So much food, but nothing to eat. Make meal (and snack) time just a little easier by putting your pantry in order.
Unpack It
First things first, unload the pantry. Make a space on your counter or island or floor and take it all out of there. Make sure to also grab food stored elsewhere. As you go, look for two things. Most packaged goods have an expiration date. You can ditch anything expired, but you decide your own threshold for that – some items are fine longer, or maybe you don’t care quite so much. Seasonings and spices expire, becoming less flavorful over time. And open baking powder should be replaced after about 6 months so your bakes still rise. Also think about what you will actually use. Did you go through a soup phase, but you’re over it? Did your spouse fall off their protein powder kick? Donate unopened items you won’t use to a local food bank or a family in need.
Divide & Conquer
Visualizing the aisles at the supermarket is an easy way to start forming your categories. Also consider when and how you use ingredients. They may differ slightly depending on your own routines and habits, and it could be better to group them that way. Make broad categories, and make sure those categories make sense to you. Maybe you only use peanut butter for breakfast, so keeping it with the breakfast food instead of spreads makes the most sense.
Once all the food is out and you feel good about the categories, think about when and where you use those items. Keeping all food in the pantry is a natural location. Almost all cabinet shelves are adjustable, and making the extra effort to move them can be super helpful. If you have a smaller pantry or if you love to cook, having some categories in other easy-access spots makes sense. Often oils and spices are kept near the stove, while baking ingredients could even be stored near the bakeware. You might make a coffee station by keeping coffee and sugars near the coffeemaker and mugs. How and where will you use your groceries?
Contain It
You’ve thinned out what you don’t need, you’ve given categories homes, so now you can think about containment. Deciding how you will maintain the pantry is critical before investing in containers. Decide on an aesthetic – clear bins, wire baskets, woven baskets – and see what fits your space best. Especially in pantries, make sure to measure the space carefully. The goal of bins and baskets is to corral items, keeping like with like based on the categories you’ve created. Or, you may even prefer to keep the shelves organized without bins, lining up categories in an orderly way instead, creating zones.
A word about clear canisters. We love beautiful glass jars and acrylic canisters with custom labels and a rainbow of contents. It also makes it super easy to glance and see what you need to buy before a grocery run. But you have to be committed to the decanting process if you go that route. Are you willing to unload groceries and spend time pouring goldfish and granola and nuts out of their boxes and into canisters? If so, jump on in! If not, corralling the items in their original packaging is the way to go.
And lastly, don’t forget a label on the container or the shelf keeps everything in its place!
Let’s work together to all get more done. Contact us for home organizing help if you’d like a partner to get you going in your kitchen.