Easy Pantry Organization Tips for Success

Entry #2910, October 17, 2013

Last weekend I sat down to sort out my ever increasing grocery bills when I realized that I was buying way more than what was being consumed in my household. This is when I shook up and dragged myself to achieving good pantry organization. I was amazed at the clutter I had collected. I had twos and in some cases threes of stuff that I did not even use.

Pantry ideas to get organized

Image via: Houzz

The whole incident made me realize the importance of maintaining a clutter free pantry. Here are simple steps to help you get the pantry in order:

1. Pantry organization – Start with a clean slate

Set aside a day in your calendar for organizing the pantry. Pull out everything from the shelves and place them together in one place. Give your shelves a good clean with soapy water and air them out for some time while you sort. Replace the old shelf liners with new ones.

A well – organized pantry can help you save money

Image via: Pinterest

2. Sorting and prepping

Start by sorting out any expired food items and place them in a large garbage bag to avoid mixing them up again. Next group your food products according to their categories. So place all the cereals together, spices together and so on. Once again sort out anything that can be donated and bag these separately.

If you use glass canisters or plastic jars, label them clearly.

Kitchen pantry ideas

Image via: Houzz

3. Space planning your pantry

The secret to a well laid out and functional pantry is proper space planning. Once you have categorized the food items in your pantry, think of items that you use every day, items that you use occasionally and items that are very rarely used.

Place the heaviest and the bulkiest items that are difficult to lift in the bottom – most shelf. This includes bulk purchases that you make from Costco.

Clearly label everything clearly

Image via: Pinterest

Next place the most frequently used food products in the middle shelves. You can further segregate these according to their use, for example, keep the baking supplies together and club the specialty foods like organic or gluten-free together. Also, keep a separate tray of soon to expire food stuff on the middle shelves so you  remember to use these quickly. These should be at eye level and easily accessible.

Finally place the food products that you rarely use on the top shelves. You can also place food stuff that you would rather stay away from like a bag of potato chips or ice cream topping on the top.

Once your pantry organization has been achieved with the food items you already have, make a list of what you need buy in order to restock. A well-organized pantry will help you save hundreds of dollars per year in grocery bills.

For more organization ideas on Stagetecture, click here.