You may be completely fed up with a disorganized pantry or simply want your pantry to be display-ready for when you list your house for sale - either way, everyone wants a budget-friendly solution that won’t take forever to implement. The key to making the most of your pantry space while still maintaining order over time is the ability to see the pantry’s best uses and place items in a way that allows easy access exactly when you need it.
Here are our top tips for making your pantry both organized and still not spending a lot of money along the way.
- Spend some time thinking through your end goal and sketching out a plan. No matter how you eventually want the pantry to look, you’ll waste less time and money if you set everything out on paper, then purchase organization solutions.
- A top option for organizing a pantry is over-the-door organizers. These racks allow you to use the open space in your pantry for additional storage, which can be the difference between packing shelves with multiple things and having everything shelved visibly such that you can quickly access every item.
- A second goal would be to identify a type of air-tight storage container that you can use for all your pantry staples. By avoiding having open bags of flour, pasta, or beans in the pantry, you automatically keep the whole space tidier and avoid bugs or other pests.
- Other than the first two sets of items, your biggest goal is to create a system, not to buy a lot of items. Paper-covered recycled cardboard boxes make great trays for your pantry, or an old lazy susan tray can be used to create a spinning spice cabinet. Don’t feel the need to buy new for every element.
- A major consideration is the daily, weekly, and monthly uses of each item. If you keep cookie decorating supplies but only make cookies for one or two holidays a year, those items can live on the highest shelves or at the back of the pantry. Make the most accessible shelves house the items that you’ll use every day.
- Consider organizing by meal or another helpful organization; you want to be able to open the pantry and know what you have available to cook, and that may mean that you organize in a way that is more functional than “Instagram-worthy.” If it is organized in a way that helps you make your cooking choices, it’s a win!
- Moving forward, commit to checking dates and keeping track - it’s so easy to let expired food sit in your pantry. If you can, devote part of a shelf to “close to expiration” foods so that you can get creative and use everything up before those dates pass.
- If you have kids, roommates, or just other cooks in the house, make sure your structure works for them too. Particularly, it can help children if they have an “all access” snack shelf where they can eat whatever they like, with treats that require moderation stored elsewhere.
Make your pantry a place that does all the jobs it needs to do, while still making your home appear to the best advantage if someone stops by and checks out the pantry.
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