Does your pantry look like this? For your sake, I hope not. But if it does, you are not alone!
For months I have put off organizing my pantry. Every time my husband and I picked up groceries, items were unceremoniously tossed into whatever space could be found. And we won’t even mention the grocery bags. When I finally broke down and took them all out there was a mountain of bags so large it defied reason.
Looking at all the work to be done can feel overwhelming. Here I will break down my process for organizing even the most atrocious of pantries into 7 simple steps.
I would recommend blocking off a solid hour for this project. It is not difficult but it does take some time.
Step 1 - Drag Everything Out
Yep, bring all the shame of your cupboards out for all to see. Take every single thing off the shelves, floor, etc. and spread it out on your kitchen floor or counter. Here you can see just how many of those grocery bags were hiding in the back corner.
Step 2 - Take a Deep Breath
If you are anything like me and you made the mistake of putting off cleaning your pantry, you will probably feel overwhelmed by all the stuff you now have in front of you. I promise it looks worse than it is, and it won’t be too bad to organize.
Step 3 - Clean Surfaces/Sweep Floor
That bag of popcorn kernels that spilled and went rolling everywhere on movie night with your friends? Yeah, those are still there. That half melted chocolate bar you discovered fused to the back of the shelf? Still there too. Get everything wiped off and swept up so you can have a fresh start for everything going back into your pantry.
Step 4 - Eliminate Expired Food/Trash
The enemy of organization is clutter. Anything that is expired needs to go so check lids of cans, labels on boxed mashed potatoes, the whole nine yards. Any excess grocery bags (if you keep those) can be tossed along with anything else that can be defined as clutter. Ask yourself “Do I currently use this”? Do I plan to use it within the next couple weeks”? If the answer is no, let it go.
Step 5 - Map Out Your New Pantry
We are almost ready to organize but before we start randomly putting things back on the shelves we need a game plan. Take a look at the space you have to work with. How many shelves are there? Are some spaced wider than others? What does your floor space look like? This is a good opportunity for you to change your system to fit your life better. Also take into consideration the items you reach for the most. If you only use your rice cooker (this is the one we use) once in a while, it would make sense to have it high or low in your pantry and save the easy to reach areas for items you use on a daily basis. We just started using our Instant Pot and now we can't live without it! Items like flour, oatmeal, olive oil, etc. might be used more regularly, so put these where they are easy to access.
Step 6 - Implement Any New Organizers
Sometimes the biggest impact on pantry organization can be what you use to hold the items in your pantry. For example this hanging spice rack was a great way for us to save space in the pantry by utilizing the door instead of the shelves to hold spices (note that if your gap between your pantry door and frame is small, your door may not close completely). Other organizers might be hanging baskets, ceramic/glass/plastic food containers, or any other organizer you find useful.
Step 7 - Putting it All Back Together
Congrats! You made it! It is time to put everything back on the shelves. But there is more to it than piling it all back in. Since you mapped out the most efficient way to utilize your pantry space, you should have your set up mostly ready to go. Now, break your food items down into categories and make them even more organized. For example, canned items is one category but it can be broken down to make cooking easier for you. Put all the canned vegetables in one row. All the cans for making chili in another. Soups can be another row. And on it goes. Same with baking supplies. Have a row dedicated to baking essentials. An example could be all your bread flours, then your white and brown sugar, baking soda, powder, salt and oats. Organize in the way that works best for you but having dedicated rows can help you keep track of what you have in your pantry so items don’t go to waste getting mixed up and pushed to the back of the pantry until they eventually expire.
Organizing your pantry can seem like a tall order, but if you take it one step at a time it can be accomplished within an evening, and you will be amazed at how much more enjoyable cooking will be with the pantry clean. Best of luck and happy organizing!
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