10 Clever Ways to Keep an Organized Pantry
If you’re like me, you may get overwhelmed when your living spaces are unorganized and cluttered. I find that when things are a mess, I cannot think clearly or be as productive. This applies not only to my bedroom but even places such as the kitchen pantry. When my cupboards are a big disorganized mess, it takes me longer to find ingredients that I need to cook my meals.
No matter your situation, whether you’re living in a small apartment or your own home, things can get cluttered if you don’t organize and consistently clean out. In this article, I’m going to give you some helpful tips and tricks on how to maintain an organized pantry.
Tips to Help You Keep an Organized Pantry
1. Maximize Your Space
Take advantage of high and low spaces and find containers that are appropriate for each. Store larger, heavier items at the bottom of your pantry and smaller items that you use most consistently at eye-level. This will make it easier to find things when you need them.
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2. Store Flour and Sugar in Large Bins
I always like to have bins of flour and sugar at the bottom of my pantry where I can pull them out for easy access. This makes it so I don’t have to deal with the messy bags that spill every time I pull them out. It’s also nice to have a large supply of flour and sugar because they’re common ingredients that you use in a lot of cooking and baking. If you’re interested in finding these FDA approved plastic storage bins, click here.
3. Take Advantage of the Backs of Cabinet Doors
A great way to have a more organized pantry is to install wire racks on the backs of your cabinet doors. This will clear up shelf room and give you more space for things such as spices and other kitchen condiments. This five-foot metal shelf on Amazon is fairly inexpensive and will free up a lot of pantry space.
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4. Sort Items by Category
An easy way to store food is to sort it by category. This will help you quickly find things you’re looking for. One way to organize it is by basic groups that you can label such as breakfast foods, snacks, and baking items. These wire baskets on Amazon will make your pantry not only look nice but also stay neat and organized.
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5. Have a Purpose for Each Place
To have an organized pantry, designate spots for specific things that you buy most frequently when you go grocery shopping. This could be snacks, noodles, seasoning packets, etc. These label shelf clips from Amazon are perfect because they clip onto any kind of residential shelving, no matter the brand.
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6. Keep Kids in Mind
If you have young children at home, you’ll want to organize your pantry with them in mind. Place snacks that they may want where they can reach them. This will prevent unnecessary spills from happening.
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7. Have Easy Access to Things, Even When Placed In the Back
As time goes on, it’s easy to neglect food that you may have in your pantry. You may buy extra food storage and forget that you even have it in the first place. When you buy new food, the old stuff often gets shoved to the back. This can frequently occur with bulk items such as canned food. To avoid having too many expired items in your pantry, stack the food in baskets or jars (such as the ones mentioned above). This will help you pull out the whole container and access anything that is in the back.
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8. Store Noodles in Containers
Getting rid of food boxes will clear up a lot of room. Instead of leaving your noodles in their original boxes, buy food storage containers for them. These containers on Amazon are especially great for spaghetti and have a pop-up lid feature. They also have different sizes that would work for cereal and other bulk foods.
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9. Use an Add-On Shelf
Keep an organized pantry by adding shelf inserts for more space. If you find that your pantry is too small to fit everything, this is an excellent solution. This will give you extra levels of storage and help you maximize your pantry space. Click here to find these baskets on Amazon.
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10. Place Command Hooks on the Back of Your Door
Command hooks are nice because they are durable, but also not permanent if you need to take them down for any reason. These are ideal for people who are living in a place that they don’t own, such as an apartment or rental property. Add a hook or two to the door and you have a place to hang your grocery sacks. These command hooks are available on Amazon or at any type of convenience store.
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Why Keep an Organized Pantry?
I briefly talked about this earlier, but it is important to keep an organized pantry because it’ll make you more productive and save you time in the long run. When you are cooking, you won’t have to spend as much time looking for ingredients because you’ll know right where everything is. You’ll also be able to better keep track of old food and know when to get rid of it. This will keep you healthy as you throw out expired food that's no longer safe to eat. Overall, your general health and well-being will improve if your pantry stays clean and organized. Since this is a space that's used multiple times a day, you should strive to keep it as clean as it can possibly be.
Summing Up
These are just a few suggestions to help you achieve an organized pantry. There is nothing more frustrating than throwing away expired food you didn’t know you had or taking forever to look for ingredients that are buried deep in the shelves. With these easy solutions, you’ll be able to stay more organized and have a peace of mind knowing that your food is safely placed in the right spot. Are you ready to get started? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
Image Source: Honey We're Home
