Regardless of a stay home order or not, I’ve always been an organizer. I love organizing just about anything – from my closet to the laundry room and every little drawer in between. The pantry is always in some state of organizational flux, and I’m still not 100% done with it. I would love for it to look Pinterest-worthy at some point, but for now I’m focusing on one area of it at a time. Organizing the pantry is a priority for us because of all the cooking Paul does. We’ve made some improvements in how we store things, and I wanted to share them with you all in case you’re in an organizing mood, too. 🙂
Organizing the pantry so far…
Spices – The very first thing I did when I started organizing the pantry was tackle our spice rack. We have been buying spices in bulk for a while now, and you not only save money but you don’t waste any of the product either. Can you really get through a giant container of cinnamon before it goes bad? I purchased these little glass jars and this label kit. It’s a good idea to use a spice jar funnel like this one when you’re transferring your spices into the jars. I was very impressed with the variety of labels that come with the label kit. There are labels for smoked versus regular paprika, for example. And it includes some blank labels. Everything on the shelf is in alphabetical order and faced all the way to the front, making it easy to get what you need.
Airtight containers – I wanted to keep our foods fresh and free from pests. We have been loving these airtight containers for everything – pasta, dry goods, cereal, cookies, chips, nuts…you get the idea. Pretty much everything goes into one of these containers. I used the larger labels from the label kit I mentioned above and it’s been really nice being able to see everything that we have at a quick glance. I grouped everything by usage type. All the flour, sugar, cornmeal, etc. is kept together while cereals and other snacks are stored separately.
Baskets and wooden bins – My ultimate goal is to get all my baskets and bins to match completely, but I’m not quite there yet. But what I love about this kind of organizing is that it makes it easy to contain grab-and-go items like granola bars or individual packs of oatmeal. They’re also great for organizing coffee pods. These rustic wood storage bins are very similar to what I’m using, and I love that these have a chalkboard side built right in. These woven baskets are similar to the ones I put in our pantry and would be great for corralling extra dish sets, linens, or other miscellaneous objects that seem to make their way into our pantry.
What needs work…
Vinegars, oils, and other liquid marinades – Right now I have these lined up on the shelf, facing out, and organized by type (i.e. all oils are together, all vinegars are together, etc.). But there seems to be a lot of wasted space. I’m toying with the idea of lazy susans. What do you guys think? For example, if I had a lazy susan with all the vinegars on it, it would free up shelf space and we could just spin to get what we need. I would organize another one for all the Asian sauces we have (we have a ton – Paul makes great Asian food at home).
Canned goods – I’d like to get one of those tiered organizers for the cans. I do really like the way they look right now, but there’s a lot of wasted space behind them. This non-skid tiered can organizer would be perfect.
A few pantry organization tips…
+ Keep like items together.
+ Alphabetize where it makes sense.
+ Toss small items like coffee pods, spice packets, or anything individually wrapped into a bin or basket.
+ Throw away anything that is expired.
+ Keep the most frequently used items closer to the front.
+ Add labels or decals to canisters, jars, and bins.
+ Use decorative command hooks to stylishly hang aprons and pot holders.
+ Think about areas of “wasted space” and utilize creative storage like corner bins.
+ Utilize a chalkboard or whiteboard for jotting down a quick grocery list. This decal turns any surface into a chalkboard.
+ Assess your pantry weekly to take stock of what you have so that you don’t over buy or miss a needed ingredient. When you know what’s in there you can plan your meals better.
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Do you have any tips for organizing the pantry? Please share your pantry hacks in the comments!
xo – Erin
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