If your home comes with a pantry, it is a great place to store things like food and kitchen supplies. However, it is very easy for that space to get cluttered. If you can’t see what is in your pantry, it is impossible to utilize it to the best of your ability. Instead, you end up spending extra money on things you already have, while potentially letting good food go bad. If you need to organize your pantry, there are simple steps you can take to do so. Here are some ways to get started.
Buy Labeled Bins
If you only use the shelves in your pantry, they can get overstuffed and messy very quickly. Invest in some storage bins that fit on your shelves. Then label them clearly and use those to store specific types of items. If you have bins clearly marking your canned beans, rice, and chocolate chips, for instance, you’ll be able to easily find them when you need to cook with them. You’ll also have a designated place to store them, keeping the shelves from getting cluttered.
“First In, First Out”
If you adopt a “first in, first out” policy for your pantry, then you’ll always know where to put things. You want to eat things in the same order that you buy them. For instance, if you have two boxes of pasta, eat the one with the earlier expiration date. Not only will this help you reduce food waste, but it will also make organizing your food much easier. Simply put the new product behind the older one.
Clear Containers
If you buy in bulk, make sure that your storage containers are clear. That way, you can see at a glance what is inside each one and won’t have to spend any time searching. When you can clearly see pasta in one box and beans in another, you can avoid moving things around. This will not only make cooking easier, but it will also keep your pantry neat.
Make a Kid-Friendly Snack Station
If you have kids, they are going to be messy. No matter which of these tips you put into place, you’ll have little hands pushing things around as they look for a snack. Designate a kid-friendly snack station in a small corner of your pantry. This is where you allow a little bit of a mess. Put snacks and drinks here and allow your child to take their food from only that station. That way, they still get the independence of feeding themselves without trashing your neatly organized pantry.
Drawer Separators
If you’re storing bottles and cans in drawers, drawer separators can keep them upright and in neat rows. Otherwise, you risk having your cans and bottles fall down every time you open or close the drawer. The drawer gets messy this way and you risk having your bottles leak into your pantry, wasting food and potentially ruining other products.
Label Everything
Start labeling everything in your pantry. Every jar and container should have a clear label showing exactly what is inside. That way, even if you’re not able to get clear containers for everything right away, you still have a good idea of what you have. This will save you a lot of time right away, even as you build your organized pantry.
Keep Lists
If you want to stay organized, you need to know what you have and what you need. The best way to do this is by keeping lists. You’ll want to keep two master lists. The first is an ordinary shopping list. As you run low on certain products, add them to your shopping list. If you buy new ones before the old ones run out, utilize “first in, first out” as you store them. But by marking them on the list, you’ll always know what you need to buy. The second list is an inventory. Keep track of everything in your pantry. If you do this, you’ll be able to plan meals and grocery shopping without any surprises.
You can keep these lists in a few different ways. Some people like to use ordinary pen and paper. Others keep it all contained on their phones. And some will actually make the lists somewhere in the pantry, like the back of the door or on a whiteboard on the wall. Use whichever approach works best for your lifestyle and your personality. That way, you’ll be much more likely to keep the lists up to date.
Keeping your pantry organized is very important. A messy pantry is difficult to use and you might end up wasting food and money when you don’t realize what you have. Take these steps and apply them to your own home in order to improve your pantry!
