How can I organize my narrow pantry?

Lisa Farrell
by Lisa Farrell

how can I make a small narrow pantry more useful for boxes and bags of pasta and snacks and can good shelves is about half a foot long each


  10 answers
  • Cynthia H Cynthia H on Feb 02, 2020

    Hi Lisa! Going vertical, up the wall, for more shelving is one option. Without seeing pictures, I am only guessing, but, I found that my small pantry had a lot of wasted space above, between and below the shelving it came with. I put a kitchen cart below the bottom shelf for bulky items, a shelf between the two widely spaced shelves, and use S hooks to hang things off the shelves. I also put Command hooks on the side walls to hang things from. Every so often I have to go through things to make sure that I am not wasting space with bulky containers that are partly empty. I use baskets and bins I already had, to keep like things together. Since I had all the items mentioned, it just involved rethinking the space, planning and organizing.

    • Dwp7470b Dwp7470b on Feb 07, 2020

      I agree, probably she has tons of room on top of the Fridge for Shelves or a Cabinet.

  • Using your wall space to its maximum potential is the way to go. Shelving with good organization and cutting down on wasted space between will help. Plan it first rather than shopping first, figure out how you use it and base the storage off of that to succeed.

  • Peggy L Burnette Peggy L Burnette on Feb 02, 2020

    Hi Lisa, have you thought about getting containers (like from the dollar store) you can transfer your pantry items into them and label them. If you get the same size it will really help you organize better. Hope this helps you. Good luck with your pantry.

  • Michelle Leslie Michelle Leslie on Feb 03, 2020

    Hi Lisa, we have one of those teeny tiny pantries too. Ours is under the stairs. Plastic containers with wheels helped us a lot and using every inch of wall space. If you want some more tips we wrote a blog post about it which you can find here - https://acraftymix.com/blog/extra-storage-curved-staircase/

  • Holly Lengner - Lost Mom Holly Lengner - Lost Mom on Feb 03, 2020

    Scroll through these posts and see if any of them inspire you with your pantry:

    https://www.hometalk.com/search/all?filter=pantry

  • Kathy Gunter Law Kathy Gunter Law on Feb 03, 2020

    Have that and I found making a list of contents helps the most. My doors don’t open all the way so bins can’t fit but if you can add bins, that will be a big help.

  • Johnavallance82 Johnavallance82 on Feb 05, 2020

    Hi there,

    If the cupboard is deep and not wide why not add baskets, label them and stack them. Best wishes.

  • I would go to a container store or look on Amazon for some storage solutions that will help you maximize your space, such as little turn tables, can holders with several heights, etc.

  • 17335038 17335038 on Feb 09, 2020

    What are the actual dimensions of the pantry?

    Is it narrow (width) or shallow (depth) ?

    Are there doors that open to access the inside of the pantry?


    A photo would help us to see what you have to work with.