Pantry Organization

by JB Organizing

Quick Tips for Making Any Pantry More Functional

Follow the 5 Principles of Organizing

• Small Steps — Start top to bottom, one shelf at a time.

• Declutter — Take all items out.  Throw out expired items.  Get rid of items that you didn’t even know were there.

• Condense — Put items into categories.  (i.e. baking, snacks, pasta, rice, lunches, breakfast etc.).  You will see natural categories emerge dependent on you and your family.  

• Contain — Put categories of items into separate bins or baskets.

• Label — Label clearly and specifically.  

Some Quick Pantry Tips

1. Use the space under the shelves (hang under the shelf organizers for paper plates, napkins, plastic cups or even bread, bagels etc. so they don’t get smashed.)
2. Use the space on the walls  — Hang hooks for the broom or hand vac, hang plastic bag holder, hang slim racks to hold spices.
3. Use the space on the back of the door — Get an over the door holder for canned goods and spices or use an over the door shoe holder for snacks and seasoning packets.
4. Have an “extras” bin for excess food, stored up out of reach of kids.  When you take items out of that bin, write them on your list.  You can glance in the “extras bin”and easily see what needs to be purchased.
5. Put cereal in pop top bins.  (Buy 4-5 bins for regularly purchased cereals)
6. Put crackers in bins (There is a lot of air in cracker boxes and it takes up extra space).
7. Make snacks and lunch items easy for kids to reach so that they can pack their own snack and lunch for the day.
8. Use lazy susans if you have corner areas that make items difficult to reach.
9. Hang chip bags from under shelves using pants hanger