There’s a never ending list of things to do, yet I always seem to focus on one thing that really drives me bananas and it’s always the most mundane of all the to dos. Here’s the way my mind works:
Living room an absolute disaster? But that dresser in the bedroom needs to be moved.
You don’t have any clean underwear? I really need to re-organize my bathroom drawers (not the same drawers, obviously).
When was the last time these sheets were changed? Oooh…. I really need to re-organize my Pinterest boards.
So that’s what happened when I finally decided to tackle the madness that was my pantry. I had a million other things that could be done, but that pantry just wouldn’t go away. I could argue that an un-organized pantry is leading to un-organized cooking, causing me to spend more time than necessary in the kitchen, but that really wasn’t the case. I
could find things, I just didn’t
want to. I had spent some time brainstorming how to amp up the storage abilities of my little pantry but couldn’t settle on an idea that A) worked and was B) free. Then one afternoon I was in my
crap room craft room and realized the behind the door shoe storage I’d been utilizing for fabric and ribbon scraps wasn’t really being used to it’s full potential. It hit me, “Why not hang it in the pantry!” Ball, start rolling.
Wow. I forgot how bad it was! The top shelf was appliances and miscellany, next shelf baking, then canned goods, followed by breads and snacks, and finally more appliances (and an empty onion bag). This is the worst ‘before’ picture to ever grace this blog.
Step 1: Remove everything and sort like by like
Canned goods stayed in pantry (I ran out of counter space).
Yes. I have three crock pots (the third is in the picture below in use), two toasters and an ice cream maker. In my defense, I use everything. Except the Dallas Cowboys toaster… that’s the non-toast eating husband’s. And the ice cream maker has only been used once but it’s one of those must register for wedding gifts that we actually got! Rumor has it they make awesome margaritas.
Baking and beverages.
Avert your eyes Jillian Michaels. There are 6 cans of Pringles, 7 bags of chips and whole bunch of other crap. And yes, that is a can of Easy Cheese – but it’s my hubs. Although it’s mere presence explains why I’m trying to do Weight Watchers again despite already losing the baby weight…
Back on topic, sorting like by like will help you when it comes to step 4. You can also look at all the crap in your pantry and shame yourself.
Step 2: Get to cleaning
My talented assistant says, “Wipe down the walls, the shelves, the door and sweep the floor.” Mop the floor, too… but only if you really have to.
Step 3: Go through EVERYTHING
I’m going to warn you: You WILL find something out of date in your pantry. It might even be WAY out of date. You may feel really really bad about this, but I assure you… You’re not the only one. You’re checking for the following things:
*The date. If it’s expired, throw it out.
*The quality. Even if it’s not out of date, your *cough*husband*cough* may have left the chip clip off or left cereal open and it’s now stale.
*The quantity. If you have more than one bag of sugar or a bag of chips is actually a bag of crumbs *cough*husband*cough*, you need to pitch it, combine it, or make a note to not buy any more sugar.
*The usability. Is there something you bought awhile ago that you won’t use or you bought multiples but didn’t end up liking it? Find a family member or friend to take it or donate it to a food pantry.
Now, this is where I show you just how out of date something can be so you don’t feel so bad when it happens to you.
That my friends is jello that expired in 2009. This jello moved
at least 6 times with me. See, now you don’t feel so bad, right? I also had kool aid that expired in 2010, but it’s lemonade so I kept it to clean my toilets. (Citric acid in yellow kool aid makes a great eco friendly toilet cleaner!)
Step 4: Decide what goes where
This is why we did step 1 and sorted like by like. Now you have a clear idea of how much you have and your life will be so much easier the next time you go to cook or bake. If all your baking goods are one shelf/area, you can do a sweep of the one shelf when you get started, instead of searching high and low for the dang baking powder.
This step is also all about you. Do you bake more than you cook? Put the baking goods at eye level. Do you need to keep the cookies and chips out of sight? Put them as low as they can go. Do you have a husband that needs easy access to Oreos at midnight without waking the rest of the house? Put them at his eye level.
Make a mental note or write down where everything will go. Even though I only have 5 shelves and the door storage, writing it down gave me another chance to look at how it would be set up, and I ended up swapping some things.
Step 5: Put your appliances in first
Getting the big stuff out of the way just feels good. And because most of it is so big and takes up so much space (hello, three crock pots?), putting them in first allows you to start tweaking the plan you created in step 4.
(Keep in mind I left canned goods in pantry because I ran out of counter space.) I decided to put my most used appliances on the top shelf: toaster(s), open spot for large crock pot, hand mixer, small crock pot, tiny food processor. My least used went on the floor: electric skillet, ice cream maker, old crock pot, waffle iron, submersion blender.
Step 6: Put items for door storage away
I selected small items, like fast food sauce packs, water filters, individual snacks, hot cocoa packets, beans, rice, pasta, pudding mixes, etc. for the door storage. I put snacks at eye level, then beverages and related, then baking and dry goods.
Step 7: Put away and organize, shelf by shelf
I started with the canned goods shelf, since it was in the pantry already. Sort everything again, like by like. Put all canned tomatoes together, all beans, all dinner veggies (corn, green beans, etc.), soups… Place everything label out so it’s easy to find. The shelf below the canned goods I used for my items on the far right (cereals, english muffins, peanut butter), far left I used the tote I had beverages in to hold potatoes and onions, and in the middle what I call full dinners or dinner finishers. Boxed dinners went here, along with boxed potato flakes, stuffing, spaghetti sauce, and tortillas.
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Here’s how my shelves ended:
Top shelf – Often used appliances
Second shelf – Snacks and sandwich bread
Third shelf – Canned goods
Fourth shelf – My stuff, dinner finishers/complete dinners, potatoes and onions
Fifth shelf – Baking goods
Floor – Least used appliances, bottled water
Door – Individual snacks, beverages, dry goods
I can honestly say I’ve kept it organized, too. It’s so nice to not have to answers J’s questions about where somethng is… if he wants it, it’s at eye level or in the door. I never wonder if I have xyz to finish dinner, because it’s easy to see if I do. I plan to add a fun menu planner and grocery list to this whole shebang, too.
What say you? Have you organized something lately? Will these steps help you tackle something? Did you like this post?
