How to Stay Organized In a Kitchen With No Pantry

There are SO many blogs, YouTube videos, Instagram accounts etc. out there on how to organize a pantry. I envy those beautiful pantries! But if you are like me and do not have a pantry at all or just a very small one, than you’ve struggled to make it feel organized.

I have worked hard to get my kitchen to where it is now. I still dream of a future kitchen with a pantry, but am happy with what I have now. So keep reading for tips on how you can keep your kitchen organized and decluttered and cozy without a pantry!

the why

Before getting in to how to keep your kitchen tidied without a pantry – let me first explain why it is so important for me to do this.

I am currently at home with my two and three year old. Even though our days are not too busy yet, I still cook them three meals a day in the kitchen. We have an eat in kitchen so our dining table is in the kitchen so we spend a ton of time here! Therefore, when it gets to be cluttered and a mess I get overwhelmed and stressed. It’s also less inviting to cook a meal or bake with the kids when it’s mess.

The look and feel of so many things on the counters, the sink piled up, and clutter gathering on the table, makes me just not want to be in there. Therefore, fewer meals are cooked and fewer memories around the table are made.

There are people out there who don’t mind a mess in the kitchen and don’t need it to be in a good mood! And that’s helpful too:)

So for me, I decided I needed to make some sacrifices and put into place systems that would allow the kitchen, fridge and dining area to feel clean and enjoyable to be in!

So let’s get into what those five tips for keeping your kitchen organized without a pantry are.

1) declutter cabinets and countertops

The last tip is kind of the point of this whole article and that is to do a major declutter. Not just the pantry items I mentioned above but the extra appliances, cups/glasses, plates, silverware, kids plates/bowls, pots and pans and anything that you just do not need multiples of. 

2)Limit stock

Okay so this one is my least favorite because I love to buy in bulk in order to save money. I also would rather not run out to the store more than once a week!

But there are some things I need to change and work around to keep the most lived-in room of the house clean. 

Buying in bulk is preferable because you can save money and have extra on hand in case of emergency. But until you get that pantry to store things hidden away – just keep it simple.

I keep a snack basket with my kids’ favorite snacks. Usually, these will rotate bimonthly so it’s not a million options every week and it is enough. We don’t have a million boxes of pasta or rice on hand. We have a couple of different pasta options, some rice and mac, and cheese of course.

Keeping an inventory is very helpful when doing this because when you are out of a snack or pasta or the one peanut butter jar that you should have, you want to make sure you get it the next trip to the store. (I just found three extra almond butter jars in my cabinet – so keeping inventory works both ways!).

Another way to help do this is to order your groceries through an app for pick up. I do this with Stop & Shop and not only do they keep track of my past purchases but I can go back and forth and add when I see what we need throughout the week. This also helps me stick to a budget.

So keep ONE of each spice, oil, or vinegar and go through these cabinets regularly to make sure you don’t have multiple expired containers in the back hiding. Keep track of what you like to cook with and when you are low of certain items.

3) keep more in the fridge

The next tip is to keep more items in your fridge. I now keep many of our bread items in the fridge. I also used to have a large bowl with things like onions, avocado, bananas etc and now I keep most of those things in our fridge. Just recently we added more space (see below) for a bowl of fruit and so we can now keep more there but before that it all went in the fridge. We do have a large fridge which is very helpful as well as an extra freezer in our garage.

4) add a piece of furniture

This is something we finally just did. I found a beautiful hutch on Facebook marketplace for $75 and it is basically brand new. I waited a long time to find the perfect piece of furniture to help with storage in our kitchen. Instead of buying new or buying the first item that came along (that didn’t look good or serve a good enough purpose), be patient. You can always find amazing items on Craigslist or Facebook marketplace. You don’t have to spend a ton and can add a pretty addition that also is a huge help.

The hutch I bought has three top drawers. The first drawer I keep Ziploc baggies, tinfoil, wax paper, etc. The next drawer is for wine/beer openers, can opener, wine stoppers and more bar top accessories. The last drawer is for dish cloths. 

Then it does have wine rack but we don’t really use with the littles running around. It also has two side cabinets which we keep all of our dry items like pasta, cans, etc. It is amazing how much this has helped. We also keep our large roasting pan and vacuum sealer in the cabinets.

I did not want the top of the hutch to become a clutter zone. So I decided on three things that would go on top. The large snack basket (which is not my favorite but I needed a spot for this other than the counter space), a bowl of fruit that would not fit in the fridge and our blender. This helps me keep my counter tops open and usable for kitchen and other appliances.

You can see that by just adding this hutch we were able to move so many things from cluttering our cabinets and countertops! It has made such a difference and feels good to have a place for everything now and not shoving items in to make them fit. 

5) STORE SEASONAL ITEMS ELSEWHERE

Okay, most of you probably already have bins for seasonal items. However, if there are any lingering Christmas/winter glasses or mugs, fall platters, or even extra fancy tableware that you use for guests only – try and keep these in a closet nearby or bin in the garage. Keep only the everyday necessities in your kitchen so you can easily fit everything in your cabinets.

I’d love to hear how some of you handle a small kitchen or maybe a larger one like mine with zero pantry space!