Spring Clean Your Pantry!
Even the most organized among us can get overwhelmed with activities once spring bursts forth, so if you haven’t already finished your spring cleaning, here are some tips for re-organizing your pantry. Just as you would changeover your clothes from winter to summer, we suggest that you move “cold weather” foods out of prime space and put “hot weather” items there instead.
Whether you have a walk-in pantry or cabinet-style pantry with shelves or drawers, taking the time to thoroughly take inventory of what you’ve got will help you in the re-organizing process.
New traditional kitchen with furniture-style, shallow pantry cabinets on either side of a useful buffet.
Modern kitchen with a walk-in pantry featuring a frosted glass panel sliding door.
Give yourself some time to do this properly. This Houzz article says 1-3 hours, but it depends on the size of your pantry and the last time you did a deep cleanse. We like the author’s idea of taking a before and after photo!
More importantly, perhaps there are some items that are perfectly fine but your family doesn’t really like them any longer – you can donate those to a food pantry. We also like the idea of making of list of what might be missing for your next grocery store trip.
Here are some of our other pantry tips:
1) We recommend the Marie Kondo method of removing everything from your pantry.
2) Clean the shelves and racks and if necessary, put fresh shelf paper down. Vacuum all crumbs and wash the floor.
3) Smell everything and check expiration dates. Toss whatever is old, smelly and expired!
4) Sort and keep similar products together.
5) Use baskets to separate items.
6) If you are putting pasta and other staples into another container, we recommend clear glass or safe plastic. Stacking containers are preferable.
7) Label and date everything. There are many great removable stickers or chalk paint items you can buy and use.
8) Make sure you can see everything in your pantry and nothing you need gets “stuck and hidden” in a way that you always end up buying duplicates of an item. This is where you can put your “winter” soups and cold weather items and put your hot weather items up front.
9) Does your food pantry double as storage for other non-food items? Pet food? Cleaning supplies? You want to separate these items as much as possible.
10) Keep up the organization by checking your pantry weekly or monthly and tidying it as you go along.
Eat Well!
Having a clean and organized pantry will help you feed yourself, your family and friends well. Check out the pantry essentials list from Love and Olive Oil. We recommend keeping items for cooking (oils, pastas, grains, sauces and condiments) and baking (flour, mixes, sugar, and spices) separate from snacking (chips, cookies, cereals and juice boxes) and household items like paper towels and pet foods. Weight loss experts tell us to make treats not as accessible so we’re not as tempted.
Send us photos of your re-organized pantry. We’d love to see what you’ve done. Or, if you’re looking for help remodeling your kitchen to create more storage, give us a call. The KitchenVisions team can help.
A transitional kitchen featuring a pull-out pantry and file drawer next to a built-in desk.