This is so real. This is exactly why if I ever have a huge pantry like so many inspiration photos, I would want it hidden behind a door that remains always closed. My own pantry closet is a complete embarassment. I should probably spend some of my time off over the holidays to organize it. Maybe I'd even want a hidden pantry door (like a secret passage in a library type of door) so that no guests ever accidentally open the pantry to realize all of my messy pantry secrets.

I feel like my pantry lies somewhere between these two examples.

Ha - thinking those perfectly decanted displays are the work of assistants/staff, not the homeowner...

I totally do not understand decanting. If I have a container that holds 4 lbs of flour but I find a deal on a 5lb bag, what happens to the excess pound? Do you have to have a ”holding” pantry for the things that don’t fit in the ”pretty” pantry?

Those Pinterest-worthy pantries are fun to look at, but are not a goal for me. I don’t believe in decanting things that come in completely usable packaging with instructions. Decanting flours, bulk grains and sugars makes sense since some storage containers actually can be better for the product than their commercial packaging. The only things I decant for appearances are my dried seasonings and spices. They fit in my drawer better when they are all in the same sized container.

One vlogger who I follow not only decants items, she removes the labels from almost everything. She finds labels and colors distracting and annoying. She even buys some products based on how the container fits her aesthetic. For her, the simplification of her surroundings is a real need, not just a desire.

I read this as dream panties! Imagine my surprise when I saw that photos. Grateful for the pantries instead.

me too, see above

Pantry? What's that!? HA! I can only dream of having a pantry. I have tons of shelves in the basement, thank goodness for the basement!

I have large shallow pantry cabinets, not walk-in but wouldn't go to that extreme regardless. I put rice in containers because it's better than bags and flour/sugar/brown sugar/powdered sugar. in glass canisters and Weck jars. And I do transfer spices to clear glass jars with my own labels but the jars are a combination of round and square, full and half size and def not insta worthy.

And then there’s these:

I hope this is for a community food pantry, not personal, because who needs 8+ jars of peanut butter? and how many jars are behind? Do you keep moving cans forward so they are all neatly lined up? how do you even get your fingers around them to take one out?

and what if, gasp, you change brands of something! or the sizes change! chaos ensues!

That would never do! They aren’t in alphabetical order!! How would you ever find anything??

Haha! True confession: I alphabetized my spices. But, DH has talen over the kitchen, does not alphabetize, and now I can’t find anything. As for pantry contents, well, we don’t generally biy cans, and are: more likely to shelve things by type or use.

Just another example of social media making people feel like they are not measuring up. Honestly, the second picture looks like the pantry of a family who cooks while the first one looks like it belongs to a Kardashian.

I misread the post title too! I am blaming my lack of coffee.

I just noticed in the first picture, they even have their books color organized...HAHA!

I had a pretty great, if weirdly shaped, pantry in our previous house. It had a nice work surface and was a useful auxiliary prep area. It housed the big bag of dog food and their bowls and an extra stick vac . (Located in an odd space where a wing had been added, it was off a hallway that led to a bedroom, office, back stairs, garage, etc , areas that needed frequent vacuuming.)

Before it filled up

Fuller

Storing all the kitchen linens here was very convenient

It lacked a sink which would have been handy.

Things started out very organized:

and became less so over the years

I got help from this group when trying to lay out the pie shaped space efficiently. We revamped it with paint, a new light fixture, Ikea shelves and counter three years before we moved and I wished I’d done it earlier. The most expensive cost was adding electrical outlets to a wall that had been the original exterior wall of brick clad concrete.

I too read the subject without an R.

I do remember seeing Kloe Kardashian's pantRY a few years ago and it was so ridiculously organized and symmetrical that there is no way it could be real. I mean it could be real if there was someone who was assigned to monitoring each item and replenishing.

I do only decant flour and sugar ( into maybe 40 years old tupperware containers) and sometimes, oatmeal.

I just searched and here is a link to see the ridiculousness of KK's pantRy.in what world is this real??

Yes I agree about the reality of pantries. I'd add to the list the lazy susan cabinets and closets. I love how they stage closets with a few blouses hanging and shoes perfectly aligned, a fancy bag and a perky hat. And who doesn't keep a fresh flower arrangement and some potted plants in their closet?

vs. the reality...signs of attempted organization in the past and then it gets overwhelmed with stuff.

Raise your hand if your lazy susan is backlit!

Ha! I read it as "pastries." I could never personally have a pantry like the OPs puzzle. That would drive me over the edge.

I would think the shelves lined with can goods is a food bank, based on the labels.

One vlogger who I follow not only decants items, she removes the labels from almost everything. She finds labels and colors distracting and annoying. She even buys some products based on how the container fits her aesthetic. For her, the simplification of her surroundings is a real need, not just a desire.

We need a name or a link!

I was thrilled to get a walk-in pantry when we built custom. Our trim carpenter built it out to my specifications. Loved having small appliances hidden yet easy to use. Plenty of room for storage below. I transferred things because I dislike clutter and at a glance I could see where somethng was and/or how much I had on hand. The only difference between these photos and real life was cases of drinks stored on the bottom shelf (behind the baskets, ready to go in/carried to the fridge drinks). Couldn't reach the top shelf, so it was a good place for my birdhouse collection. The wooden containers are vintage and have tops, and belonged to my maternal grandmother. I'm still using them.

Carpenter built this side around an HVAC return box.

The shelves here are deeper than they appear.

I saw on the new owner's IG account that she had a oantry redo day during CV lockdown and switched to clear OXO or the like containers.

OXO pop containers came into my life in our next house and I still use them. No walk-in there, instead two pantries and a small appliance/coffee station hidden behind doors. House also had a walk-thru pantry (to the basement stairs), but I needed to make it pretty (and to have a place for my collections). Stored dog/cat food and bakeware below counter, hidden behind a curtain.

Moving out of state and downsizing has its disadvantages, and ours was a small pantry. That said, the house and lot is a perfect size. We added a half shelf since we did not want coffeemaker in the closet. DH uses part of it as a charging station. I just took this photos and it stays neat. At least until DD2 arrives with her always hungry children. I was not sure about making this work, but I use a large lower end cabinet (so not in the cooking area) for bulk purchases. Cased items and bulk TP/PT are stored in the coat closet on the first floor that goes back and around under the stairs. Containers with cereal and breakfast items are in the ktichen area, next to fridge and above coffeemaker.

fyi, I had tiny or odd shaped OXO containers leftover from sets I purchased, and some area used to store office supplies elsewhere. DD2 uses the odd shaped ones for office supplies, crayons, colored pencils, etc at their house. (Edited typos.)

The new trend of hidden pantries adds another layer - no pun intended - to must-have-itis. Can't find the video at the moment but I saw one recently where the cabinet doors open outward as usual to show shelves of canned goods etc but if you push inward the shelves swing away and there's a walk through opening to the hidden pantry. From an engineering standpoint I was impressed but it's such an over-the-top-look-at-me moment. It reminded me of the gigantic 2 story McMansion entries with the enormous chandeliers and arched top windows of the 90s. It's a 'tell me when your house was built without telling me when your house was built' moment.

Exactly, DLM. For some reason it is now shameful to actually cook in your kitchen. Better to have an elaborate extra gathering room with island / bar seating and vast expanses of counter space for display and do the dirty work in a small, windowless hidden room. Not having actual scullery maids these days, people are turning themselves into the ”invisible” help to pretend producing meals and entertaining is effortless. So very …. 2020’s 🤔

Regarding closets - the master bedroom closets in the house we bought are a thing of beauty. I think they're always that way - not just when someone is looking to buy the house. I took pictures of them to show DH who hasn't seen the house in person. I was gobsmacked by the organization of the man-closet. I showed the picture to a friend of mine who is a college professor with a PhD in psychology - not because of that but just because we were talking about the new house. With all seriousness she said it was a classic case of OCD. Same could probably be said of a pantry if someone actually did maintain it that way vs. just for a photo.

I have never had a pantry in any house, although we do have a closet in the kitchen at our beach cottage that kinda serves as a pantry...as well as an art supply closet. Our "pantry" at home is a run of cabinets that is only 12" deep and about 4' wide. The beauty of having shallow food cabinets is that nothing gets lost! We do have a cabinet in the basement for overflow, which isn't as full now that we're empty nesters.

We buy a lot of nuts from nuts.com, and they all come in bags that are annoying to store, so I do decant them into plastic stackable containers, where we can easily see at a glance when we're running low on something.

We have a separate pantry but it houses mostly small appliances, serving items and trays, vases and candles, and freezer drawers. So it is easy to keep pretty, and in fact the door is always open.

Our food pantries and storage are pretty well organized but not prettified. I confess to labelling all of my drawers and pantry shelves, even the shelves of the refrigerator door. If you want your family of five, and cleaning help, to put things away, it helps if it is clear where things go.

We have a butler's pantry in Maine but like most such butler's pantries that is not for food storage. We are adding a pantry "annex" but again not really for food. We don't store a lot of food. Not big users of canned items or many dry goods, and we food shop every other day at least.

@User Benita Larsson She can be found on YouTube and Instagram. While I don’t aspire to live as she does, I like to watch her videos as they are a visit to different world from mine.

We decant some things like nuts and dried fruit into jars, to keep them fresher than in the bags. I will store things like pasta and rice in their box or bag in an Oxo or tupperware. Keeps them fresher, stores or stacks easily, and i still have the cooking directions!

DLM, I remember seeing that pantry-of-engineering and thought it was over the top.

@3katz4me, I've been told being organized and/or keeping house neat is not always a sign of OCD. I suppose it depends on how the person reacts to the organization/neatness if/when it is not. While I am neat and organized, it does not bother me if it gets messy... but I will eventually tidy up. When I go into a home that is not organized, it does not bother me.

I think my neatness came from my parents. Neither were as organized as me, nor OCD, but they kept a nice house. Beds were made when we got up, something I still practice. Things are picked up, kitchen is straight before I go to bed. I like waking up to a clean house. Same if I am going out of town, I want to come home to a neat house.

I have a distant relative that is OCD and when in college, the parents received a letter with photos of the person's rooms. I was told you could not see the floor, kitchen counter or stove top and not much of the furniture. The person has OCD.

For the record, I've always kept our closets organized too. I even hang leftover art inside closets. LOL

Thanks, @Fun2BHere.

ETA: Her video about kitchen clutter "visual clutter created by items left out on countertops and surfaces stress me out. My eyes cannot rest and I'm involuntary scanning and taking everything in." She would hate my house. LOL

You’re right about that, Allison. One of our kids was diagnosed with OCD as a child. That one is possibly the messiest of our three, but their particular compulsions have nothing to do with organizing but rather repeating certain actions in a loop. A lot of people are obsessively tidy and organized, but more often than not it is not clinical OCD.

I'm the same as Allison. The kitchen must be clean before going to bed. And the public areas of the house picked up. My family makes fun of me because after hosting Thanksgiving for a house full of people, everything is cleaned, tables put back in their usual spot, extra chairs returned to the basement. And the house gets vacuumed and mopped before I go to bed. It doesn't matter how late it is. When we wake up Friday morning, it's like it never happened (well except for the yummy leftovers and fresh flowers).

It was how I was raised. However, it's also how my brother was raised and yet he does not live that way. That probably has more to do with his wife than his desires. I think he tried for a few years to keep things tidy but gave up. He did lose it one day many years ago and opened the yellow pages and found a cleaning service to come every week. Something he'd begged his wife to arrange but she never did.

On the other hand, and unlike Allison, I am a total closet slob. I've gotten a bit better about that, but if it's behind closed doors it usually doesn't bother me. Which leads me to my pantry. It's a deep narrow closet in the laundry room (not far from kitchen). I always use the excuse that it's too deep to be an organized pantry, but the truth is as long as I can close the door, it's going to be a mess. I do organize it once a year, but it quickly becomes a disorganized mess again.

I enjoy looking at the pretty organized pantries, but I know mine will never look like that. And it's fine.

I'll just say the subject closet was beyond "organized" and "neat". And though I only had Psych 101, I realize OCD can manifest itself in different ways that aren't compulsive "organization". I have some friends and family with various mental disorders but none that have OCD (that I know of).

Our pantry is much like Allison's last picture. Plenty of space for the two of us. The ceiling is high, so the top shelf is for things not used often, large/tall items, etc. I do decanter baking items, nuts, etc. I use baskets for storage of small items like bags of dried beans, spice packets, oatmeal packets, etc. Floor space has baskets for potatoes and other items. Larger bottles, etc. (such as distilled water) are also on the floor space.

We have shelving/storage in our laundry area so TP and paper towels are stored there along with other items. I keep a stack of towels in there for clean-up. Hooks on one end wall for all the vacuums, steam mop, swiffer, yardstick, duster, etc., etc., etc. LOL

I definitely don't have OCD, but I do like my pantry/closets/cabinets organized. Now the attic and basement are another story, but that's the Mr's domain!

DD has OCD and, as 3katz noted, never had the neatness fears/obsessions or the rituals/compulsions sufferers use to try and handle anxiety.

I remember the Kardashian pantry thread. I did organize ours since then, including buying roll out bins since my shelves are deep. Like others, once I have something organized initially, I expect it to maintain itself thereafter. Hasn't worked yet.