Organizing a pantry is not easy and keeping it organized is even harder. The kitchen pantry helps keep the kitchen counters relatively clutter-free. To keep it organized, it requires dedication and cooperation from everyone in the house.
It’s important to keep the pantry organized so you can keep up with your grocery shopping, for hygiene purposes and also for aesthetic purposes. Here are a few steps you can take to help you achieve that pantry that you see on Pinterest, yes is achievable.
1. Start on a Clean Pantry
Empty the entire pantry, ensure you have a clear space you can work so you can see everything clearly for sorting. Check expiry dates and dispose of everything that is expired or is unnecessary. After you have taken everything out, give the entire pantry a good deep clean. Use cleaning supplies with little or no fragrance to prevent contamination of food.
2. Make a List of Everything that is Left
After clearing out everything that is not necessary, now you easily know what is left and what you need to buy, now make a detailed list of everything you need in your pantry when you are going for your grocery shopping take your list with you and stick to it to avoid buying unnecessary stuff that will end up filling up your pantry. You will be surprised by how much you save when you stick to a shopping list.
Establish a first in first out system to minimize wastage and storing unnecessary stuff. If your pantry is limited on space, buy only what can fit and top up as you go, to avoid overloading your pantry.
3. Use Jars, Containers and Baskets
Use clear containers and glass jars to store dry foods like rice, sugar, flour and cereals. Clear contains are ideal; they make it easier for you to see what is inside you can know when you are running low on inventory. Glass jars/ containers are best because they keep food fresh and are also friendly to the environment.
Try and get leak-proof jars or get glass jar sealing foil because they keep food fresher for longer since they are leak-proof and airtight. After you have all the containers, jars and baskets you need, decant everything that can be decanted. Storing things in containers saves on space and is more aesthetically pleasing.
When shopping for containers and jars get those with more regular shapes like rectangles and squares since they stack easily make it easier for you to organize and save on space. To keep your bottles from toppling over and causing spillages which is just a nightmare, get a drawer organized that holds all bottles upright and also ensure all bottles are covered immediately after use.
Store things that are irregular in shape like sachets in baskets, it is neater than leaving them lying around the pantry. Doing this also makes your work easier when you are trying to locate an ingredient when cooking.
4. Label and Categorize Everything
Items that are used together should be kept collectively. For example, you can put all oils together, mark all your spices and put them together in one place. You can also make use of a lazy Susan to help you access things easily, especially the frequently used stuff. Remember to store all root vegetables like potatoes in a dark but well-ventilated place. Labelling and categorizing will even help members of the home know where everything should go. This will help keep your pantry well organized for longer.
When organizing, put what you regularly use at the eye level where everyone can reach easily. The things that are used less often high up. Make a little kids section on the bottom shelves. Fill it with snacks that they can access easily without knocking over other things. Also, label it clearly so that they can also help in keeping and maintaining the pantry well organized. And you can hold them responsible for their section. Basically, just label everything including shelves so that all family members know where everything goes to make it easy to maintain order
5. Utilize Your Spaces Well
Make use of all the space in the pantry, this includes walls and doors. For doors, you can hang organizers to save on shelf space. On walls use hooks to hold on to things like reusable shopping bags and aprons that can be hanged. Also, make use of shelf extenders. While using wire shelves extenders make use of shelf liners to prevent food from falling through the wires and boxes from tipping over the wire shelves extension.
Lighting up your wall pantry will not only work to make it more appealing but also save your time while picking out something for you to cook.
Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, cleaning and maintaining a pantry is quite something, especially if you have kids and somewhat messy adults in your house. In addition to your setup, put up some rules and guidelines for you and your kids so that your pantry can always be clean and organized, and most essentially, to avoid doing the same work over and over again. Have fun!