If opening the door to your pantry causes you stress as you survey the piles of half-opened boxes and unlabeled containers, you are not alone. So many of us have pantry organization on our to-do list, but never seem to find the time to get around to it. Fortunately, there are plenty of super-organized TikTokers willing to share their handy hacks that will help you get your pantry in shape with minimal effort. From under-shelf baskets to over-the-door storage, there are plenty of spaces in your pantry that you may not be utilizing to their full potential. And once you have decanted your dried goods into matching canisters and labeled them all clearly, your dedicated storage space will look better than you could have imagined.
Are you ready to finally tick this task off of your list? Then grab your shopping list and prepare to become more organized than you thought was possible. Let’s discover the most helpful TikTok hacks to make the most out of your pantry space.
Decant your pantry ingredients into clear, stackable containers
Do you ever wonder why your pantry just doesn’t inspire you in the way that so many on TikTok do? Well, you may be overlooking one simple move. Instead of keeping your food in its original container or packaging, transferring your dry ingredients into clear containers could be the pantry-changing hack you need.
As well as allowing everything to look uniform and attractive, using transparent containers means that you can see at a glance what everything is, and how much of it is left. This not only prevents you from running out of crucial ingredients, but it also helps reduce the chances of you overstocking on something that you actually have plenty of. Using stackable containers will also make a huge difference to the space in your pantry. Half-used packs of flour and cereal are a nightmare to store, but with everything in its own container, you can line them up side by side or stacked vertically and make the most of the space, no matter what size your pantry is.
Combine similar items in bins and baskets
If you feel like you spend half of your cooking time rummaging around the pantry looking for ingredients that you could swear you saw early that day, this TikTok hack is for you. Purchase a few baskets or bins that fit your shelves and start to organize your ingredients by combining similar items in the same basket. While you may not be able to see at a glance exactly where every pack or box is, if you know what basket it should be in, you will be able to lay your hands on it much more quickly. If you have a particularly big pantry, you could also add labels to the fronts of the baskets so that you know where each category of food is hiding.
Depending on how important aesthetics are to you, you can buy baskets that look beautiful and are uniform in size, or choose ones that are more practical. Clear bins will allow you to see inside more easily — but they may look less tidy than opaque ones. But either way, the next time you are hunting for a bag of rice as your curry bubbles away, you won’t have to root around next to the canned goods to find it.
Date your dried goods after transferring them into containers
Should you decide to transform your pantry after being inspired by countless TikTok videos, you may find you have happily transferred all of your dried goods into beautiful matching containers and thrown out the original packaging, only to realize that you have no idea when they expire. With dried goods having such a long shelf life, it is easy to assume that expiry dates don’t matter — but this is not the case. While the chances of a packet of pasta going off may be slim if you’re cooking Italian twice a week, some ingredients may remain in the pantry for years, and you are unlikely to remember when you bought it further down the line.
Get into the habit of writing the expiry date on the container whenever you remove food from its original packaging. Write it in a visible spot so that you don’t have to go hunting for it. You can then make a point of checking dates once a month and rotating products to make sure that the first to expire is the one you use soonest. By keeping tabs on the freshness of your pantry food, you can reduce food waste and make sure your meals continue to taste fresh.
Fit an over-the-door organizer in your pantry
For many of us, pantry space is at a premium, and we are always trying to work out a way to fit more storage options in. Thanks to this handy TikTok hack, you can create storage options in a space you may not have considered before — behind the door.
By fitting an over-the-door-organizer onto the back of your pantry door, you can store dozens of items that would otherwise be taking up space on your shelves. From canned goods to packets of noodles or chips, you can neatly store items in the baskets and reach for them easily when you open the door. Door organizers come in a variety of sizes, so you should be able to get one that fits your pantry nicely. If possible, choose an adjustable one like this Mefirt six-tier over-the-door organizer, so that you can move the baskets to the position that suits you best. Keep the items you will need most often at eye level so that you don’t need to hunt for them, and then less-often used items can go further down.
Use shelf risers to maximize your pantry space
If you like your pantry to be organized and look pretty, you probably have crockery and pots and pans stacked beautifully in neat piles. However, when you need to access the item at the bottom of the pile, it can be a hassle to have to lift everything out to access it. Thanks to this TikTok tip, your shelves can be transformed with the help of shelf risers.
These little pantry accessories are a total game changer for getting organized in your kitchen cupboards. They effectively create a second shelf on top of the existing one, meaning you can access the items below without having to disturb the ones on top — genius! The shelf risers can also be used to raise up smaller items from the back of the cupboard and make them easy to access without moving everything else around. This means your spices and condiments can proudly sit on their own elevated shelf, without you losing the space underneath.
Risers come in various shapes and sizes, so before you head out to buy them, decide what you are going to keep on them and under them, or buy adjustable ones if you haven’t decided yet. Once you have them in place, you will feel like you’ve had an extension in your pantry with all the extra items you will be able to store.
Store items in wire bins so nothing gets forgotten about at the bottom
Are you fed up with finding crumbs and crushed packets at the bottom of the bins in your pantry? Then it may be time to put this TikTok hack into practice and switch to wire bins instead. While opaque bins can look attractive and streamlined, you have no way of what is lurking at the bottom of them, especially as time goes on and the items at the top are regularly replaced.
Wire bins are a great compromise, as they can still look great, particularly if you keep the items neatly organized, but you can see exactly what is in them at a glance. You can get wire baskets in varying sizes, so we recommend purchasing a few different ones to accommodate large and small items and keep your everyday items at the front for easy access. You might also consider combining this tip with keeping similar pantry items together, so that you know exactly which wire basket to reach for when it comes to dinner time.
Use turntables to store oils and condiments
We’ve all been there — rummaging about in the darkest corner of the pantry, looking for the bottle of sauce that you know for a fact is in there, but is somehow eluding your fingertips. If this is happening a bit too often, it is time to follow this helpful TikTok hack and introduce the wonder of a turntable into your cupboards. Also known as a lazy Susan, a kitchen turntable allows you to access items that would usually waste away at the back of the pantry (like oils or condiments) by simply spinning it toward you. If you have deep cupboards, this simple addition can be a real game-changer, as the dark unreachable corners of the cupboards will suddenly become convenient, usable spaces.
We recommend choosing a turntable that has a raised edge to prevent items from falling off if you spin it too vigorously. Depending on the size of your pantry, you could have multiple turntables in place, in which case you should group similar items together. In fact, once you see the difference this little hack can make to your pantry, you will probably want them everywhere — under the sink, in the bathroom cupboards, and even in the fridge.
Install pull-out shelves in your pantry
For those who have beautiful kitchen cabinets that are much deeper than they are wide, you may find it challenging to use the space effectively. Your initial idea of storing tall bottles such as olive oil at the back may have led to greasy spills as you fumble in the dark trying to retrieve them (we speak from experience!). The key to using this extra space effectively is to bring the contents from the back of the cupboard toward you by installing pull-out drawers.
Attaching pull-out drawers to your existing shelves makes it so you can access everything on the shelves with a simple pull of the drawer, meaning everything will move smoothly toward you — and your bottles of oil will stay happily upright. As well as preventing spills, this will reduce the chances of items being forgotten about and needing to be thrown out when they expire. These drawers may be a simple concept, but they can transform your pantry and make things feel less chaotic in the kitchen — something we could all benefit from.
Use under-shelf baskets to add storage space
If your pantry shelves are packed full and you just don’t have an inch of space to store anything else, it is time for a creative TikTok hack to magic extra storage space out of thin air. Under-shelf storage baskets are an easy solution that allow you to “hang” an extra storage option from your existing shelves. The best thing is that they require no installation at all, as you simply slide them into place, and you’re good to go.
The under-shelf baskets take advantage of the space directly below the shelf, which even in the fullest of pantries is usually unused space. They are great for storing small, lightweight items such as cereal bars, tea bags, or cleaning sponges — but just be sure not to overload them, as they can’t handle the same weight as your shelves. As mentioned, choose wire baskets to make sure you can see everything they contain and nothing gets forgotten about.
Label everything in your pantry
In the excitement of organizing your pantry, it is easy to forget to label your brand-new matching glass containers, but this is just going to cause chaos in the future if you don’t. You may think that you will definitely know which canister contains the plain flour and which is the cornstarch, but a few weeks or months down the line, you likely will have forgotten. It may surprise you how many pantry staples look identical. Also, there is always the possibility that someone else in your household may prepare dinner for a change, and their soup is not going to taste great if they mix up the salt for the sugar.
If you love to be neat and organized, you can use matching labels on each canister for a cohesive look. Otherwise, simply write the contents on the front using a marker pen — and add a label to the lid as well, if you can, so that you can see it for the items at the back, too. The time spent labeling your pantry staples will pay off in the long run and save you from any potential culinary mix-ups.
Buy a pull-out spice rack
Pull-out storage has become all the rage for kitchens recently, and there is no reason that your spices should miss out on the fun. With this TikTok hack, instead of the usual static spice rack for your seasonings, you can install a pull-out version that will save space and still keep your spices looking fab. This genius idea means that your spice rack is essentially flat against the inside of your pantry, taking up very little space when not in use. When you need some cumin or oregano for your recipe, simply slide it toward you, where you will find your herbs and spices beautifully organized and not all falling over as you reach for the one at the back.
To keep things even more streamlined, we recommend storing your spices by frequency of use. Keep salt at the front along with your favorite flavorings, then store the ones that you only use to spice your pumpkin pie once a year further back.
Keep frequently used pantry items at eye level
We often store items in our pantry based on size, keeping large or heavy items at the back or on the bottom shelves and smaller items higher up. For a more efficient pantry, however, it makes more sense to organize it by frequency of use and keep the items you use the most often at eye level, where you can spot and reach them easily. There is no need to strain yourself trying to reach your teabags from the top shelf for your morning cuppa, so relocating them just makes sense.
Keeping your everyday essentials at eye level also makes it easier when you are planning your grocery shopping. Your daily and weekly items will be easy to spot, and you will know what needs to be restocked at a glance. For specialty items that are seldom used, store them out of reach on the top or bottom shelves, and consider keeping a pantry inventory so that you remember where everything is when you need it.
