Is everything in your kitchen functioning smoothly? Or do you need to change course occasionally? I know we did. You may be asking: How do I declutter my pantry? I’ll walk you though my before and after pantry declutter to give you some ideas.
A while back, I realized the need for two separate food pantries in our home. Our main pantry became the “ingredients” pantry where I store all of the shelf-stable foods we use for preparing meals. It is tall and narrow, so space is limited.
The second pantry is one I created by converting the coat closet to a kid-friendly snack pantry. This coat closet is adjacent to my kitchen, so this seemed appropriate. I keep this one stocked with snacks only, so the kids can have free access to help themselves to whatever is in there.
This keeps my meal planning unharmed by hungry little ones and ensures I always have the staples I need to prepare our meals.
This “two pantry” system works well for our family. With the kids hitting growth spurts regularly and eating more, I needed a system that is “self-serve.” To convert the coat closet, I simply took measurements of the width and depth of the space and asked our local lumber store to cut boards to those dimensions.
I created large, deep shelves that allow for ample storage space. In my pantry, the floor space of each pantry is where we keep emergency foods that we hope to never have to use. However, it brings peace of mind knowing that it is there should an emergency arrive. I refer to this pantry as the Ingredients Pantry that I mainly use for meal preparation.
To better organize this space, think vertically, not horizontally. If you will look at the interior of your pantry, you can likely easily see a lot of wasted vertical space. You can either add more shelves, or you can purchase vertical stacking bins.
Everything fit in my main pantry, but it looked crowded, and it was hard to see what we had. I purchased inexpensive, plastic storage bins to correct this issue. This is a cheap way to bring order to your space. Organizing shouldn’t have to cost much. Look for containers you already have before buying more.
I like using containers for shelf stable items, and because they are plastic, I can wipe them clean as often as needed. I try to group like items together. For example, all cooking oils and cooking sprays are grouped in one basket. My baking supplies such as baking powder, baking soda, powdered sugar, and the like are in another basket.
I keep peanut butter, hazelnut spread, and honey together. I also grouped my syrups in another basket. These are usually sticky, so the basket keeps the mess under control and can easily be washed clean. You can find some cheap options at local dollar stores. If you use the same color baskets throughout, it will help it look more organized.
Next, I addressed the Snack Pantry. Since it is a converted coat closet, it is a large a space to fill. But, it can always be better organized. Again, there was a lot of unused vertical space. The stackable shelves and bins helped resolve this issue.
So much better use of the space! I feel more organized and because of that, we won’t be wasting food. I love order AND I love saving money!
I hope this post inspires you to take action and create more spaces that you love! Hopefully, this helps answers the question: how do I declutter my pantry? Sometimes it helps to learn how others do it, if nothing more than to just inspire you to do the same!
Happy Organizing!
Need some Inspiration to Declutter? Join us for the Year Long Through Declutter Series by subscribing by email below.
The year long thorough declutter series is on video now. You can subscribe via youtube through the video shown in this post below.
HOW TO DECLUTTER:
Supplies Needed:
1. boxes -preferably ones you can donate (Avoid plastic storage bins because you may be tempted to just store the items and not part with them.)
2. sturdy trash bags
3. marker/pen to label boxes
Decluttering Tip: Avoid using storage bins to declutter. Storage bins tend to tell your brain to “store” the items for later. That is just delaying decisions. If you aren’t getting rid of items when you declutter, you are not truly decluttering. This is why I recommend a trash bag, also. A trash bag tells your brain to “trash” the item.
Obviously, recycle if you have that option. The boxes you use should be ones you are willing to part with, so I recommend sturdy cardboard boxes. As to donations, there are many charities that will come pick up your items for you at your home.
I use one in particular where you can book an appointment for pick-up online. This is so convenient, as it saves you the hassle of hauling stuff away yourself. Scheduling that pick-up also motivates you to declutter by a certain date.
How to Declutter:
1. Start by eliminating trash first- use a sturdy trash bag
2. Sort items by category if needed so you can see what you have
3.Get rid of duplicate items, broken items, outgrown clothes and shoes, anything you’ll never use again
4. Box up the donations and trash/recycle the rest
5.Select a charity to donate your items and schedule the pick-up if that is an option
Need to deep clean? I have lists for you to guide you along.
My How to Deep Clean Your Kitchen list can be found here.
My How to Deep Clean Your Bathroom list can be found here.
My How to Deep Clean Your Kids’ Rooms list can be found here.
My How to Deep Clean Your Living Room list can be found here.
My How to Deep Clean Your Bedroom list can be found here.
Also, to keep up the general housework, you may need to create a daily housekeeping schedule that suits your specific needs. To do so, I have created a helpful series you can read here.
Need to Declutter Every room? I have declutter checklists for every room and every space in your home to guide you along below.
How to Declutter the Guest Room or Your Kid’s Room checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Laundry Room and Patio checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Coat Closet/Hall Closet/Linen Closet checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Home Office checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Attic checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Garage checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Living Room checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Kitchen Checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Entry/Foyer/Mudroom checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Clothing checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Bedroom checklist can be found here.
How to Declutter Your Bathroom checklist can be found here.
Happy Decluttering!
To Subscribe to my Year Long Thorough Declutter Series, drop me a comment below. Your email will be sent to me but will not be posted publicly. You’ll receive a daily declutter task via email for the daily task we are working on. You can unsubscribe at any time.
We declutter 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. The Year Long Thorough Declutter Series is designed to help you declutter every room and every closet in your home. When you subscribe you’ll receive a daily task in the room or area we are currently working on decluttering. To Subscribe, leave a comment below.
New to deemiddleton.com and don’t know where to start? I recommend going in this order:
Step 1: Check out this post on the 1st step you should take to get organized. If you don’t have a calendar, you can grab my free weekly printable calendar page here. It is in my shopify store, but it is totally free, so you won’t be prompted to put in any payment information. It is a free download and will be delivered straight to your email.
Step 2: Create a daily Housekeeping Schedule. You can use this series to start to set up your own schedule. You can also use this simplified weekly schedule.If you often ask: What is the fastest way to clean a dirty house? Or, if you struggle to get organized and have tried and failed time and again, you can likely find out which of these 11 reasons cause you to fail to get organized.
Step 3: How do you remove clutter?.…Sign up for the Declutter Series and get your entire home decluttered in just 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.”Declutter Your Home” checklists are provided in each email.
Step 4: What is the fastest way to clean a dirty house? Use a timer and use the Deep Cleaning Checklists above. They will help you get your home sparkling after you’ve decluttered.
Interested in becoming a full-time blogger like me? Check out my blogging series. At the top of every page on my blog, you’ll find a drop down menu. Just select the BLOGGING category.
Check out the most popular posts on deemiddleton.com:
14 Things That Make Your Home Look Cluttered
How to Create a Daily Housekeeping Schedule
How to Clean House When You Are Completely Overwhelmed By Clutter
What is Preventing You From Getting Organized?
Also, check out a great post on decluttering over here from becomingminimalist.com. Joshua Becker has some great tips on decluttering and minimalism.
For further reading, check out the fly lady here. She has some great cleaning and kitchen decluttering ideas plus excellent organization tips to get you started.
I hope you have benefitted from my daily declutter series (you can do in 30 minutes). Leave a comment below to subscribe to my daily declutter task email series.
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