While pantry space is a given in a modern home, many older homes or apartments do not have adequate pantry space for food storage. While you can use kitchen cabinets to store non-perishable items, it is just as easy to convert a broom or storage closet into usable pantry space. If you have a large laundry or mudroom that is located off the kitchen, this is another ideal space to convert to a pantry.
Location
Since broom closets are small and usually located near the kitchen, they make an excellent place for a pantry. You can add shelves the entire height of the closet to create lots of storage space for canned goods, boxed foods and sundries. Wire shelving is durable and inexpensive, and you can easily customize the dimensions of the shelves to accommodate everything you need to store. If you do not have the means to hang shelving, purchase inexpensive wire cubes that connect to each other to create columns of cubbies. Place these in the closet, and they will function just like shelves without the labor of installation.
If you do not have a closet that will function as a pantry, use part of a larger utility room or kitchen to create a pantry space. You can buy an inexpensive free-standing shelving system that can function just like a pantry. If you want to hide the pantry, buy cheap fabric to attach to the sides of the unit, leaving a large opening in the front so you can access the goods.
Organization
A pantry is only worth having if you can find the items you need, and a jumbled, disorganized array of food items shoved in a closet is worse than not having a pantry at all. Since organizational stores have great storage solutions, visit one to get ideas about best use your pantry space. However, the items in these stores also have high price tags, so use your trip as a way to brainstorm repurpose other household items to gain a similar storage solution.
For example, those pricey risers that allow you to see all of the cans on one shelf can be recreated using pieces of two by fours, cut to fit and stacked on top of each other at varying heights. Inexpensive plastic shoe boxes are under a dollar each and hold sauce and seasoning packets just as well as a specially designed receptacle that costs much more. Recycle small cardboard boxes for an even cheaper solution to organizing small items. Hang an inexpensive shoe organizer over the door for a thrifty solution to small speciality items, such as spices and extracts, that need to be stored in the pantry. Keep dry goods neat by storing them in plastic, stackable containers labeled flour, salt and sugar.
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