Show of hands, who can open up their pantry and see everything..?
Hmm, nope! Not me, at least not six months ago! My pantry was a disaster! I dreaded going into it to find an item I know is in there somewhere!
Let’s face it, the pantry is a quick place to shove everything when someone is coming over or when you’re in a rush to get the kids and the groceries just into the house and out of your hair. Do you ever go back in and fix it? Nah! It’s easier to walk away and shut the door!
What if you could make your pantry pretty? What if you could make your pantry less stressful? You’d bake and cook more often, right? Ok, maybe not, but a least you’d be able to see all those groceries and know what you have! I’m going to let you in on a secret to an organized pantry!
Ready? Let’s get started!
Find some baskets/bins
First you’ll want to find some cute baskets to put stuff in! Try to find long, wide and shallow bin or baskets. Grab a basket for snacks, sauce packets and any other small items you have that tend to fall through the cracks or get lost in the crowd.
Cereal containers
Cereal boxes can get smashed or left open. Maybe even spilt onto the ground on occasions and that’s where cereal containers come in handy! They help to keep your cereal fresher and that snap top help prevent the spill accidents from happening!
Consider a hanging organizer
An over the door organizer is a great tool to store sauces, soda cans or the jar of peanut butter! It’s an easy way to get things lined up according to what they are and let you see what you have. Cans or the worst part of the pantry! You have to play Tetris to get them in there and then pull them all around to find that can of corn when you need them! With the over the door organizer they are right there, lined up like ducks in a row staring at you.
Shelving it
That’s right it’s time to get to organizing! Take your time with this, make sure you think about where you put things! Organize shelf by shelf so you don’t disrupt your already somewhat categorized items! Put them away in an order of convenience. For example, cereal bars, popcorn, gummy bears would all go in your snack bin. Cans normally get put on the bottom shelf because they are easier to see etc.
Once you’ve put everything back, you’re done! That’s it! Everything now has its rightful spot. No more shoving things where ever they fit, you have just put a small filing system into your pantry! You probably pulled a few items out and said “Huh, I didn’t even know we had this.” Well now you won’t have to do that again! You won’t find yourself buying repeat groceries just to come home move two things and see you already had it!
I hope have a fresh new look in your pantry relieves some of that unwelcomed stress. Now when you want a snack you’ll be able to see and know what you have, rather than digging to find you don’t have it and get flustered and walk away!
By EJ, Free Stuff Finder Contributor
