want to see your items, hang a curtain using a tension rod.

5. Make A Slim Pantry Shelf

Build a pantry shelf that suits your needs and style, like this one from Hometalk. Keeping it shallow enough to fit essential canned goods and containers takes up less floor space.

6. Use a Baker’s Rack

A decorative baker’s rack can add extra storage space for food items, small appliances, and more.

Wire Rack Pantry Shelving Ideas

Wire shelves are a popular occurrence in many pantries and a budget-friendly option. But they can be challenging to store particular things that can fall through the shelves or tip over on the uneven surface.

With these three easy options, you can solve your wire woes without replacing your shelves.

1. Easy Wood Covers for Wire Shelves

The Happy Farmhouse makes some DIY Wooden covers to give wire shelves a sophisticated facelift.

2. Use Foam Board Over Wire Shelves

Lemons, Lavender, & Laundry utilizes foam board and decorative paper to create a thrifty solution.

3. Translucent Shelf Liners

These see-through shelf liners from The Container Store are practically invisible but provide a level, smooth surface.

Pantry Storage for Small Appliances

1. Roll-Out Kitchen Appliance Storage

Build a small appliance storage solution that can slide out of sight like this one from Home Road.

2. Use a Rolling Cart

You can put all of your small appliances on a rolling cart inside your pantry or tucked away in a corner. Simply roll it wherever you need it.

3. Use Rolling Plant Stands

Here’s a fun idea from Kitchn to make it easier to drag your appliances out of the pantry. It’s a good solution if you must keep items on the floor.

4. Utilize Side Shelves

Don’t forget about the sides of your pantry. You could find some valuable wall space perfect for side shelving, like Stacy’s Savings.

5. Pull-Out Drawers

Slide-out drawers or shelves are a great way to keep small appliances out of sight when not in use. You can include several inside a cabinet or a butler’s pantry, like Chanelis Ortiz.

6. Consider a Corner Shelf

Tuck a corner shelf into your pantry or a wasted kitchen corner to provide vertical appliance storage.

Walk-in Pantry Shelving Ideas

If you have the luxury of having a walk-in pantry with lots of space, you can make it a real showpiece.

1. Go Vintage

Use old soda crates to corral items on long shelves. It looks super cool and works great with a farmhouse kitchen.

2. Group Similar Items Together

When you have a bigger space, it can start to look more cluttered. More space means you tend to get more things.

Help keep things visually appealing by placing similar-looking items together on shelves.

3. Incorporate a Wine Rack

With room to spare, store your vino in your pantry with built-in or store-bought wine racks like So Home.

4. Switch Out a Shelf for Prep Space

Turn one long shelf into a countertop, like Stacy’s Savings did in their DIY pantry. Extend it out past the shelves by a few inches.

5. Vary Storage Options

Don’t fill your whole pantry with open shelves. Take advantage of the extra space by organizing for what you have. Use a mix of open shelves, cabinets, drawers, baskets, and more.

6. Go with U-Shaped Shelves

Wrap shelves around the pantry walls and use accessible corner shelves to keep things from ending up in no-man’s land.

Organization Tips for Pantry

Of course, if you’re looking for better pantry organization ideas, it always helps to have some handy advice. So, if your goal is a more organized pantry, keep these valuable tips in mind.

1. Take Everything Out

At the start of your pantry organization project, pull everything out of the space and lay it out where you can see it. Don’t leave anything inside the pantry.

2. Sort Items

Start putting similar items together to take stock of what you have.

3. Check Expiration Dates

This is the perfect time to purge things taking up excess space, like expired food. Check expiration dates and toss anything past its prime. Then, keep the food that expires first to the front when you put things back.

4. Rethink Your Pantry Space

Once you know what you have, reassess your pantry setup. This would be the time to consider removing shelves, adding shelves, hanging a door rack, etc.

5. Use the Right Containers

Don’t force your food and other items into containers you already have or ones you buy because they look good.

Purchase the appropriate bins and baskets for what you need to store. They should work well with your space, style, and organizing habits.

6. Don’t Waste Wall Space

Can you hang hooks or baskets on the back wall or side walls? What about cleaning supplies like a mop or broom? Don’t forget about this valuable storage space.

7. Put Healthy Foods At Eye Level

Want to eat better? Here’s a handy trick — put the healthy foods at eye level so you see them first.

8. Give Kids Their Own Pantry Shelf

Make life easier by creating a kid-friendly pantry shelf at a reachable height for little ones in the home. Include their favorite snacks, healthy options, breakfast items, etc.

9. Really Deep Shelves? Use a List

If you have a deep pantry, things can get forgotten in the abyss at the back of the shelves. It can help to keep a list on the back of the pantry door of stuff you store in the back (less frequently used items are a good choice).

10. Use Labels

Don’t underestimate the power of labels to keep things organized and help you and others put things away.

Corner Shelving Ideas for Pantry

Corner pantry shelves are a great idea to maximize your dedicated space. Believe it or not, the extra shelving makes a huge difference in a little space.

1. A Corner Pantry

Frills and Drills sneaks a whole panty into a corner.

2. Borrow from Your Closet

Pantry storage can come from anywhere, including closet storage systems. A corner closet shelf can work out perfectly in your walk-in pantry space.

3. Put Susan in a Corner

Maximize the deep depths of corners with lazy susans like Forks and Folly.

4. Use Corner Shelf Risers

Double up the space in your corners and keep smaller items in view with corner shelf risers.

5. Tiered Corner Shelves

Add extra space in corners with a tiered corner shelf specifically fit for the space.

6. Repurpose Turntable Inserts

You don’t have to have a Lazy Susan to use these turntable inserts. They’re the perfect shape to corral items in the corners if you can’t fit a turntable.

Organization Tools for Shallow Pantry

1. Pasta Containers

These clear containers are long and narrow, making them an excellent match for shallow pantry shelves.

2. Slim Over-the-Door Rack

A slim rack over the inside of the pantry door is a must to maximize a shallow pantry. It gives you almost double the storage.

3. Go Stackable

Use stackable containers to use as much shelf space as possible.

4. Drop Down Rack

This layered shelf with drop downs makes things more accessible while storing more in the same space.

5. Shelf Dividers

Use shallow shelf dividers or make your own to keep things like seasoning packets and food packs from toppling over.

Wall Pantry Shelving Ideas

1. Create a Pretty Backdrop

Pretty up a wall pantry with some wallpaper or fabric behind the shelves.

2. Go Rustic

Use reclaimed wood to create some stunning rustic shelves for a DIY wall pantry. It’s good for your wallet and the environment.

3. White Wall of Cabinets

Picture Perfect Kitchen Designs showcases a wall pantry featuring built-in white cabinets that blend seamlessly with the rest of the space.

4. Cover Alcoves with a Barn Door

If your pantry is set into the wall with no doors, you can always add a curtain to hide it away. But a barn door gives a sophisticated, polished look.

Chalkboard paint on the door can help keep things rustic and whimsical.