How to organize a small pantry with deep shelves

Have an awkward pantry to organize? Check out these DIY pantry ideas for how to organize a small pantry with deep shelves!

Having a pantry is awesome – it’s such an upgrade to have dedicated food storage space. But, it can be very hard to keep a pantry organized.

I have especially struggled with super deep pantry shelves. They can be like reaching into a dark abyss, who knows what expired goodness you will find in the back!

Today I am excited to share our best tips for how to organize deep pantry shelves. These tips will help to keep you from losing food in the back of the pantry – and to keep everything looking beautiful and functioning great!

How to organize a small pantry with deep shelves

Here are our top tips for deep pantry organization!

Tip 1: Purge and Prepare

The most important step of any pantry organization project is to start with a clean pantry. I’m serious – pull every little thing out.

Yes, it gets messier before it gets more organized, but this is crucial.

First, take this as an opportunity to sort and organize any food that you have out on the counter or kitchen table.

Notice if you have a lot of duplicates, or if anything should be tossed in the trash. If you have things that you don’t want that are unopened and un-expired, consider donating them to a blessing box or similar donation bin in your area.

Then, take the time to clean out the pantry. Sweep, wipe down all surfaces, you can even take a magic eraser to the walls if they are scuffed.

If we’re starting with the fresh slate, let’s make it super fresh.

Want to add new shelves? Check out our tutorial for how to replace wire pantry shelving with wood shelves!

Now, take a moment to measure. Take dimensions of your shelves while they are empty (it’s so much easier to measure empty shelves!) Write them down or put them in a note in your phone in case you need to reference them later.

Tip 2: Zone Your Pantry Space

I highly recommend organizing your pantry items by category. This means sorting like-items together.

For example, you might make a section for cans, a section for breakfast items, and a section for spices.

It’s simple – but makes it so much easier to find things, especially on deep pantry shelves!

Once you have your items grouped, think about what you use the most often. These frequently used food items should get the best spot in your pantry storage.

Usually, this means in the middle shelves, right at arm’s reach. Save the bending and reaching for lesser-used items.

Tip 3: Master Top Shelf Efficiency

But, don’t sleep on your top shelf. While it’s out of the way, this can be a great storage trick to have up your sleeve.

In fact, we always add a super high shelf to the top of our pantries. Once, we even added a half-width shelf above the pantry door. While it’s inconvenient to get to, it’s great for bulk item storage or to hold appliances or kitchen items that you only use once or twice a year.

Be careful putting things up high, though. Visibility is key! If they are boxed, label them clearly. Otherwise, use clear bins so there’s no doubt about what’s up there.

Tip 4: Optimize Middle Shelf Accessibility

Your middle shelves are the most valuable players of your pantry. Let’s treat them as such.

Put your most frequently items at eye-level for convenience.

However, organizing a pantry with deep shelves can mean that things get shoved in the back where they can never be reached. Depending on what you are storing, here are our favorite deep shelf organizers:

• lazy susan turn tables – best for bottles
• can holders – great for canned goods or canned drinks
• can risers – we DIYed risers from scrap wood in our condo, so nothing got lost in the back!
• pull out drawers – the most intensive option, but a great way to be able to access everything!

If you have a lot of smaller items, like individual oatmeal packets or powdered drink mixes, they will slip and slide and make a jumbley mess. Instead, store small items in labeled containers to prevent them from disappearing into the depths!

Tip 5: Leverage Bottom Shelf Utility

Bottom shelves can be a bit cumbersome to reach – especially the backs of super deep shelves.

Our favorite hack is to add a rolling cart under a deep bottom shelf. We actually made this DIY dog food cart that lives on the floor under our bottom shelf. Here is a pre-made similar cart.

Or, you can just add large rolling bins underneath. Just make sure that they slide easily on the floor.

Try to use bottom shelves for heavier and lesser-used items. It’s a great spot for bulk storage, too!

Whatever you do – don’t just shove loose items into the back of a deep lower cabinet. It will never be seen again. Bins or baskets are key to keeping things accessible!

Tip 6: Label Everything Clearly

Labels make it easier for things to land in the right spot moving forward. If you live with others, adding labels will make it easy for them to keep up the system that you create.

Use clear, concise labels. Label uniformly – in a similar spot on each item – to make is easy for others to find and follow your system.

Tip 7: Streamline with Stackable Containers

One deep pantry organization idea is to use stackable containers. We particularly like these for bulk pantry items like flour, sugar, and oats.

Here are some of my favorite stacking pantry food storage containers:

• Stacking airtight canisters – as I mentioned, these are the best for baking supplies like flour and sugar
• Stackable drawers – the easiest way to store small items in a deep pantry is with pull out drawers. I love these, that pull all the way out so you can carry the whole bin to the counter if you need to.
• Stackable shallow bins – these are the best for organizing a lot of small, loose items, even in a deep pantry
• Open front bins – I love these for loose snack items like granola bars or packs of gummies. They stack to maximize vertical space, but don’t have to be pulled out to reach in!

Whatever container you choose, using uniform-sized containers whenever possible makes the best use of the space and gives your pantry a streamlined look!

Tip 8: Utilize Unused Door Space

If your pantry has a door, consider using the back of the door for a bonus storage idea. You can add an over the door rack or organizer for extra shallow space. This is great for small items like spices.

In our old house, we actually added a super shallow shelf along the wall. It wasn’t really deep enough to be a walk in or accomodate L-shaped shelves, but this gave us extra storage for spices and hanging measuring cups on command hooks on the wall!

Tip 9: Implement Tiered Shelving

Tiered shelving is a great way to organize within a deep shelf. This makes sure that, even if something gets shoved to the back, it’s still visible.

You can purchase pre-made pantry tiered shelves or make your own. We simply wood glued scrap wood together and then painted it white in our condo!

On a similar note, organize the items on your shelves by height. Taller items should go in the back, with smaller items, preferably in baskets or bins, in the front.

No budget for bins? Re-purpose food boxes! I actually used K-cup boxes, wrapped in pink paper, to organize craft supplies in our condo craft closet and they same thing would work great in a pantry.

Tip 10: Incorporate Vertical Organizers

If you want to organize a deep, tall shelf, consider adding vertical organizers.

This might include:

• Vertical cabinet rack – good for pans, baking sheets, and cutting boards
• Pull-out vertical spice rack – great for smaller items, like spices
• Mug hooks – great for hanging mugs, utensils, or even pot holders

Tip 11: Mindful Placement of Bulk Items

Shopping in bulk is a great way to save money. But, then you have to store all of the excess. Create a zone in your pantry for bulk storage.

As I mentioned, I suggest the very top shelf or the floor under your bottom shelf for lesser-used bulk items.

Consider transferring your bulk items to baskets or clear containers if that would be a better use of space. Sometimes the Costco boxes are so big, and the content don’t need all that space, especially once it’s half-used!

Tip 12: Consider Under-Shelf Baskets

One of my favorite pantry hacks under shelf storage. This is particularly great if your shelves are spaced out very far and you can’t move them closer together.

These organizers are designed to slide right onto your existing shelf – no tools or DIYing required.

You can add an under-shelf basket or under shelf hooks to squeeze extra storage into your space.