The kitchen pantry – a tall cupboard with ample shelving – has enjoyed a resurgence in kitchen design in recent years. And no wonder: it offers a cacophony of storage options in the kitchen. But it can become a disaster zone, a place where half-eaten bags of crisps fester unnoticed or ingredients are pushed to the back, long forgotten. The time has come to get tactical. Here are our tips for organising the storage in your kitchen pantry…

#1 Use clear storage containers

All that shelving space is perfect except when you don’t have a system to your storing of foodstuffs in the kitchen pantry.

Using see-through containers, from glass jars to plastic tubs, helps you identify quickly what it is you are looking for.

Of course, labelling jars is essential too. As well as creating your own labels, opt for jars with chalkboard-topped lids for when you want to chop and change how you use them.

#2 Develop a system

Clustering ingredients also helps you to find things in a hurry. How you cluster your kitchen pantry ingredients, depends on how and what you cook or bake. Try clustering things together such as your baking ingredients or sweet food stuffs on one side and savoury items on the other.

#3 Consider how often you’ll need to get to things

Food items you need to access frequently should be within easier each – place on the middle shelves. On the top shelves, place things for storage that you won’t need to get to very often.  And on the bottom shelving, place things that are less frequently needed. If you can, keep the kitchen pantry floor free from clutter as this will help give you pantry a streamlined storage system.

#4 Similar things together

Keep ‘food partners’ together also works. For example, keep drinks togetehr, jars of hot chocolate, tea and coffee and items you use for breakfast are also easy to each during the morning rush.

#5 Integral shopping list

The thing that many people love about their kitchen pantry is how they can keep things all in one place but also how they can maintain efficient order on what they need to buy when they next go grocery shopping. A chalkboard in the pantry is the perfect addition, great for quickly jotting down when you run out of something or are running low.

#6 Open kitchen pantry or one with doors?

Some people swear by open shelving but unless you have super-tidy habits, you may find that it soon begins to look clustered and messy.

If you want the storage solutions of the kitchen pantry but want to continue to enjoy the minimal style, opt for soft-closing kitchen pantry doors. When you cook or bake, throw them open wide so you can access what you need, quickly and easily.

Looking to incorporate a pantry into your new kitchen?

A pantry is a versatile storage cupboard, ticking off many storage issues. Is it in your kitchen plan?