We have a small walk-in pantry and built wooden shelves in an L shape all the way up to the ceiling (10 feet). I keep a step ladder in there for when I need to access the higher shelves, but those things are the least used, so I don't use it that often. I have some wooden crate bins from Container Store along one wall labeled with things like "Breakfast Foods," "Oils, Sauces," "Grains," "Baking Supplies," "Disposables," etc that hold a lot but keep it semi-organized. I keep things like nuts, seeds, sugars, flours, lentils, cereals in glass jars labeled with chalkboard labels that I can wipe off and change as needed. I have one shelf along the back with some of those stair-step things for canned goods, so that nothing gets lost behind something else. I have a few small wicker IKEA baskets up high that have other baking things in them - food coloring, sprinkles, icings, cookie cutters etc. Large, seldom used appliances like the bread maker, Kitchen Aid mixer, food processor are on a low shelf. I have grab jars and bins of snacky type foods on a couple of bottom shelves. Occasional use things like the panini press, mason jar drink dispensers, cake stands etc are up higher too. I've had it set up like this for about six years and it functions really well and keeps things totally front and center. I need to give it a good clean and reorg every six months or so, but that's it. It's actually amazing how much it holds given the relatively small footprint.
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