Kitchen Organization: How to Organize Any Pantry
With more emphasis on cooking at home these days, it’s become important to have a well-organized pantry for several reasons. If your pantry is set up for success, you can easily put away groceries, find the ingredients you need to make meals, and quickly access other cooking-related essentials.
Assigning a space for everything else is key to keeping this space organized. We all have a certain number of extra supplies we keep on hand. The same thing goes for items we don’t use as often that are seasonal, things we use but not daily and need to be stored for future use.
No matter what style pantry you have, the steps to organize are the same.
1
TAKE EVERYTHING OUT
If your pantry is at a point where it's overstuffed, things are falling off shelves and things are all over the floor - take inventory of what you have. If it’s not kitchen-related, food or something for entertaining guests store it in another place in your home.
2
CHECK INVENTORY & EXPIRED FOOD
You might be surprised how easily cans and packaged food becomes expired. Most of the time, it’s forgotten about it because it was hidden from view or misplaced. Take the time to check what you have. This will help prevent buying doubles and using ingredients before the expiration date.
Closet Pantry
Floor to ceiling wire shelving
3
SORT & GROUP INTO “LIKE” CATEGORIES
Choose a method that fits your family’s lifestyle
Grocery food categories: canned goods, dry goods, baking-related, oils & vinegar, etc.
Specialty food categories: Italian, Mexican, Asian, healthy-living, medication & supplements, etc.
Kitchen related categories: Small appliances, entertaining related, extra serving dishes, cleaning supplies, pet-related, beverages, baking-related & more
Other categories: Cleaning supplies, pet-related and more
4
ASSIGN A SPACE FOR EACH CATEGORY
This is going to help take the guesswork out of buying organizational bins, baskets, and other useful tools in getting organized. And on the flip side, when you come back from the store you can easily put things away because everything has a home.
Walk-in Pantry
Floor to ceiling shelving
5
SHELF PLANNING RECOMMENDATIONS
Top: Less used items or lightweight bulk
Top Lower: entertaining related, seasonal, or specialty
Middle: frequently used like canned goods, food groupings, snacks
Middle Lower: small appliances, extra serving dishes
Bottom: Heavy bulk, cleaning, pets, beverages
6
START WITH A CLEAN SLATE
This is the perfect time to vacuum away the crumbs, dust, and other mishaps happening in the pantry. Wipe down shelves and clean up those spills.
7
ORGANIZE & PUT AWAY
Now that you have completed the hard part and have assigned a home for your pantry items, you can easily put it all away. Remove packaging when buying in bulk. This will help with cutting down on “perceived clutter”.
You can always adjust your pantry as lifestyles change but you want to first create a layout that can be maintained day in and day out. As you use your pantry remember a few keys to long-term maintenance.
Assign a place for everything
Don’t overstuff with unrelated household
Put groceries away in the same spot unless you’ve added a new category
Check food expirations every few months
Should you find yourself struggling with the above process in getting your pantry cleaned up, don’t hesitate to reach out. I would love to help.