This is some of my favourite kind of eye candy.

Oh, #8, tatertots and jello. Most of that stuff is not food!

Yeah number 8.... corn syrup? Why even have that on hand? Otherwise, this is basically porn for me.

I think it's pretty clear that very few (if any) of these pantries are actually used. Maybe AT can do some sort of contest (not unlike the Small Space, Color and Kitchen contests) for people to submit real pantry organization ideas from actual homes, not styled sets.

So here's my question: What do people do with the leftover flour, oats, whatever that doesn't fit in the jars? I have a "beautifully organized" pantry if you only look at the jar shelf. The rest of it is stuffed to the gils with all the overflow, which seems to defeat the purpose. Thoughts?

Pantry items (canned foods, cereals, etc.) should be stored in a dark place like in a cupboard or pantry. Keep oils out of direct light.
Some of these panties look like they don't have doors so they may be losing food quicker than they should.

Don't you think the cat in the first pic is going to try to slip between those jars on the bottom shelf? Mine would, and send the jars crashing!

I love that someone else unwraps the paper towels - easier to grab/use and no unpaid product placement.

wow does this ever make me want to paint my pantry. Currently its a horrible tobacco yellow. I did buy some bins and organize things a bit and that has helped

Lol, some people are snobby about food that other people are eating! I personally avoid most processed foods, but for certain candy making recipes and baked goods, there's no effective substitute that is easy to find at a grocery store. So in addition to making my bread, pasta, and everything else from scratch, I keep 2 kinds of corn syrup on hand.

JSM - I generally use jars big enough to hold an entire container of something or buy it in the bulk bins at my local natural foods store.

@rlmesq we always had corn syrup when I was growing up. We put it on ice cream. I have some in my pantry right now from when I made caramel popcorn!

@Scoot Pretty sure at least all the ones displaying brand names are "real" pantries. I recongize at least two of them as the pantries of some well-known home bloggers. Keep in mind that the photos are taken immediately after a major purge and re-organization, but they are intended to be functional for the given family. You'll notice that many of these have large baskets on the top or bottom shelves that hide the less photogenic supplies.

@jsm1919 What works for me is larger jars and smaller bags of supplies, heh. When I need to refill my sugar or flour jars, I always buy one of the smallest-size packages because they fill my jars nearly to the top. I absolutely do not have room to store larger (half-used) packages, so it's the only way I can do it!

corn syrup you buy for candy making and other confections generally isn't the same as high fructose corn syrup added to many processed foods. just an fyi before (or after) the judgments happen.

my pantry doesn't look like any of these. i don't use glass storage containers and very few plastic containers, and yet there is relative organization of products for baking or soup making.

Something to consider when organizing your pantry-- earthquakes! We had a 4.0 here and a red wine bottle feel from the top shelf, spattering glass and red wine all over. Now I try to keep all glass about waist high and all the way at the back of the shelf. Not as pretty to look at, but much safer.

all those little (felted?) mice in the first pic... cute... but not around my food. Kinda grossing me out...

agree with jsm. I guess you need containers bigger than whatever size you generally buy.

While I don't think I could ever find the time or energy to put all of my food in jars like that, it is actually a great idea. Besides the aesthetics, it also eliminates the risk of pantry pests like beetles and moths.

I have really big clear tubs I keep stuff in (sigh, Martha Stewart home at Kmart was excellent and affordable back in the day). The rare doesn't fit leftover gets smooshed down and shut and tightly wrapped in a plastic shopping bag and put up on the top shelf. I try to remember to climb up there to check what I have when a tub starts to run low.

As a side note, we don't have a pantry, just cabinets, and they're not this organized. I probably should label my tubs at some point. I do a lot of baking and just know what's in each thing, but it's be super confusing to anyone else.

My pantry is split between two base cabinets with roll out shelves. Life saver, I tell you. I don't have to get on the floor to dig into the back and taking inventory is much easier.

Love the mice!

I recognize a few of these as reall life functioning pantries as well.

@ jsm1919: For less frequently used items, I buy small pkgs that will fit in my containers. For things I use often, I buy larger amounts as they are usually (but not always) lower in cost that way. I have the luxury of an upright freezer to store any surplus in. Prior to the freezer, I sealed the unopened packs in gallon zip locks, tossed 'em in a small laundry basket & stored them in a lower cabinet that I didn't want to have access every time I was in the kitchen.

Btw, I store my tupperware this way too - in a larger rectangular laundry basket on the bottom shelf of a lower cabinet. Works like a drawer, easy to slide out, grab what I need without digging in dark corners for missing lids. When I'm unloading the dishwasher, I pull out the basket & plop it on a barstool for easy reloading. Laundry baskets are a wonderful thing.

I wish they would make plastic versions of the jars in image #1. I love them, but living in earthquake country... it's not so safe!

JSM919 - I wish I could display my flour and stuff but lack the pantry or counter. Once I do have a pantry I may still do what I do now. I buy 50lb bags of flour and oats. I basically store them in those huge icing buckets you can get free from any supermarket. You just go to the bakery and ask. But there are also awesome storage cabinets and pull out bins for that flour too Ahhh to dream...

@discerning, laundry baskets in lower cabinets! you may have just changed my life!!! thank you!

I am fortunate to have lots of kitchen storage in my house. I have a floor to ceiling cabinet, with pull out shelves, as well as a laundry room with additional shelving for lesser used items. Since I put all my spices on one pull out shelf, I put white dot stickers on the lids and write the name of the spice on top. That way, I don't go picking up every spice. While organizing it on small tiered stacks would be neater, my husband doesn't really put things back in place in the manner I prefer, haha.
I really like the open shelving look, and would love to use glass. But again, in earthquake country, plastic is much more practical. Oxo pop containers with white erasable labels do the trick!

Eye candy indeed! I finally have a decent pantry (much like #7) after years of managing with half baked spaces. Wish I had known about those 'barn door' type sliders though.

JUST purchased some corn syrup to make brittle. My mom used to stir it into peanut butter which we would then eat with our fingers from a bowl "peanut butter in a bowl" (I know, weird :-)

It really doesn't take THAT much time to put things in jars. Once jars are established for regularly purchased items, it's easy to fill them as purchases are made. In the end plenty of time is saved that would be spent rustling through bags of stuff tossed on a shelf.

I tend to keep most flours in the freezer now (in repurposed 'muscle milk' type containers) & a smallish jar in the pantry. Beans are from the bulk bin & I usually manage to buy just the right amount. If there is extra, use that first to get rid of the annoying bags ASAP --- or make soup with the extras.

Mason jars from 1/2 gallon size down, some gallon jars, some clamp jars are labeled with a Sharpie marker which will eventually wear off or is easy to wash off, but usually have no problem --- I write where I won't hold the jar. Sometimes the writing is hard to see, though, so I'll tape a label on the back side or cut the label from the bag or box & tape it to the jar.

Write the date purchased (or opened) as well!!!!! Once I finally started doing that, I was amazed at how old things could get (frig items too). It's helped me not buy too much. Sometimes, the bigger item is not the bargain if it's just going to go bad because I can't use it up in time.

I scored a shelving unit from the street years ago. It has 15 cubicles that's perfect for an extra pantry of canned goods. Put it on castors for the rare event that it has to move (it's also a room divider for the laundry area :-)

Like things together is my mantra ---- think like the grocery store ---- beans together, rice, pasta, sweeteners, baking supplies, grouping specific food types i.e. asian, mexican, fish, bbq sauces & small boxes to hold tea & odd items.

It's taken me YEARS to get to this point ----wish I'd had AT all along!

oh, and little mice in number one! funny? not. ewwww.

Lyonstill, you made me laugh. Your little typo in the second paragraph is adorable and I love your tag name, so clever. Otherwise, I don't care if these pantries are staged or not. As an OCD organization freak, this stuff is like porno to me. Can't get enough of beautifully organized spaces. Practically, my spaces sport plastic containers because I drop things too often. Plastic containers can be just as lovely as glass and porcelain if you go for continuity of design (oh, and browbeat your family into putting things away properly!).

Oh, forgot. The presence of ginger kitties makes anything look nicer!

Any clever ideas for labeling glass and plastic jars that don't involve a label maker or chalkboard paint? Some cute ones in the post, but I assume they are pre-printed?

I bought clear labels from Staples and used the MS Word template to design the labels. Very inexpensive and you can remove them if you change the contents.

@Duff* -- I recently heard about "label once" from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDtqP6fbdAg see it at about minute 5, where you use a Sharpie Marker to write on it, and then you can 'erase' it with the eraser to reuse it.

I love this post! Even with all of the debates over food and mice, storage-wise I find it very inspirational.

We have blogged about our love for sliding doors in the past. I love the idea of using one, or two, to cover up a pantry!

We've also tried to beautifully organize storage space in our kitchen, although we focused more on dinnerware than food. At the very least, AT (and Sarah and Tyler's house tour) has very much been "candy" to our little diy eyes ...

http://hollyandboo.tumblr.com/

from my previous post:

......labeled with a Sharpie marker which will eventually wear off or is easy to wash off, but usually have no problem --- I write where I won't hold the jar. Sometimes the writing is hard to see, though, so I'll tape a label on the back side or cut the label from the bag or box & tape it to the jar.

or write it on clear packaging tape (fold over a tiny corner for eventual removal)

should have said, 'easy to remove from glass' ----- use a 'magic eraser' sponge to get it off most plastic or rubbing alcohol.

alas--my life will never be this organized *sigh*

I asked this same question on a post not too long ago. There were quite a few responses. Take a look at Day 10 of the Cure. If you search on 'label', you will find most of the responses.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/work-on-your-goal-project-apartment-therapy-january-cure---day-10-181835

Also, search AT overall and I am sure this topic has come up previously.

I did this and love it. Unfortunately I've sort of done it in bits and pieces. So when we were at our old place, I only had room for 4 clear containers. Now I've moved in a new place and decided to go all out and buy bulk and get rid of packaging, my whole kitchen is full of clear containers and it's a mish mash of varieties. I bought 12 tall containers from Ikea which seemed great on the shelf as they have a lid that pops on half of it and you don't have to take all of it off, so seemed great for cereals but the things are actually top heavy and fall over. Super bad design. I'd like to get rid of it all and start over, but feel guilty about throwing the old containers out.

@Portlandrules: I'd say, don't torture yourself. If something doesn't work (esp. badly designed things ---- urgh!), get rid of it! I hate when that happens, but you'll be more discerning about that kind of thing in the future.

as for a mish mash of containers ---- group similar containers together --- it'll seem less 'mish mashy' :-)

I recently changed my pantry completely and love the results. It is amazing what you can do with an old linen cupboard, a box of swing top jars, a couple of baskets and old fruit crates.

I smile whenever I look at it, I have the satisfaction of a job well done and I love cooking every chance I get!

The biggest positive was that it makes me feel so happy and it didn't cost me a cent!

I personally find a lot of the judgemental comments in these posts to be really demotivating.

No matter how organized, none of these resemble the contents of any family pantry I know. Where are the half-eaten bags of pretzels and the jars of apple sauce, organic almond butter, and salt and vinegar chips? Surely these cannot be transferred into matching mason jars as easily as dried pasta.

Love these pictures-they are so inspiring. I am lucky to have a walk-in pantry with floor to ceiling shelves so I can fit quite a lot in there. A few years ago I did start storing my bulk grains, flours and sugars in glass jars and I store like minded items together-similar to a grocery store, as another commenter suggested. I have a baking shelf, a canned food shelf (with groupings of similar items such as beans, tomato products, etc.) and an area for pasta and grains. Its all the miscellaneous stuff that annoys me so like the idea of the metal basket for those random items. What I need to do is purge some of my excess small appliances which are also stored in my pantry but some things are just tough to part with (example of which is my waffle maker which is probably used 2 or 3 times/year-max). After 3 straight years of asking, I finally received a label maker for Christmas so my next goal is to label my glass jars so hubby knows which bin is the AP flour vs the WWW flour. Also love the idea of painting the insides a sunny color like the teal blue in one of the pictures above.

Another great post AT team!

YIKES...THANKS Sonje for catching my goof!!! Pantries...not Panties...JEEZZZZ. :O}~

If you have a more natural or country looking kitchen, you can also re-use jars that food comes in, such as pickle jars, jelly jars, etc. for smaller amounts, or buy the "institutional size" of things, split with friends, and have some big jars for things like flour, etc. And canning jars come in a variety of sizes, are dishwasher and freezer proof, you can also use them for leftovers and freeze, very adaptable. I like the idea of clothes baskets or such as "drawers" for cabinets. And yes, if you have pets, or kids, consider stability and safety also. I love my label maker!