See this? This is sheer chaos. The pasta is mixed with the baking ingredients which have gotten lost behind random bags of who knows what... This pantry used to be organized, and with Small Projects Month on the AT sites to inspire us, it will be again! Here's the plan...
Do It Now! Reorganize Your Pantry This Weekend
At this stage of disorganization, we think it's best to just do a total overhaul, so overhaul it we will.
Step One is to clear out all four shelves of our pantry and get everything out on the counter where we can see it and deal with it. Normally we might be able to get away with reorganizing one shelf at a time, but there's been far too much cross-shelf contamination for that to work this time. We'll start at the beginning.
Step Two is to spend some time going through everything we've been squirreling away. We'll check for expiration dates and throw away what is no longer good or needed. We'll repackage the ends of boxes and jars into smaller containers, and make a note to use those up soon.
Step Three is the actual reorganization. Right on the counter, we'll group together things that we want on the same shelf. Personally, we like to reserve the top two shelves for unrefrigerated savory ingredients along with canned and dry goods. Baking supplies go on the third shelf, and snacks and back-up supplies usually live on the very bottom shelf.
Step Four then becomes putting everything back on the shelves in a way that makes sense and (hopefully) encourages future organization maintenance. Eventually, we'd really like to get containers in which we can keep ingredients grouped together. This would make it easier to stay organized and also grab what you need without having to dig through everything. But we'll save that particular project for the next Kitchn Cure!
Our shelves are incredibly deep, so we put tall and rarely-used items toward the back, like large bottles of vinegar. The middle is for general supplies, like those canned goods. Then we try to keep the front part of the shelf reserved for things that we use almost daily, like flour and dried pasta.
Or that's the plan anyways! We'll report back next week to let you know how our pantry reorganization played out.
Could your pantry use a little TLC?!
Related: What Every Pantry Needs: Savory
(Images: Emma Christensen for the Kitchn)
Tags
Organization, Ingredients - Pantry, February Jumpstart, do it now, small projectRelated Links
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What a coincidence-- this is actually on my to do list for the weekend. I am planning on using all of my empty clementine boxes to organize the smaller things in the pantry.
view Torrie's profile
I did last in January! It feels great! And decreases grocery spending ;)
-aysen
www.aysenorhon.com
view Aysen's profile
Might I also suggest--make a list of what you have, and stick it on the door with something to write with, so you can see at a glance what you have and cross it off as you run out. I added expiration dates to mine, so as to not repeat the recent Eight-Year-Old-Curry incident.
view anesly's profile
Oh, using clementine boxes for organization! Brilliant!
view EmmaC's profile
What do you do with all of those things in baggies? I have tons of stuff like that, and I can't figure out how to make them look better/seem more organized. They just hang around and get sticky.
view Eliza's profile
Oh my god, this was so on my list of 2009 domestic resolutions. I've kind of done it, but I think I could do more . . .
view moderndomestic's profile
I wish I could do that but I actually live with roommates who tend to messy about their pantry items.
view delecson's profile
Eliza - I bought a bunch of mason/canning jars from Walmart or another discount store (total cost
Small jars for nuts, raisins, or other small items
Large jars hold rice, beans, lentils, and grains
view shanti's profile
I'll second that roommate comment. Mine also tends to leave pantry stuff just on the counter instead of going the 4 steps to put it back.
view Zerfall's profile
mason jars! Clementine boxes! Both great ideas for things that I have just sitting around.
view cptmoll's profile
Using boxes as "drawers" has really rescued my pantry space (which is almost EXACTLY like the one pictured). I've got a couple of clear boxes from Ikea on the bottom and a banana box from the local grocery store on the top.
view Michelle of Montreal's profile
It's like you're reading my mind -- this is on my list for this weekend. I'm pretty sure I have things in my cabinets that moved in with us in fall '05.
view anninva's profile
Don't forget to add a Lazy Susan! I use one for my bottles of oils and vinegars, it's very useful. Ikea has unexpensive ones (under 10 bucks).
view Eve in Hochelaga's profile
I like glass jars for keeping things more organized than plastic bags...ikea to the rescue!:
These are easy to get in & out of but are not as air tight:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50081452
Classic, with nice tight seal:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40065867
view hazel8's profile
I use the make-up containers from MUJI to keep like things together. For example, I keep all my baking stuff (powder, soda, vanilla, chocolate, rosewater) all in one. I use another one to hold bags of beans.
view gochrisgo75's profile
Done and done. My hubby did this while I was at yoga on Tuesday night. We are also in the best way to store bulk foods dilemma though. Mason jars and larger jars work for most of the stuff, but we have such a variety and not enough larger jars.
view kmarie's profile
Eliza - I bought Oxo cannisters for those baggies. I have one labeled "beans" with all the partial packages... They also stack nicely in the cupboard.
view twosavoie's profile
I'm going to start this today. I bought a small wood shelf thingie which I'm going to place in my bedroom closet for linens/towels and the linen closet is going to be 100% my food pantry. i will also re-organize the kitchen cupboards/cabinets to see if I can utilize more space. I will probably need some canisters too but will get those later.
Great way to jump start spring cleaning too:)
view terraskye's profile
kmarie,
I just got some wide mouth ball jars from target, they work great for dried fruits, nuts, or if you have spices in baggies, you can put a bunch of them in one of these. I organize bunch spices by use or ethnicity, I have all my indian spices grouped together, then italian together and baking together.
http://www.amazon.com/Ball-61162-half-pint-mouth-mason/dp/B000V5KVDU/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1236286550&sr=1-4
I'd love to get tips for VERY DEEP SHELVES. It's almost impossible to see or use what's in the back, you always forget whats there and buy more of it. Those shelves you pull out are great, but seems like they'd be pricey. Any ideas besides using baskets which would only take care of 1/3 of the depth (which is still better than not using them).
thanks.
view mauka-makai's profile