Cooking can be such a pleasure if you didn’t have to fight with the pantry. It always takes forever to find what you want, and you have to strategically bend over to remove it from its place. Forget the headache and make cooking fun again by organizing your pantry with these tips.

1. Coordinate Your Containers: One of the most frustrating parts of organizing a pantry is having different shaped boxes and bags that the products come in. You have to arrange things by height and shape instead of by what they are. Take that out of the equation by putting all of your items in matching containers. You can have big jars for things like sugar, flour, pasta, cereal etc. Have smaller jars for things like rice, oats, baking soda, etc. Put a fun label on it so you never mix up the salt for the sugar. Cut out the cooking instructions off of the box and tape it to the lid for reference. Arrange everything in the panty where it’s visible and easy to reach by having everything in the same size.
2. Combine Your Spices: You can even have matching containers for your spice rack. Odds are, you have multiple jars for basil, cinnamon, and other spices. Buy a set of spice jars, and condense each of the extra spices into one jar. You’ll be surprised at how much room you’ll save with this little trick. You’ll also find spices that you forgot you had, and be inspired to try new things at dinner time.
3. Racks For Cans: Canned goods are so useful in the kitchen, but they take up so much space in the pantry. Instead of spreading them out over the surface, store them like they do in the grocery stores–stacked on their sides. You can buy containers to house your cans in neat little rows according to their purpose. You can have soups in one, cooking additives in another, and canned fruits and vegetables in the last. It’s so simple, and it’ll save you time by not having to search the entire pantry for that one can you need.
4. Pull-Out Drawers: Forget about crouching down and taking everything off the shelf to reach the thing you need in the back. Pull-out drawers make everything so much easier. You can install them in cabinets or pantries for easy access to everything. Depending on your needs, you can have drawers with cut outs for containers or they can be flat so you can put anything there that you want.
5. Door Hangers: Maximize your space by using the backside of the door. Add a storage piece that hangs over the door to give you places to keep your smaller items. It’s a great place for spices, condiments, peanut butter, and plastic utensils. Put the things that you’ll use the most often here so that you don’t have to fight with the pantry every time you want to find it.

Your entire family will be thrilled that they can find exactly what they need at a moment’s notice. No more shuffling products around to take things off the shelf. A well organized pantry isn’t just functional–it’s nice to look at, too!