I believe all of us are spending more time at home for the past year than we would ever have due to the pandemic. And as a result, we probably would have well stocked up our kitchen and pantries with all the essentials and snacks so they can come in handly as and when we need them, be it for comfort or for our next cooking project! With more stuff stocking up in the pantry, is your kitchen getting messy ? Are you wasting time and money throwing away expired sauces and food? Let us help you with some tips to organize your kitchen pantry so they can be kept tidy and beautiful.
Tip 1. Categorize
When you start to pull out all your stocks, you probaby would be overwhelmed with all the different items and have no clue how to organize them. Let us share with you some pantry categories ideas to get you started –
- Daily cooking condiments
- Less frequently used condiments and sauces
- Herbs and spices
- Dry goods (For cooking, for baking)
- Canned food
- Spreads
- Snacks
- Bread
- Dry Fresh produce (e.g garlic, onions)
After categorising, think of how to place each category. Should it be at the kitchen countertop or in one of the cabinets? If you have children at home do keep their snacks in a basket at the lower cabinets so that they can easily see and grab them!
Tip 2: First In First Out
Do you have the problem of throwing away a lot of expired food items? Try the commnly used First In First Out (FIFO) system in grocery stores by placing the older items in front and the newer ones at the back so you will always used the earlier expiry ones. Store these food items in rows with the older inventory at the front and if the expiry date is not clearly visiable, you can use a masking tape and marker to indicate clearly so you will remember using them first.
Tip 3: Maximize
You can double up your pantry space by utilising under shelf basket which can hold loads of stuff. The wicker baskets you see here are study and natural looking that goes well with mostof the home decor style. Try those kitchen rack organizers which you can maximize the vertical space for all your food items!
Tip 4: Uniformity
Take a look at this pantry which as a clean and streamlined look by using clear mason jars to hold ingredients such as flour, pasta and beans so they have a more uniformed look rather than the flismy plastic bag packaging. If you prefer to not see the interior, you can consider these matching vintage containers which are beautiful and keeps everything in place.
Tip 5: Labels
It is so important to label your containers especially in a small enclosed pantry that is cluttered with stuff, you wouldn’t want to spend a lot of time in a stuffed area guessing and searching for your essentials or craved snacks.You can easily purchase the unifrom pantry sticker labels which you can write the purchase and expiry date so everyhing is organized and
Tip 6: Clean
Consistency is key. To maintain a clean and organized pantry, you need to reguarly clean it. We do recommend every 3 months but if you feel that it is too overwhelming you can try adopting the habit to clean small area at at time more more regularly. Take out your containers and food items and wipe down your surfaces with vinegar – it’s a great disinfectant and it also keeps the ants out.
