How to create a pantry when you don't have space for one

There's lots of things this house doesn't have that I dream of one day having. A playroom. A utility room. Space to move around the dining table without hitting your ankles on plastic crap. But I digress, one of these things on my wish-list is absolutely a pantry. Because who wouldn't want to have somewhere to store all your jars out of sight? And another opportunity to faff, of course.

If you follow me over on Instagram, you'll know that every Sunday evening I've been sharing my #sundaysortout - tackling a messy kitchen cupboard every week (the only way I can find time to do it!) I shared how I got on when I first attempted this last year here, but its always difficult to keep things looking tidy isn't it, so here we are again. Although, this time I've stepped it up a bit, and decided rather than tidying everything, I was going to have such a good clear out that I could make room for my dream pantry - even if it meant putting it in the kitchen itself, rather than tucked away somewhere else, like most pantries are.

So after a huge spring clean, I managed to clear two whole shelves in one of my biggest cupboards, and set to work decanting all my spices and dried foods into jars and canisters. I also treated myself to what has been one of my most favourite purchases ever - my label maker. I've wanted one of these for years, and I can honestly say its been worth the wait! Seriously, when did I get so old that this type of thing was exciting?!

For storage I decided to go with a really simple, neat look in order to avoid the cupboard looking too cluttered. I chose matching clear jars to make finding what you're looking for easier, and to add that classic farmhouse pantry look.

The first thing I did was work out how many jars I could fit onto each shelf, and of what size. I was lucky with my measurements, and could fit 5 large jars across each shelf really nicely, 5 medium-sizes jars in front of those, and 10 mini jars for spices.

I store my most-used baking ingredients such as flour and sugar in larger jars on a shelf (as I get through quite a bit), meaning I only needed to find space in this cupboard for the less-frequently used bits.

I then pulled out all my dry foods and spices, and from looking at the use-by dates and how much I'd used of each, I worked out which size jar each should go in. This sounds more complicated that it was - basically I went with a larger jar for pasta and rice, medium sized one for things like baking powder, gravy granules and OXO cubes, and the mini jars are for spices and curry powder.

My larger jars are 16cm high, came from Tesco, and store pasta, spaghetti, rice and cocoa. The middle sized jars, also from Tesco, are 10cm high, and the mini 8cm jars are from The Range. The great thing about these little ones (apart from being absolute bargains!) is that their hexagon shape means they fit together really nicely on the shelf. They're also the perfect size for the standard spice jars you get in supermarkets.

5 tips for creating your own mini-pantry in your kitchen

Choose your cupboard wisely
Make sure you choose a cupboard with enough space to store everything without it looking too cramped. I only have two double-door cupboards, so had a huge shuffle round of bits to make sure I could use one of them for this, as I don't think it would have worked as well in one of the single-door cupboards that you couldn't access as well.

Keep space for half-used packets
The good thing about choosing this cupboard to turn into a 'pantry', is the fact that I've got space on the top shelf for anything that doesn't fit into a jar, or half-opened packets etc. To keep the look of this cupboard uniform I've gone with two of the same IKEA baskets, which are great for hiding away things such as microwaveable rice, or any packets that wouldn't entirely fit into the jars etc.

Storage is key
Choose jars or containers that either look the same, or compliment each other in colour or shape. That way you'll achieve more of a uniform look, rather than your cupboard looking messy and unorganised.

Layer your jar height 
This is important so that you can see whats inside easily, but also gives a more organised and varied look that's nicer on the eye (because these things are important too!)

Label up
You obviously don't need to add labels if you've got less jars, and you perhaps know exactly what is in each one by sight or smell. However, I couldn't resist adding some pretty labels for aesthetic purposes. You could type up and print you own, or there are small businesses that sell pretty labels, however I just went simple and traditional with my good old label maker (affiliate link).

One thing I have done that I would definitely recommend though, is adding a label on the base of the jar with the best before date. So every time I fill up a jar I make a new label for the bottom stating the best before date. I found knowing when my food runs out has made me feel a bit more relaxed about not having the original packing to hand.

So there you have it - a mini-pantry smack bang my kitchen. You don't need to have lots of space to be able to create your dream home!

What do you think? Is a pantry on your dream home list? Do you think this is something you could squeeze somewhere in your kitchen?

Thanks for reading,
Sam Xx