Want to be know how to better organize your pantry but don’t know where to start? Today, I’m sharing the top 14 pantry organization ideas for small spaces.
If you’re a homemaker or someone who enjoys cooking, you know how important it is to be organised in the kitchen and pantry.
Being organised in these two crucial areas helps to maintain a smooth flow in the heart of the home. An organised pantry saves money, reduces wastage and makes meal prep easy.
So what exactly constitutes a Pantry?
A Pantry can best be described as a small room or even just a small cupboard or storage where food, beverages and appliances may be stored.
Being in the midst of cooking and unable to find an ingredient or two can be frustrating.
In today’s blog post, I’m sharing the top 14 small pantry organization ideas so that your space is well managed and functional.
Here are 14 steps to small Pantry Organisation that will help you best organise your space.
1. Keep often used things at eye level.
Things that are used daily or often in the week should be kept at your eye level. These could be spices, dry goods, salt, sugar etc.
Making regularly used items easily accessible will save time on those hectic days.
2. Store heavier things at a lower level.
Appliances such as a blender or slow cooker which may not be used as often should be stored here. It also makes sense to store heavy items below to minimise injury.
3. Store seldom and lighter used things at a higher level.
Things that are seldom used but not really heavy should be stored at this level.
This could also include seasonal cooking items such as Thanksgiving or Christmas related things.
Items such as Christmas cookie cutters and baking moulds could be stored here.
4. Keep like items together.
The easiest way to Kitchen storage organisation is to store like products with like.
For example, store dry goods such as rice, pasta, flour together. Oils and vinegars together as they are usually used for salads. All Nuts and seeds together etc.
Baking products like cocoa powder, baking powder, vanilla essence etc together.
This not only saves time when cooking but also prevents over purchasing the items.
5. Organising areas within the pantry.
Decide where you want to place your party items by designating specific zones or areas for them. You could organise them in wicker baskets or bins, or you could use lazy Susans to save space and have everything within reach.
6. Maintaining an inventory of what you have in your pantry on the refrigerator or command centre, will ensure that you use the items before their expiry dates. You can download one for free here.
If you don’t want to have a physical list, you can also download free pantry ingredient apps.
7. Label your containers.
Whether you are use Plastic bins or wicker baskets, labelling food containers will help avoid confusion and food wastage. You could go one step further and label the shelves as well. This allows other members in the family to know which bins need to be put back where.
8. Stock Rotation.
Rotate your pantry items by placing newer inventory at the back and the older inventory at the front. This will minimise spoilage and wastage.
9. Vertical storage.
If your pantry has a door, then you could utilise the vertical space using rack, hooks or even a shoe organiser to arrange your pantry items.
10. Declutter and clean regularly.
Before you organise your pantry, Take out everything and place on a kitchen counter or the dining table.
Go through each item and check for expiry dates, Discard the ones that are over their use by dates and use or donate the ones that you no longer want to cook with.
Next, clean or vacuum the area before putting things back in. I also recommend cleaning the dust off the jars when placing them back.
Find a cleaning routine that works for you such as once a month or once in two months and go through all the pantry items.
This will help you know which ones are running out and which ones are past their expiry dates.
11. Keep a shopping list in your Pantry.
If space allows, keep a shopping list close by in the pantry. After decluttering, note down the things that you need to stock up on.
12. Create a child friendly snack Zone.
Growing children eat a lot and burn calories faster. All that learning and activity is sure to get the tummy rumbling faster than you can keep up with.
Adding healthy snacks or making your own from scratch is a great way to keep them satiated till the next meal.
These are absolutely free to use and great to have on hand.
13. Create a Meal Planning Section.
Create a section in your pantry if space allows for a meal plan section. This is where your cook books, recipe cards and those magazine cuttings can be organised and stored.
The columns are pretty self explanatory, but nonetheless I would like to elaborate on the ‘use in’ column. I usually write a couple dishes here, this way if I’m in a hurry I don’t need to overthink or open up any cooking books. I just look for all the ingredients on my list that have that particular dish in common and Voila! Easy peasy!
14. Using Containers in your pantry.
Budget friendly tip- repurpose old pickle and sauce glass jars to store produce.
I use many in my own pantry. You can use a chalkboard sticker to label them.
You can store Nuts and seeds in the glass jars and flour and grains in the plastic jars. Well labeled jars help create an Organised pantry.
Pantry organisation doesn’t have to be complicated. Laying the ground work may take some time, but once you have the system in place, it works for itself.
No more shuffling through multiple cupboards to find that one item!
I Hope you found this post useful!
If you have a question please leave it in the comment section and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
If you have tips you’d like to share with the other readers then please mention them in the comments!
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