Having a kitchen pantry is every home cook’s dream. But that dream space can quickly turn into a cluttered mess of cans and containers if you let it. If your pantry has gotten a little out of hand, it’s time to spend some time organizing it. Tackle this project when you have a free afternoon and take pride in your beautifully organized pantry. Follow our 5 tips to help you organize your pantry today!
1. Start from Scratch
Before you can organize your pantry, you need to clear everything out. Take the time to go through the contents of your pantry and get rid of anything that’s past its best before date. If you find something that you’ve had for years but have never used it, it’s time to get rid of it. Once you’ve gotten rid of everything that has to go, wipe down your shelves and any storage containers. With a fresh and clean blank space, you can move on to the main task: organizing.
2. Group Like Items
When you’re in the middle of cooking, stopping and starting to track down one ingredient can throw off your whole recipe. Wouldn’t it be great if you knew exactly where all your ingredients were? One trick to make your pantry more organized is to group like items together. Once you’ve taken everything out of your pantry, start grouping similar items together. Put all starches such as rice, pasta and bread in the same area. Your cans should also all go in the same space with the labels facing outwards. Any baking items should also be grouped together. This way you’ll know where everything is and items associated with each other will be easier to spot.
3. Storage Containers
You have probably seen inspirational pictures of beautiful pantries online with matching containers storing everything perfectly. If only your pantry could look as beautiful… With the addition of some nice looking yet functional storage containers, your pantry can look just as nice as the ones on the internet.
One way to make your pantry instantly look more organized is to use coordinating containers. Besides looking uniform, these containers can actually help keep the items inside fresh and last longer. Instead of having half-open boxes of pasta littered throughout your pantry, put your pasta in a nice looking glass container. In addition to keeping it fresh, you can also combine multiple boxes that are half-full and taking up space. There are plenty of stores online that make containers specifically for food storage. Take a look online for something that suits your style and pantry’s design.
4. Hierarchy of Use
Now that you’ve cleaned the space, gotten rid of old items, and grouped like items together in nice containers, the final step is to put everything back. Think about how often you use these items and which ones you grab first. Put your most-used items at eye level or in an easy-to-reach spot. For items that you use less often, you can put those on higher up shelves that aren’t as easy to access. The way you put everything back will be determined by the size and shape of your pantry to an extent, but think about the hierarchy of use to help guide you.
5. Upgrade Your Pantry
If you’ve got a basic pantry that could use some help, consider hiring a carpenter to upgrade it. They can help transform your current design into something that will be more functional for your space and lifestyle. If you currently do not have a pantry but this article is making you wish you did, you can always have one built! Connect with a carpenter who can help you design the pantry of your dreams.
Whether you already have a pantry that needs a little help getting organized or you’re in need of a brand-new one, HomeStars is here to help. Connect with a carpenter to help upgrade your space, or put in a little elbow grease and spruce up your current one. Either way, mealtime will be a lot smoother with a properly organized pantry you can take pride in. Organize your pantry today for easier meal prep tomorrow.
