Does Your Pantry Please You?

Is your pantry so nicely organized you’re tempted to leave the doors open? Or does the jumble inside scream, “No more”? Years ago, I wrote a blog for California Closets on how to make and keep your pantry efficient and beautiful. Here, I have updated those tips to work for any pantry space. Re-evaluating your pantry set-up takes a little time and effort but will make planning and cooking meals much more enjoyable. After all, preparing food for yourself and those you love is the core of self-care and self-love.

1. PULL-OUTS:

Make it easier to find just the right snacks, dried beans or baking supplies by creating “pull-outs”: baskets or containers that complement your style on the pantry shelves. This allows you to pull out a group of like items (and move it to your counter top if necessary) to easily find what you are looking for.

2. ADJUST:

Move small items like canned goods to eye-level shelves so you can always see what is hiding in the back. Move larger items like cereal boxes to bottom shelves so they can take up the whole shelf and nothing is lost in the back. Move less used items like baking supplies to a container on upper shelves so they are out of the way but easy to retrieve.

3. PLACEMENT:

Consider who accesses each item and how many times when deciding which shelf will hold the flour/sugar and which will hold the snacks. Kids can help themselves to snacks stored towards the bottom of the pantry. Put dry baking ingredients at the top. Things like pasta and canned goods live at adult eye-level.

Don’t forget the pet food! Placing pet food at the very bottom allows kids to take ownership of feeding their pets. Just make sure your little critters don’t get their noses in there first! Putting their food in containers, rather than keeping it in bags helps prevent this.

4. INVENTORY:

Visit your pantry before your weekly shopping trip. Note favorite snacks that are running low and items whose “useby date” is near. Keep on top of what you have and what you need so you don’t waste food or buy items twice. Non-perishables can always be donated to your local food bank if you discover they’re not getting used.

BONUS STRATEGY FOR SUPER-ORGANIZERS!

Packaging: To really make your pantry a thing of blissful beauty, throw away as much manufacturer packaging as possible: the plastic wrapping on paper towel rolls, plastic bags from the produce section, or outer packaging from bulk stores like Costco.

Put nuts, dried fruits, dry goods like cereal, flour, sugar, in labeled, matching storage containers, and bagged pasta, root vegetables & individually packaged snacks (separate sweet from salty) into baskets. This extra step at the front end prevents food from going stale and saves you from wrestling with plastic & cardboard wrapping when you’re in a hurry.

Take it one step further and eschew all of that unnecessary packaging altogether: Buy your common food staples like rice, quinoa, flour, cereal, nuts and dried fruit in the bulk section of your local Whole Foods, Central Market or health food store.

I dare you to open your pantry and ask if these tips might make the contents more pleasing . . . and convenient.