How to Organize Your Food Pantry

Keep dry food goods organized in your pantry.

A clean and organized pantry not only stores your food and kitchen items, but it makes meal time and preparation easy and less stressful. Utilizing all your space in your pantry gives you more work room in the kitchen to cook, bake and enjoy time with family and friends. Clean up will be simpler when you know where each item should go. Learn how to make effective use of the storage space in your pantry to make your life easier.

Things You'll Need

• Damp cloth
• Paper towels
• Broom and dustpan
• Clear, plastic containers
• Stackable bins
• Notepad
• Pencil

Instructions

1. Remove everything from your pantry. Wipe down the shelves with a damp cloth and sweep away debris. Use wet paper towels to scrub off food splatters from the walls inside the cupboard doors.

2. Check your products for "sell by" or "use by" dates. Toss any products past their expiration. This gives you more room to see what you have to work with when dinner time rolls around.

3. Invest in containers. Choose transparent plastic containers to store everything from cereal to pasta. Make sure each container has a tight-fitting lid to protect your food goods from mold or bugs.

4. Consider additional shelving. If your pantry is crammed full with various goods, consider taking out the present shelving unit and opting for one that utilizes the maximum amount of space in your cupboard. Slide out shelves, stackable bins and racks can help you get the most out of a limited space.

5. Keep commonly used products close by. Store rarely used foods in the back of your pantry. This makes for easy access when you are cooking.

6. Place items back in the same area. Keep your pantry in order by putting whatever you take out back in its original spot, to help prevent you from going crazy searching for an ingredient that may or may not be in the pantry.

Tips & Warnings

• Place a notepad and pencil nearby to jot down needed items to make grocery shopping easier.

References

• Dummies: How to Organize Your Pantry
• "Woman's Day"; 6 Pantry Clutter-Busters; Ginevra Pylant; April 28, 2010
• "How to Organize Just About Anything"; Peter Walsh; 2004