Need to learn how to organize your pantry? It may sound simple, but when you’re standing there looking at the overstuffed shelves of your pantries full of baking supplies, snacks, canned goods and other stuff…it can be overwhelming.
Organizing Your Pantry
And my pantry is no different. My pantry is cluttered and really just a hot mess. I can’t find what I need half the time and quite frankly I don’t know what all is in there. I’m going to be honest, while I may run a homemaking website, I don’t have it all together. My ducks are definitely are not all in a row all the time.
So, I’m going to share with you how I cleaned out my pantry and some helpful tips I used. I cook a lot and so I need my kitchen to run smoothly and efficiently so I’m not running around like a mad woman.
These are my favorite ideas, tips, and tricks for keeping my pantry organized…for at least a short time. Also, the links to amazon and other stores are no benefit to me. Those are items I use in my kitchen and wanted to share them.
How To Clean Out Your Pantry
1. Remove Everything From Your Pantry Shelf By Shelf
Don’t take everything out of your pantry right away or you’ll be overwhelmed again. Take things out of your pantry shelf by shelf. That way you can inspect everything. Look for:
- Opened Items That Have Gone Bad or Are Stale
- Throw Away Anything Past The Expiration Date
- Anything Severely Damaged
- Food That Just Isn’t Going To Get Eaten
2. Make Different Piles To Help Organize Your Pantry
Start making piles. Drag the trash can over, because you’ll need it. Stale, bad, or anything past its expiration date gets thrown away. Items that are severely damaged and not salvageable get thrown away also.
Food that isn’t getting eaten like canned goods that were on sale need to be put into the donate pile. If you bought a lot of extra food or snacks or drinks that your family can’t get to, those items can also get donated.
Then you have your keep piles. In these piles you will put items like canned goods, baking goods, snacks, drinks, anything you use on a regular basis.
3. Clean Off The Shelves and Floor In Your Pantry
Like the fridge, the pantry could always use a good sweeping, wiping, and dusting down too. It helps keep everything sanitary. The baskets you use or the bins you use could also use a good wiping down.
4. Use Up Food From Your Pantry Instead Of Wasting It Or Throwing It Out
While you’re cleaning out your pantry you may find odds and ends. Instead of throwing them out or wasting them use them in a casserole with this simple empty your pantry recipe.
How To Easily Organize Your Pantry
5. Organize Your Pantry By Size and Category
I usually use my top shelf for aluminum foil, plastic baggies, parchment paper, etc. However, I decided to shop around and now have some bins for my flours and sugars, because I have a lot. I usually keep all purpose flour on hand, bread flour, white sugar, and brown sugar.
So instead of having a ton of bags everywhere, I wanted to consolidate them all in one spot.
After that I break down each shelf with similar items. The bottom shelf will have rice, lentils, and beans. Another is full of mixes, herbs, and teas. Snacks and sweets all go on one shelf as well.
Keeping things separate in your pantry is the best way to see what you have, see what you need, and is best for food storage. Because you can move the old stuff up front, and the new in the back.
6. Can Racks To Help Organize A Small Pantry
I have a small pantry so sometimes organization can be a little hard. So, I managed to find some racks that were perfect for canned good. However, those racks can easily become a hot mess as well.
So, these racks can help make room on the pantry shelves and can open up space in your cabinets as well. But I just kind of stacked cans on the rack and quite frankly I’m not even sure what is in there anymore. Since the rack has 3 shelves it will be easy to organize cans by sauce ingredients, vegetables, beans, and liquids like coconut milk and broths.
7. Use Your Pantry Door To Help Keep Food, Drinks, and Spices Organized
Doors are a great way to open up some space in your pantry. Noodles, spices, drinks, they all take up space. A rack on your door can open up so much space. This is such an easy way to organize your pantry that is people often overlook.
8. Use and Recycle Empty Boxes and Containers To Organize Your Pantry
Before you throw out boxes and containers, you can use them to organize. An old coffee can, can easily hold bags of candy, sugar packets, and other small items. Crystal light containers can hold those super cute cookie cutters or your piping tips.
9. Organize Your Pantry For Function
Looking at Pinterest we see all of these fancy pantries, and they look great. Like super great. However, they’re not always functional. We want our pantries functional, we are women who use them daily. That means, we want to be able to grab things and go. Not dig, open lids, etc.
10. Use A Large Crate or Basket To Hold Vegetables and Fruits
Bags of apples, potatoes, onions, squash, sweet potatoes…they all take up space. Put them all together in one crate or box. That will also save a lot of room. We are potato eaters and apple eaters…but they take up so much room.
Where To Buy Cheap Containers To Organize Your Pantry
I know most of us are on a budget right now. The economy is not our friend at the moment. So, if you need items, bins, baskets, racks to organize your pantry here are the places to find them on a budget:
- Thrift Stores
- Dollar Tree
- Amazon
- Big Lots
- Recycling Bin
- Walmart
Any time you’re at a store, just take a gander. Perhaps a store will be having a sale on baskets or bins. Also, reuse boxes and jars. You can even decorate them to make them look better using shelf liner or wallpaper.
Organizing Your Pantry Doesn’t Have To Be Stressful
I know it can feel overwhelming looking at overstuffed and chaotic shelves, but organizing your pantry can be easy. Cleaning out, throwing out, using, reusing… it may be a little work, but totally worth it. Organizing your pantry will not only make you feel better, make it easier to find stuff, make it easier on your kids, but keep your kitchen running smoothly.
And…quite frankly, organized things make me happy. Want more ways to stay organized? Check out these organization printables to help!
What pantry organizing tips do you have? Did I miss any organization tips, tricks, and ideas?
More Cleaning Tips From Homemaking For God
- Learn How To Make Your Own Cleaners.
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- You Can Learn How To Caulk Your Shower Like A Pro!
Now that you learned some great tips on how to organize your pantry, will this be part of your spring cleaning? What are some of your pantry organizing tips you have? I’d love to hear them!
