Organizing the Chaos in my Pantry

How I took my hot-mess pantry from this

  

to this

I finally got fed up with my pantry and decided I had to make a change. Every time I tried to find something all I could see were half-eaten boxes of chips and chaos, which would make me so frustrated I'd forget what I was looking for in the first place. 
I'm having to pack lunches everyday for both boys so I wanted a pantry with everything in its place and neat. I went to Pinterest to get ideas on what I wanted to do without having to make any major changes to the layout. (gotta love pinterest)

First off, I pulled everything out and threw away anything that was half-eaten, expired, or empty. I don't know why people feel the need to save a box of crackers with only 3 left inside. Why leave 3? Eat them or throw them away!!! Same goes with a handful of broken chips.... throw it out!
Second, I bought containers for dry goods, baskets and bins for boxes foods, a rack for the cans to go on, and lazy susans for bottles. 

Third, I labeled the containers and baskets. If a box had individually wrapped items inside, I took them out and recycled the boxes. My label printer can be found here.

I made one basket for pastas/starches in boxes, one for snacks (individual packaged crackers, chips, raisins, etc), one for crackers, one for breakfast items (muffins, grits, etc), and one for treats. I found these baskets on sale at Target. They have several color options and are very reasonable. You can find the ones I have here and here. 

I put applesauce pouches and granola bars into clear bins. The bins I used are for organizing refrigerator items and I got them at TJ Maxx for $3 each. The ones I have are very similar to these.

I put the dry goods (spaghetti, oats, sugars, flour, etc. into their labeled containers. I found these Felli Flip containers at TJ Maxx and Homegoods. They seal similar to the Oxo brand but were about a third cheaper. They're working out great so far. You can find them online here. 

I organized the cans onto a stepped shelf like this one. I put bottles of soy sauce, vinegar, honey, etc. on the lazy susans. I got these at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. You can find them here. 

I hung three Command hooks on the inside of the pantry to hang chip clips on. **Pinterest idea**

I wanted similar foods to be together and easy to find. Now when I'm packing lunches I can grab a snack chip and an applesauce without foraging through boxes plus it's so easy to see when items are getting low. It's made packing lunches and knowing what I need from the grocery store so easy.
Everyone in the house really enjoys the new pantry as it makes meal and snack time less stressful. I'm so glad I did this. It took me about a day and I spent around $100 and it was SOOO worth it.