The Best Items and Strategies for a More Organized Pantry
If there’s one place in your home that’s hard to get organized, it’s the kitchen. You don’t make all of your recipes all the time, but you need all of those ingredients and food items when you do, so they need to stay in the pantry. But just because there is a large volume of items doesn’t mean everything has to be disorganized. Like a spice cabinet , a pantry can be reorganized to make it more efficient, so when you need something, you’ll immediately know where it is.
Invest in better quality containers for your pantry.
Pantry staples come in separate containers, which is convenient, but the lack of consistency between baking soda, hamburger helper, cereal, flour, and everything else isn’t good for the organization. Mismatched boxes and containers are difficult to stack and can result in some items being hidden or even damaged. Instead of relying on cardboard boxes or bags that your products come in, you should opt for reusable containers.
Airtight containers not only make the space more uniform and make food easier to access, but also keep food fresh. You don’t have to worry about moisture, insects, mice, pets, or your kids ruining your items, at least not as much as if you were relying on the original packaging. In general, I’m a big fan of expressing anything you buy at the store, from skincare to food, for the same reasons. This is an organizational victory.
Depending on the amount of different ingredients and products you have, your sizing needs may vary, but in general, look for a set like this:
What I really like about the above set is that not only are all the containers stackable regardless of size, but they also come with a set of labels and a marker. It’s important to put it all together, but it’s equally important to define what it is. When you’re meal prepping or planning what you need to buy at the store, there’s little room for surprises, so being able to see what’s in each container at a glance is crucial and will help you stay more organized.
Adopt an organizational method for your pantry
I’m once again going to advocate the rules of the Organizational Triangle here: you should keep all like items together, and everything you own should have a specific place. It doesn’t matter if your pantry represents an entire room next to the kitchen or just a word you use to describe your large closet full of dry goods; Anything you use to store these items must follow these guidelines.
Here you have some room to maneuver. You can store items in groups based on what they are used for. Perhaps you have a baking section and a cooking section, a BBQ section and a “light food” section, etc. Again, there will be some overlap there. Is a pre-made pasta salad kit suitable for a BBQ or fast food area? Will the salt be used in cooking or baking? Your goal in creating these partitions is to always be able to know where the thing you need is when you need it, so the partitions should be tailored to your specific needs. You can organize by meal type or time of day, dividing sections for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, by the eating habits of individual family members, or for the week ahead, creating sections based on the recipes you’re planning. next seven dinners.
Again, no matter what you do, there will be some overlap, so the best categorization method is one that makes sense to you, that you will remember, and stick to.
Other goodies for pantry organization
There are several other tools on the market that, while not absolutely necessary, can make organizing your pantry easier. Depending on how large of a space you’re working with, you may want to purchase several free-standing pull-out shelves ($26.99). With them, you can stash less-used items in the back, store what you reach for most often in the front, but still easily access those items in the back when it’s time to use them.
If space is tight, try the Hanging Organizer ($27.99), which provides space for canned goods, chips, and larger items, while also using up space that would otherwise be wasted between your shelves and the door when it’s closed. .
Finally, grab some basic storage containers. Not everyone needs a lid, especially individually wrapped snacks like granola bars. Quicker access to things you can take with you will reduce the clutter that comes from rushing through large or hard-to-reach containers. A pack of two plastic containers with dividers costs $19.99.