Pantry Organization

My 5 tips to improve your pantry organization doesn’t have to do with the size of your pantry or even breaking the bank. Over the past few years I’ve re-organized my pantry a couple times only because I realized I wasn’t utilizing the space well.

The first thing you need to know about organizing your pantry (big or small) is that, its not about making it look Pinterest worthy! I only say that because every single pantry picture on Pinterest leads to you these fancy pantry with the wildest stuff in the pantry such as flowers, frames and even stripes of LED light. Now before you think I’m crazy, yes lighting is important but we do really need to spend $100 on LED lighting strips to put around 3 tiers shelves that holds our canned goods?!?

So here are my five tips to improve your organization in your pantry or even kitchen space!

TIP 1

Be practical about your lifestyle, not everyone has the same lifestyle as you and your family. Stop worrying about perfect Pinterest pantry and start thinking of what you use everyday, what can be places in bins and what can you put at eye level for the kids or just for yourself? I personally think going through all your stuff and deciding what you need everyday vs what you use once a week or once a month can really help. For me, I use whole wheat flour and certain dry lentils everyday, I keep them all organized in glass and acrylic containers. Seeing things visually really helps me see how much I have left, especially during restocking. Putting snacks into lazy Susan’s or clear bins can really help as well.

TIP 2

Utilize your space, and no I’m not talking about LED lights, get the measuring tape and start figuring out how much space you have. Many times people just assume they have enough shelf space, and when they start inserting the the bins, baskets and jars they start to see not everything fits the way they thought it would. I measure out the height, length and depth of each shelf, drawer and empty floor space. Write it out, draw it out and trust me this will save you many return trips to Home Goods or even amazon! Keep in mind when measuring you want enough space for you to grab the jars or bins without feeling too tight, also the height is very important as well. You don’t want to jam pack anything onto the shelfs just cause you have the height space, keep some space open so you’re able to grab anything without a hassle. If you do have space in-between your selfs, you can always use stackable containers to utilize the space a lot more.

TIP 3

Purge Purge Purge, clean everything out! Take every single item out of your pantry and make a donation, expired and keep section. Toss anything that’s expired or going to expire in the next few days (especially if you have no plans on using it). I usually donate a lot of pasta’s and canned goods right after the holiday season is over and I know I won’t be using the items as much or at all. Just a reminder, items like honey never expire so don’t ever throw honey, but peanut butter or any nuts can spoil over time, along with stale chips and cereals. Since you’re already cleaning out the pantry, this is a great time to clean out containers, clean the shelfs and maybe change out the light bulb in the pantry haha.

TIP 4

You don’t need to break the bank on organizing your pantry, for the past couple of years Target and Walmart have seriously came in clutch! Walmart has such great deals, everything from shelf lining to many containers I use in my pantry. Target is great for labels, tags for bins and even baskets, I use these wooden baskets for my onions and potatoes and not only do they fit so well but they’re stackable and also come in many sizes. Once everything is clean, play around with your space and see what works and what doesn’t, for me placing all my baskets on the floor really helps because the baskets are deep and its easier to see from above. I did place my wooden baskets on a eye level because I use my onions, garlic, potatoes everyday.

TIP 5

Store as many things you can in a container, aside from how clean and organized it will look, you’ll also have a better look into what’s running low, or what needs to be restocked such a cereal and grains. Storing things in jars and containers also helps the shelf life, and you preventing food from becoming stale. If you have smaller amounts of things you can simply just put all of them in one container, for example I have 3 different types of chocolate chips, I simply just roll the bag and place all of them in a container. Once you’ve completed your pantry, keep a list on your phone in the notes section labeled as ” PANTRY RE-STOCK” anytime you see things running low or need a bit of a re stocking, add it to the list. Trust me this will come in handle when you’re at the grocery store and really need to know if you need another box of cereal or granola bars. It’s saved me many trips at the grocery but also when I see a good sale at the grocery store and know I could use a stock up, I’ll end up purchasing it and keeping it as a back stock.