Looking for projects to occupy your time while you’re stuck at home? Give your future self a little extra boost by organizing your pantry. No more rummaging through the pantry on busy weeknights to find what you need or letting food expire. Here’s how to organize your kitchen pantry.
1. Take everything out
Take everything out of your pantry and make three designations: keep, donate and throw away. Evaluate everything to make sure the expiration date hasn’t passed. If you aren’t going to use it, look for a local food bank to donate to.
2. Clean it
Once you’ve sorted every single item in your pantry, start cleaning. Use a multi-purpose cleaner to spray down the shelves and walls if necessary. Sweep out the bottom. If you’re so inclined, take this opportunity to add a shelf liner to make future spills easier.
3. Sort remaining items
How you sort the items in your pantry is really up to you and what works best for your family. We do recommend creating “zones” within your pantry to easily sort some of your items. Here are some ideas for zones.
Baking supplies
Spices
Food staples
Breakfasts
If these zones work for you, great! If they don’t, feel free to tweak however you need to accommodate your family’s needs.
4. Bring in some containers
Baskets or bins can do wonders for helping organize your kitchen pantry. Consider placing dry ingredients such as flour or sugar into clear canisters for easier, more compact storage. Just make sure it’s easily apparent what each ingredient is — or utilize labels. Here are some suggestions on other items you can utilize to help make the best use of your pantry space.
Lazy susans
Wire racks
Over-the-door hangers
Baskets
Storage bins
Bag dispensers
Can rack organizers
Under shelf baskets
Tiered shelves
Like the zones, what items will be useful to you depends on the size and structure of your pantry. Try to maximize any available space.
5. Add your personality
At the end of the day, you’re more likely to keep your pantry organized if you enjoy seeing what’s inside. It doesn’t have to be boring to still be functional and efficient. Consider some ways you can “spice up” your pantry by adding some of your own personality. Here are just a few of our favorite ways to add some personality to your pantry.
Use glass jars for display
Add decals to jars or canisters
Line your pantry walls with fun wallpaper or bright paint
Use vintage soda crates for storage
Organize items by color (ROYGBIV style)
If you tackle organizing your pantry using any of our tips, tag us on social so we can see! Good luck and happy organizing.