How do you style a pantry? Styling a pantry is a new concept for a lot of people. A traditional pantry is functionally a closet to store food, but thanks to Instagram and social pressures, a pantry now has to be pretty, too.
There are three levels of pantry awareness:
- There’s the pantry. Try to get the food inside the pantry and off the kitchen counter.
- Let’s keep it organized. Simple tricks like grouping food together on shelves or in bins, putting the most-used items at eye-level, avoiding overcrowding, and using FIFO (first in, first out) inventory management is all you need. Decant or don’t decant…it depends on whether your containers do a better job of preserving and dispensing foods than their original packages do.
- You look mahvelous! Style it with wallpaper, designer shelves and accessories, and chichi lighting. You might even buy food specifically because it looks pretty or matches your color scheme. Decanting is a MUST because, don’t you know, darling, it’s all about those cute labels. Toss what doesn’t look good. Hide the rest where the cameras don’t go. Having a pantry that’s mostly just for show is reality in some circles.
Most of us live (and eat) in the real world. We have an organized pantry chez moi, aka level 2 above. Yes, there is wallpaper, but no chandelier.
Not every home has a pantry on the architect’s plans. That’s a shame. But every home needs a place to store food, so choose your spot, and then style your pantry with a few of these ideas:
- A shallow cabinet is perfect for food storage. Just the depth of one can or box, here’s no “way back” for things to get lost in. Styling here is mostly about adding large labels.
- A tall pantry cabinet with adjustable shelves can hold food and small appliances. A few lidded baskets make grouping easier and pretty.
- Maybe the appliances should have their own pantry, with cute shelves.
- When all you have is a wall in a mudroom, shelving becomes a useful open pantry where it’s more about function than style. But even here we had a Kermit The Frog keeping things light.
- An open pantry can be cute with farmhouse accents like glass jars for dry goods and wire baskets.
- A reach-in closet that’s close to the kitchen can be easily and economically retrofitted for food storage. This basket unit is a workhouse, but it also keeps the style factor high, making messy bags work together.
- A walk-in pantry is perfect when there’s space. Choose a color scheme and add accessories like a cute cookie jar, baskets and some crockery.
If you are still asking, “How do you style a pantry,” these ideas might help you turn your functional food closet into something a bit more stylish. And why not? You’ll enjoy it every day.
