5 Small Kitchen Pantry Ideas to Maximize Storage

The bigger your family gets, the more food you have to store in the kitchen. But if your kitchen is lacking in the pantry department, you may struggle to find creative solutions to keep it hidden. If you’re tired of scrolling Pinterest and getting pantry-envy, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve put together a list of our favorite kitchen pantry ideas for small spaces so you can optimize your organization, maximize your storage, and keep your kitchen looking tidy. Here are five small kitchen pantry ideas that meet your storage expectations.

Build a Slide-Out Slim Pantry

Depending on the space available, your best option may be to build a pantry. That doesn’t mean you have to take valuable square footage and turn it into a walk-in pantry. Instead, you can create a slim pantry that slides out from the wall or existing cabinets — allowing it to blend into the space seamlessly. You can create a larger one for food storage or hold small kitchen appliances, or you may opt for a small-scale slide-out pantry next to your oven for your spices and baking essentials.

Use the Pantry Doors

Are you afraid something will fall out whenever you open your pantry door? If your pantry is packed to the brim, it may be time to find creative storage solutions to increase the amount of storage at your disposal. Install shelving along the inside of the door to your pantry so you can use this otherwise dead space. This will allow you to take smaller items like canned goods or spices off your pantry shelves and store them on the door (freeing up valuable space for more important items).

Repurpose a Kitchen Cabinet

Sure, the pantries you see on Pinterest are usually separate storage areas a bit away from your kitchen, but that doesn’t mean a kitchen cabinet can’t get the job done (and done well!). Depending on the layout of your home and its current setup, you may not have an area where you can build or reorganize to create a pantry. If this happens, a great solution is repurposing one of your kitchen cabinets as food storage. You can utilize small pantry organizers like turntables or storage bins to organize your snacks, baking essentials, and everything else you want to hide from sight. Using a kitchen cabinet is a solid choice for small families that don’t have much to store.

Opt for a Lazy Susan

One of our all-time favorite kitchen pantry organizers is a tried and true Lazy Susan. A Lazy Susan is a round or tray-shaped platform that rotates to distribute food easily. It’s the perfect addition to a kitchen, especially if you have a corner that would otherwise be dead space underneath your countertops. Make sure of all available space in your kitchen by installing a Lazy Susan that will improve your storage and accessibility for your stored goods.

Utilize Unused Storage Space

Although a kitchen pantry makes the most sense when it is located in the kitchen, that may not be possible, depending on the space you have to work with. Consider other areas in your home near the kitchen that could work as a pantry space. One of our favorite areas to repurpose is small hallway closets or storage space underneath your staircase. Finding ways to transform an underutilized existing space in your home into a storage space for your kitchen will give you some peace of mind in a clutter-free space.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is a Pantry?

A kitchen pantry is a cabinet (or closet) designed specifically to store food, dry goods, and small kitchen appliances. When designing a kitchen, many homeowners carefully think about where they’ll be storing their dinnerware, flatware, and glasses — oftentimes their food storage needs are overlooked. Having a pantry to keep your cooking essentials organized and in one place can help make you more efficient in the kitchen. Plus, you can have the pantry match the overall aesthetic of your home, including farmhouse style.

What can I use instead of a pantry?

If you don’t have any areas in your home that can be repurposed into a pantry, you can add additional storage to the room. Is there an area where you can add wall shelving? Would there be a place in the room where you can add a sideboard? You can use something as simple as a bookcase in your kitchen to add the pantry-like shelf space you’re looking for.

What is the best way to organize a pantry?

One of our favorite organization hacks to keep your pantry looking organized and clutter-free is to swap out traditional packaging for nearly labeled containers and bins. Remove your food from plastic bags or cardboard boxes, switch dry ingredients into clear canisters, and place odd-shaped items such as chip bags in bins or baskets. This will create an overall cohesive look for your pantry.

How do I properly group items in the pantry?

Pantry organization is important for creating an efficient workspace to prepare meals for your family. Take a general inventory of what items you store in your pantry and break them into categories that suit your needs. This may mean organizing food items by meal category (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks) or by type of item (canned goods, baking essentials, food items, etc.). Once you have decided on your categories, determine when you want to place each section in your pantry and get organized.