How To Organize A Pantry With Dollar Tree Items

Most of us are guilty of having a very disorganized pantry. It can be difficult to find the time to place and organize new groceries every time you come home from the store, and soon there is no system in place with your pantry and you just place items where you see an empty space!

Luckily, you can easily and cheaply organize your pantry using Dollar Tree items! You just need to set a few hours aside, have the right Dollar Tree items, and a few tips on how to organize your pantry best.

To help you have a clean, organized, and uncluttered pantry, here are some tips on how to organize your pantry with Dollar Tree items!

Why You Should Organize Your Pantry

Other than decluttering and cleaning, there are a few reasons why you should organize your pantry.

It is so easy to lose track of the food you have sitting in your pantry, especially when you pop out to the store often and keep adding to the piles of food already stored away.

By organizing your pantry, you can check the expiry date on all the items stored there. Not being able to check the expiry date on your food items means there is a higher chance they will go to waste, and you will be flushing money down the drain.

Organizing your pantry not only lets you check all the expiry dates on your food, but it will help you put a better system in place to keep check of expiry dates going forward.

Once you have gone through the food in your pantry, you can then take out any food which is close to its expiry date, that you know you won’t get around to using, and pack it away to donate to families in need. This way you are doing a good deed, and the food won’t go to waste.

Checking all the food in your pantry also allows you to remove any junk food. Try to chuck out all the junk food and instead keep healthier options stored away for your family.

Sorting out the food you have, and making sure you use it before it expires, is one part. It is also just great to have a well-organized pantry that makes finding the right ingredients that much easier when it is time to cook!

Organizing Your Pantry With Dollar Tree Items

You won’t be able to organize your pantry without the right organization and storage items. You can find all you need at Dollar Tree to properly set up your pantry to be neat and orderly.

Here are the best tips on how to do this!

1. Measure The Shelves

Before you rush out to Dollar Tree to purchase storage containers for your pantry, you need to measure the shelves in the pantry to know your limitations.

It will be so frustrating buying containers and storage bins that are too big and stick out past the shelves. Not only does this not look so great, but it will increase the chances of you knocking over the storage bins and making more mess.

Check to see how much space is between the shelves, to ensure the storage bins are no too tall either.

2. Choose Your Containers

It is always a good idea to have matching storage containers, it just makes your pantry look neater.

You can either choose the same storage container for all the items or buy different sizes to hold different types of food and beverages. It is best to go through the pantry first, and then figure out what storage containers you will need, and how many you should get.

You don’t want to run out of storage containers halfway through packing away!​​​​

I love these gold wire containers as it makes my pantry look expensive, but little do they know (hehe).

If you don’t care about the fancy-schmancy gold, you can get these multi-purpose baskets that come in different colors and different sizes, so you can choose what suits your needs best.

Once you know how many to buy, purchase a few extra. It is always good to have a few extra storage containers on hand for when you purchase more groceries, or you find you need to change the storage system a little bit after using it for some time.

3. Store Bulk Items Away

Buying in bulk is one of the best ways you can save money, but storing bulk items can be tricky. To keep your pantry uncluttered, you should not store all your bulk items there.

Purchase some large containers and store these extra items away in the garage, the basement, a spare room, or even under the bed. When these items run out in the pantry, you can simply go fetch a few to stock it up again.

These plastic baskets with handles not only look stylish but are great to keep extra stock items packed away! They can be carried easily, and offer easy access to the items you might need.

4. Organize By Category

There is no point in buying storage containers for your pantry if you aren’t going to use them properly. Think of all the different categories you can split the pantry items into, and then organize them this way. 

You could separate items you use often in cooking and keep those together, or keep cereals, spices, flours, grains, and each category separate. It helps to know what is in your pantry first before deciding on the different categories.

Different items will require different size containers, so keep this in mind when choosing what you need.

For floor storage for larger items, you could look at these round woven baskets. They can hold quite a large quantity and make items easily accessible.

5. Keep Kids Snacks Accessible

Kids love snacking, and it is worth setting up their own little snack section in the pantry. One of the best ways to do this is to purchase storage containers that are a different color to the rest and placing them on the floor of the pantry or on the top shelf. 

You can fill these up with healthy snacks and treats. By being a different color to the rest of the containers, kids will easily tell which basket contains their snacks.

This also works well for lunch items. You can set up a mini lunch row in the pantry with items that your child can pack in their lunch bag for school. This teaches them some responsibility and gives them the freedom to choose what they want to eat that day, and it saves you having to do it!

These round woven-looking plastic baskets are great to store kid’s snacks!​​

Even if you don’t have kids (like me) I like to keep all my snacks and ‘naughty’ foods separate.

Instead of snacking senselessly, I am making a conscious choice to go to my snack basket and getting some treats.

6. Label Containers

Labeling containers is especially important for the food items on the top shelf, where you can’t simply look in to see what is stored in the container.

You can either print your own labels or use ones such as these which bring 40 per pack. They come in different shapes and sizes, so you can match them to the shape and size of the storage container you are using.

It is so handy having labels on the containers. It just saves you so much time when looking for food items, and it encourages you to keep up with the storage system you have taken the time to create.

7. Keep Canisters For Spices And Flour

It might help to decanter spices into separate storage bottles, so they are all the same size to be stored easily. You will need to label these containers to know what is in each bottle.

If you have any leftover spice in the original bottles, you can store these away with the other bulk items, and then use them to stock up the storage containers when you run short.

You can also place flour, cereals, and other grains into new containers to take up less space in the pantry. This is optional and sometimes might not be the right option for you, but it is worth looking into if you want your pantry to look more organized and uniform.

These stackable clear organizers with lids can help to store candies and small baking goods without taking up too much space in the pantry, as they can stack one on top of the other.

8. Make Use Of Clever Storage Items

Other than storage containers, there are some really smart organization items you can use to save space. Here are some of the best for you to put in your pantry:

Essentials Chrome-Plated Over-the-Door Double Hooks – This double hook fits over the pantry door, and can be used to hold extra dishcloths and aprons. It takes up nearly no space!

Essentials White Wire Cabinet Shelves – Use this wire cabinet shelf to be able to stack multiple items on a single shelf in the pantry. It creates an additional level on one shelf and is perfect for smaller items or for crockery. 

Essentials White Wire Step Storage Rack – Use this step storage rack to store your spices in the pantry. The raised levels allow you to store more spice containers and helps to easily identify the bottles without having to move the ones in the front aside.​​​​

You May Also Be Interested In: 10 Dollar Store Hacks To Organize A Small Kitchen

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