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.

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.

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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.

Image via: Houzz

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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.

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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.

Careful organization and a few personal touches to your kitchen pantry can minimize waste and maximize savings. Most people do not mind adding extra functional space to their kitchen pantry despite having a big kitchen with enough storage space. With minimal amount of shelving and storage provided, pantry is probably the most ignored space in the kitchen. However, with these following tricks, you can add space that is more functional to your small pantry as well as make this storage bonanza one of your favorite features.

Image via: Closets Redefined

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Organize the Items

Before the days of built-in cabinetry, majority people used to use kitchen-adjoined pantry for keeping their dishes, linens, and dry foods. Though modern kitchen has started to ignore it, the addition of a pantry will bring nothing except benefit. Even if you have enough storage space, you can use the pantry for corralling the surprise packages of paper towels, snacks, and pasta. For easy pick up, place frequently used items on the front of the shelf. Group the items like canned foods or cooking ingredients and keep them separately.

Remove Unnecessary Items

While a kitchen pantry has adequate space, many households use it as a catchall for storing odd items. Just remove the recycle bins, trash cans, bulk beverages, and pet food bags and place them somewhere else. Free up the pantry space by installing sink trash cans and recycle bins. Lock the bulk items in airtight bins and move them to laundry room or garage.

Image via: Closets Redefined

Amplify Storage Space

Install deeper or wider shelving if your existing shelves do not hold enough items. Opt for different types of storage options throughout the pantry instead of using only one type of shelving. Install shelves or use hooks on the backside of the pantry door for storing condiments and spices or hanging measuring cups and spoons. By using the door, you can free up the shelf space. Pull out drawers are also good for organized storage of small kitchen appliances. You can use every inch of your pantry by thinking a little bit more creatively. The top and bottom of pantry walls often remain unused. Make them useful by adding inexpensive wire shelving. Attach over-the-door hangers for hanging grocery bags. Take waterproof, pest-proof bins, put heavier items into them, and keep them on the floor.

Utilize Hanging Wire Storage

Instead of using shelving, installing hanging wire storage on wall space will give a pantry a versatile look. You can use this storage option for hanging aprons, pans, pots, and big utensils.

An organized kitchen pantry can help you a lot during cooking. Efficient use of pantry space will allow you to keep all the necessary items into one place and find them quickly in times of need.

For more kitchen & bath ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Your pantry contributes to your efficiency in doing kitchen chores. When you have everything in place, working in the kitchen will be easier and quicker. However, not every home has the luxury of having a wide storage space to cater everything in the kitchen pantry.

How to Create Better Kitchen Pantry Storage

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You can create more kitchen pantry storage, here’s how:

Kitchen pantry ideas: Use creative racks:

Having creative kitchen racks will keep your items intact, safe and in proper order. For instance, it is not enough that you place your wines safe on top of the pantry but placing them in a rack will make it look better. This will make everything look neat and systematic.

We love looking through Houzz for kitchen cabinet and kitchen pantry storage ideas.

Pantry cabinet tips: Utilize transparent containers:

The best way to identify your items in the pantry easily is to place them in a transparent container. You can avoid misplacing excess items or taking a lot of time to find cooking ingredients. Pantry cabinets with food storage containers can be arranged by placing one on top of the other. This way, you can save a huge amount of space for other items.

Shelterness has 33 kitchen pantry ideas that may get your creative juices flowing!

Use a bakers rack along with kitchen cabinets:

A bakers rack can store kitchen utensils, cookware and bakeware. While a baker’s tray can be used to enclose your baking ingredients like flour, corn starch, sugar and everything you need for a cookie or bread. Make sure that everything is categorized properly for quick retrieval of baking essentials when needed.

Creating more storage in your pantry will ultimately provide the comfort you desire in doing kitchen chores. These will definitely make your kitchen experience more enjoyable and help you find more storage in your kitchen. While you may not need a large amount of space, these creative tips can help you improve your kitchen functionality.

For more kitchen storage ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

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