How to Measure Your Pantry & Cabinets Before Buying Organizers

There are few things more frustrating than finding the perfect pantry organizer, ordering it, opening the box and discovering it's half an inch too wide. Or it fits beautifully on the shelf  right up until the cabinet door won't close.

After more than 30 years of working with organizing products, I can tell you that one of the most common organizing mistakes happens before you buy anything: You don't measure the actual usable space.

A tape measure may not be the most exciting organizing tool you own, but it can save you money, returns and a pantry or cabinet full of organizers that almost fit.

Measure the Usable Space Not Just the Shelf

If your pantry shelf measures 36 inches wide, that doesn't necessarily mean you have 36 inches available for organizers.

Look carefully at everything that intrudes into the space:

• Door hinges
• Shelf supports and brackets
• Door trim or framing
• Pipes, plumbing or other obstructions
• Lip or raised edge at the front of a shelf
• Doors that swing inward
• Fixed dividers or framing between cabinet openings

Measure the actual usable width, depth and height of every area where you plan to put an organizer.

And don't assume that because one shelf measures 14 inches deep, every shelf does. Measure them individually. Houses, cabinets and shelving have a remarkable ability to be almost but not quite identical.

Measure Width, Depth and Height

You need all three measurements.

Width tells you how many bins, containers or organizers can sit side by side.

Depth is particularly important in a pantry or cabinet. An organizer that's too deep can interfere with the door, while one that's much too shallow can waste valuable storage space.

Height matters for more than simply determining whether something fits between two shelves. Think about how you'll actually use the product. You need enough clearance to remove a lid, pull something out or lift a container off a shelf.

A cereal container that technically fits with a quarter-inch to spare may become annoying every morning when you have to tilt it sideways to get it out.

Check Whether Your Shelves Are Adjustable

Before buying organizers, look for shelf-pin holes or adjustable shelf hardware.

Moving a shelf up or down by an inch or two can completely change how efficiently you use the space. Instead of buying an organizer to compensate for poorly spaced shelves, you may simply need to reposition the shelf.

I generally like to establish the major storage zones first and then adjust shelf heights around what will actually be stored there.

Deep Shelves Need Extra Planning

Deep pantry shelves provide lots of storage, but they can also become hiding places.

Before buying deep bins, measure how far you can comfortably reach and see. A 20-inch-deep shelf doesn't automatically mean you need a 20-inch-deep organizer.

For many foods, I prefer solutions that bring products forward or make what's behind the first row easy to access. Depending on what you're storing, that could mean a turntable, pull-out bin, handled bin or tiered shelf.

The goal isn't to fill every cubic inch. The goal is to be able to find what you put there.

Measure Corners Before Buying Turntables

Turntables can be terrific in pantry and cabinet corners, but this is an area where measuring really matters.

Don't measure only the diameter of the turntable. Make sure there's enough room for it to rotate freely without hitting the wall, door frame, neighboring containers or anything else nearby.

Also think about what you're putting on it. Tall bottles need enough vertical clearance, and items shouldn't extend so far beyond the edge that they prevent the turntable from turning.

A turntable that can't turn is basically a round shelf — and probably not what you paid for.

Measure Before Buying Food Storage Containers

If you're planning to decant flour, cereal, pasta, rice or other dry foods, don't start by buying the biggest matching container set you can find.

First decide what foods you actually want to decant.

Then measure the shelf where those containers will live. Pay particular attention to shelf height and depth, especially if you're considering tall cereal containers or large containers for flour and baking ingredients.

Matching containers can make a pantry look terrific, but appearance comes after function. Five perfectly matching containers that don't fit your shelves aren't a system. They're a return.

Think About Doors, Hinges and Plumbing — Not Just Shelves

Pantry and cabinet doors are easy to overlook when you're measuring.

If you have organizers mounted on the inside of a door, measure how far they extend into the cabinet when the door closes. Make sure they won't collide with shelf contents.

For under-sink cabinets, measure the location and clearance around drainpipes, water-supply lines, garbage disposals and other plumbing. Don't forget hinges and the cabinet-door opening itself. An organizer can fit perfectly inside the cabinet and still be impossible to slide through the opening.

Open and close every door while you're measuring. You may discover a clearance problem that isn't obvious when the doors are open.

Keep Your Measurements on Your Phone

Once you've measured everything, don't leave the measurements on a piece of paper on the kitchen counter.

Put them in the Notes app on your phone.

Take a photo looking straight into each pantry shelf or cabinet section, too. That gives you a visual reminder of hinges, shelf supports, plumbing and awkward corners that measurements alone may not tell you.

For larger projects, make a simple note for each area:

• Shelf or cabinet location
• Usable width
• Usable depth
• Usable height

What you plan to store there

Obstructions or special considerations

You don't need architectural drawings. You just need enough information to avoid guessing.

Don't Buy Everything at Once

Once you've measured, resist the urge to order every organizer in one afternoon.

Start with the areas causing the biggest problems. Maybe canned goods disappear behind one another. Perhaps snack packages fall over constantly. Maybe you have 14 bottles of sauces occupying a corner where a turntable would work better.

Solve those problems first.

Live with the new system for a little while, then add more organizers where they're actually needed. You'll usually end up buying fewer products — and the products you do buy will work better.

From My Experience

One lesson I've learned after looking at thousands of organizing products is that the best organizer isn't necessarily the product with the cleverest design. It's the product that fits your space and solves your particular problem.

That's why I always come back to the same basic rule:

Measure first. Decide what you're storing second. Buy the organizer third.

Reverse that order and you're organizing around the product.

Do it in the right order and you're choosing products that organize around you.

[MR. ORGANIZED TIP BADGE]

Mr. Organized Tip

Keep your pantry and cabinet measurements permanently in your phone. If you later spot a bin, turntable or shelf organizer you like, you'll know immediately whether it has a chance of fitting.

Because “I'm pretty sure it'll fit” has probably filled more closets and garages with returned organizers than anyone would care to admit.