One of my chores this past week was
organizing the pantry. It was a horrible mess! I had put off cleaning it,
and the resulting disorganization was overwhelming. Nothing was in its place.
Items were thrown wherever there was room, thus creating pantry chaos!
Had the pantry been organized, it would have saved time, money and a needless
trip for my husband. An example; One evening I was making burritos, went
to get some refried beans and couldn't find any. I thought we were out and
sent my husband to the neighborhood grocery store where items like refried
beans are not cheap. Searching through a disorganized pantry can be mind
boggling when all you're looking for is one item!
An organized pantry can also save on waste. I have found spilled flour, noodles,
Jell-O and cornmeal packages. And, an organized pantry can prevent injury,
such as cans flying out at you when you open the door. I am not kidding!
I admit it -- my pantry was that bad. So, knowing that my past organization
wasn't working and in an effort to improve my pantry and myself, I thought
over how to have a better system of storage. This is what I came up with:
Shelf Assignments
Assign a home for each different type of item. Have one shelf for cereals,
one for canned foods, one for spices and another for prepared boxed meals
such as macaroni and cheese. If you need to, you can split a shelf between
for different foods. Be sure to keep the multiples of each food together
so you can see at a glance how much of something you have. Store taller items
on the back of the shelves. This makes them easier to see, thus easier to
find.
Reduce Dead Space
Be sure these shelves don't have too much "dead space". Dead space is unused
space. This space can be found even above what you are storing. For example,
while putting away canned food on its designated shelf I couldn't stack two
regular sized cans one on top of the other, but, there was a lot of empty
space above the cans. Dead space. I adjusted the shelf up a few inches and
now I have the room to stack the cans. This made a tremendous difference
- I could now get all canned foods on this one shelf rather than scattered
throughout the pantry.
Useful and Attractive Canisters
Find canisters or other holders for noodles, flour, sugar, rice, popcorn,
or other foods that come in flimsy plastic or paper bags. I used to store
the bag of rice right in the open bag, which always lead to spills, not to
mention the possibility of insect infestation! Now I use canisters, empty
coffee cans, glass jars and other containers to hold these items. If you
use pretty glass jars, which you can find at thrift stores, you use them
to store noodles, rice, split peas and other attractive foods, then display
them on your kitchen counters. This also saves pantry space.
The effort you put into organizing your pantry will reward you with saved
time, money and frustration. It is so nice to be able to open the door, see
everything organized and in its place. It is also nice to open the door without
a can falling onto my feet.
About the Author: Monica Resinger is editor/founder
of the Creative Homemaking
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