Decluttering Pantry: 7 tips to organize your shopping well
Do you know that a well organized pantry helps you save space, time and money? Then it’s time to declutter your pantry and better organize your shopping and supplies. Here are some tips for keeping your pantry clean and tidy.
The pantry is one of the hardest places in the house to keep tidy . In fact, we often add new packs, jars and products, we take them out several times a day to use them and then we often put them back in absentmindedly, open and in no precise order.
Many times then we don’t even remember to check the expiration date of the products so that we happen to keep things in the pantry that should be thrown away.
And if a child arrives at home , the pantry fills up even more because we have to make room for new boxes, jars and packages, such as powdered milk, flour, baby food, baby food, pasta, biscuits, cereals and so on.
For this reason many people think that if they had a little more space they could really keep their pantry tidy. But I think it’s an illusion. In fact, the bigger the pantry… the bigger the mess. 🙂
So? There are two things: either we are lucky enough to be super-tidy people so much that we have the habit of putting everything away every time, or the pantry is destined to be a somewhat “naive” space in the house that needs to be cleaned up every now and then. rearranged and put in order.
Pantry decluttering: why is it good to tidy up?
In a messy pantry the most frequent thing that can happen is to find expired products, badly stored or even not being able to find something because perhaps it has remained hidden behind something else.
When this happens, it’s time to declutter the pantry and recover that precious space you need to better organize everything. Thus, thanks to an orderly pantry, it will be possible to:
- save money, because you avoid buying products that we already have and expiring those already purchased;
- save time, because knowing at a glance what we have in the pantry, we’ll be quicker to plan the menus and prepare the next shopping list.
In addition we will have had the opportunity to thoroughly clean an important space that is often snubbed.
Pantry decluttering: how to tidy up and organize the shopping on the shelves?
Where should you start to declutter your pantry ? Here are some useful tips to follow.
1. Empty everything and select what you need to delete
As with the home declutter, it’s also important for the pantry declutter to first get rid of all the unnecessary items and products that are on the shelves.
Take everything out and check : the expiration dates, which packs are not stored correctly, which ones you have opened for a long time and no longer consumed, which products you have bought that you do not like or have not used for months. Then get rid of them by opening the packages and throwing each product in the right place: the paper packages in the carton, the tin or plastic cans in the multi-material, the food in the wet.
2. Do proper cleaning
After having emptied the shelves and thrown all the useless in the right place, it is good to clean the pantry thoroughly. To eliminate grease and dust and sanitize, you can use special household cleaners you trust or even natural products (vinegar, bicarbonate, citric acid, steam , just to name a few) that many women use to clean.
To keep the inside of the pantry clean it is very important that the foods, especially those that can leak, are well wrapped or placed in tightly closed containers and bags.
3. Sort the pantry by product categories
After you clean out your pantry, you need to find ways to organize what’s left over so you don’t have to go through the whole process every week.
A good way to keep everything in order is to sort groceries and products by purpose.
In fact, in every pantry there are savory and sweet products, to be cooked over the fire or to be heated quickly, dry or wet products, and so on. And in each category there are mini-categories. Bakery, for example, has specialty items (baking powder/soda, extracts, spices, etc.) and bulk items (flour, white sugar, brown sugar, oats, etc.).
Here, identify your categories based on the shopping you usually do and dedicate a precise space to each of them in your pantry . This way it will be easier for you to put things back in their right place and you will always have an eye on what you have put in the wrong place.
4. Organize and make the most of all the pantry space
Since the pantry is usually made up of shelves, it is very difficult to organize it and make use of as much space as possible without the help of organizers.
There are many types of kitchen shelf organizers on the market that allow you to take advantage of the pantry both in height and in depth. There are also organizers that allow you to take advantage of the spaces in the corners and those behind the doors.
However, if you have a very tall pantry, never forget this rule : put those foods you use less frequently at the top, those you use every day in the center and those that weigh the most, especially drinks, at the bottom.
Increase support bases and use vertical space
Often pantry shelves are very tall while spice jars, cans, pasta packages, need only a fraction of that space. If you stack them or use tiered organizers, you’ll use that space and you’ll be able to put a lot more stuff in the pantry. Here some examples:
Take advantage of counter space
Another way to organize the pantry well and take advantage of all the possible spaces is to use organizers to apply to doors and counters . They are easy to assemble and useful for storing items in an otherwise empty space. Here some examples:
5. Make the content visible or readable
To make sure that everything in your pantry is clearly visible , in addition to the shelves and shelves, it is possible and also very practical to store foods such as rice, pasta, legumes, flour or sugar, in glass or transparent plastic containers of various sizes.
Buy food container sets that have clear sides and are made to stack together. Remember that square containers are better than round ones which waste your precious pantry space.
If, on the other hand, you use jars that are not transparent or whose contents must be clearly highlighted, use the labels where you can write the necessary information such as the type of food and the expiry date.
You’ll see how this simple gesture makes it easier to manage your pantry and plan your shopping and menus
6. Learn to choose and limit your purchases
Stocking up can be a smart idea, especially when there are discounts, but maybe you shouldn’t get too carried away. To prevent your pantry from blowing up or a lot of your groceries going off without you realizing it, run out of supplies and resist the urge to buy 20 more cans of tomatoes even if you got them at a great price.
Also learn to choose and buy only what you are sure you will like in the house. And if you have to buy something new, do it a little at a time and not all in the usual shopping. You will avoid filling the pantry with foods that you will probably never eat in one go.
7. Check your pantry regularly
Remember that if you want to maintain order, cleanliness and manage food so that you can consume it before its expiration date, you need to check your pantry frequently.
And if you intend to stay away from home for a long time, remember to empty it the days before to leave only what won’t perish.
Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.
Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.