Organize Your Pantry with an Eco-friendly Home Edit! (No New Plastic)

I love the current trend of editing our living spaces and creating beautiful organization, but oh! all that PLASTIC! Here is a chic pantry redux that includes only natural materials, no new plastic, and you may even have many of these items on hand. Beautiful organization can be GREEN!

Let's get started with some before pictures... Horrible, right? Don't judge me - I have four kids!

First things first - empty out those shelves! You won't begin to know what you need until you know what you have. I found duplicates of so many items and found empty boxes I thought were full. Remove everything from your pantry and sort it all out on your floor or dining room table.

Do you want the shelves you have?

These wire shelves worked for me for many years, but there are pros and cons. Pro: they don't collect dust or crumbs. Con: many items are not stable and will lean or fall over.

I decided to replace my old wire shelves with white wood shelves for a sleek new look. I am keeping the wire to use somewhere else or gift to someone who needs them (I won't throw them away!) A quick stop at the local hardware store provided a few sheets of wood and a box of screws, and a post on my social media allowed me to round up some sturdy shoe boxes, a roll of brown paper, and some glue sticks from friends who were parting with these items or willing to share.

My new shelves are constructed of 1" x 12" x 4' pieces of pine that came pre-primed in white paint. I installed them - being careful to make them level - with a standard, battery powered drill and some L-brackets. It is also important that you hit the studs in your wall for sturdy shelves, or you'll also have to purchase some wall anchors to support the heavy pantry items.

Instead of stocking my shelves by purchasing new plastic bins that are so popular right now, I opted for the totally eco-friendly option of shoe-boxes wrapped carefully in brown paper with cute labels, baskets I already had on hand in my house, and glass jars/lids I've collected over the years.

There is nothing wrong with leaving all your food products in their original containers - but it's also fun to display them in a way that adds beauty to your pantry. I don't know about you, but I am so much more inspired to cook when my space looks organized and pretty.

For a step-by-step look at how to make these Sturdy and Stylish shoeboxes, check out this post.

As I was installing my new shelves, I had an idea. Wouldn't it be great to have a "counter" type space in the pantry? Yes, yes it would! So I installed the top three shelves at the regular 12" depth, but for the bottom three, I purchased a couple extra pieces of wood and made the lower shelves 18" deep to create the feel of a counter. I love the look! And it draws your eye as you open the pantry door so I can place items I want my kids to see first right there.

I hope you are inspired to clean our your own pantry this winter - and more importantly, I hope I've convinced you that a gorgeous pantry doesn't need to involve purchasing all those expensive plastic bins that will some day end up in a landfill. Use items around your home, empty glass pasta and salsa jars with lids, shoe boxes and other natural materials. It's good for you, and good for the planet.