Tips For Getting Your Pantry In Order & Keeping It That Way!

Your pantry is located in the hub of your home, the kitchen. You and your family go in and out of it throughout the day, and it can become disorganized quickly without an organization system in place. The pantry can often be overlooked when organizing the rest of your home. However, you use your pantry daily, why not make it a space you love? It can be too easy to open the pantry door when its dinnertime but then quickly shut the door and decide to order take out instead. With most of us spending more time at home, cooking dinner has become a daily task. Baking has become a great pass time too. With a cluttered pantry, food ends up being forgotten about and wasted; take out becomes the go-to. You'll be saving yourself time and money by taking the time to organize your pantry with a system that's easy to maintain for you and your family. Follow these tips down below to get started on getting your pantry organized and keeping it that way!

Food Storage

• Uniform Containers - Take inventory of your commonly bought groceries. For example, kitchen staples such as flour, pasta, and beans are always in your pantry. Invest in clear containers to store these essentials. Plastic or glass, the options are endless when finding a system of containers, you prefer. Uniform the rest of your pantry with matching containers. That way, every time you're running out to get groceries, you can take a quick glance at what you're running low on. When you return with your groceries, empty the boxes into their corresponding container, and recycle the cardboard food box. This will ensure boxes of food don’t end up getting lost and forgotten about in your pantry. Having uniform containers also saves you space when everything has a home. Keep your commonly reached for cooking and baking essentials at eye level or just above, while keeping extra stock down below. Containers can easily be cleaned out and washed to be utilized for something else.

• Canned Goods – When beginning the organizing process, it's a good idea to do a quick run-through of expiration dates. Canned goods typically last a long time, but ensuring they're used up before they go bad will cut down on your family's food waste. Implementing a vertical storage system will mimic the way they are stored at the grocery store and will save you space. Group like canned goods together such as tomato paste, canned beans, etc. They will be easy to see and grab the next time you're making dinner.

• Snack Station – If your family is always busy and, on the go, a snack station can be an excellent idea for saving time when packing lunches and grabbing a snack for on the go. Utilize a section of your pantry for a snack station. Use drawer dividers if you have drawers to store individually wrapped snacks and granola bars. Bins are another great alternative for easy grab and go. Again, when you get home from the grocery store, empty the boxes of snacks and dump them into bins or organize them in your snack drawer. Designate specific snacks for ‘school’ ‘on the go lunches’ or ‘sports practice’ to cut down on running low on snacks too quickly. If you have children, they will easily be able to pack their own lunches or grab snacks before practice when they are easy to see and grab.

Sturdy wire baskets can be customized to fit your pantry needs. Store fruit, onions, potatoes, or larger bags of snacks in these convenient pull out baskets. Keep lunch boxes and water bottles in one to make packing lunches easy and time-saving.

• Kitchen Essentials – If space allows, free up counter space and store small kitchen appliances and essentials in your pantry. Our Beechwood pull-outs make a great storage solution for holding your toaster, blender, or additional dishware too.

Our beechwood pull-outs make a great storage solution for canned goods and jars of food too. Simply store canned goods one in front of the other to easily see what you have. Beechwood pull-outs can maximize vertical space by being stacked and can offer optimal storage for endless possibilities.

Store baking sheets, cutting boards, and entertaining staples like charcuterie boards and serving ware in vertical dividers. This open design makes it easy to visually see what you have and quickly grab what you need.

• Built-in wine bar – Create a uniquely personalized touch to your pantry by implementing built-in wine storage. The rack holds bottles horizontally so you can easily pair wine with dinner.

• Cleaning Supplies – When organizing your pantry, it’s a good idea to give it a good wipe down. Wipe shelves clean of dust and grime and vacuum the floor below. In your custom pantry, consider adding a section to store your cleaning supplies. Keep them contained behind closed doors. Ensure your cleaning supplies are always nearby when cleaning your kitchen. Store mops, brooms, and reusable shopping bags. Shelves up high can store cleaning supplies and keep them away from tiny hands.

• Entertaining Supplies – If you enjoy entertaining a lot, consider adding drawers to keep entertaining staples at easy reach. Keep serving essentials grouped together, such as charcuterie board supplies and matching serving dishes. Store away linens and serving utensils with easy access for the next time you're having people over. You could even consider storing away additional Tupperware you don't mind giving away, to easily pack away leftovers and give them to your guests to take with them.

Now that you've gotten some ideas for a custom Pantry storage solution let's talk about meal prep.

• Keep a pad of paper in your pantry and write down groceries you need as you run out. When you're going to the store, grab the list, and add whatever else you may need. Family members can add requests to the list too.

• An erasable weekly or monthly calendar could be hung on a wall or inside of the pantry door. Jot down meal ideas and organize them. For example, if you enjoy ordering pizza or take out often, designate days on the calendar to order in. Fill up the rest of the days with simple meals you know you and your family love. Members of your family can also be given the opportunity to jot down meals they're craving, which switches up the same meal rotation.

• A simple way to create a unique meal is to take an ingredient you need to use up and look up recipes on Google or Pinterest highlighting that ingredient. Hundreds of new recipes you would have never initially thought of will come up and can be made.

• If time allows, take a couple of hours one day and meal prep. Make a few servings of your most-used ingredients to have on hand throughout the week. It'll be much easier to throw together a meal when the staples are already made. Making lunches will be easier, too, when you can center the meal around the already made ingredients. Examples are Quinoa, Black Beans, chicken, beef, chopped veggies, etc.

• Use your cookbooks! Go through each one and flag pages with meals you know you’d enjoy. The next time you’re stuck on what to make, open the flagged page and make that meal. If you never find yourself reaching for your cookbooks and you use the Internet more often, donate your cookbooks! There’s no sense in holding onto clutter you don’t use.

• Get Creative! Having our families at home is the perfect opportunity to get everyone involved in the kitchen. Regardless of who typically cooks the meals, switch things up, and have everyone be a part of the process. Get interactive with your children and create fun, new meals. Baking is a fun activity for all ages. There's no better time than now to get cooking in the kitchen!

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