How to Organize your Pantry

Five Easy Steps to Clutter Free Simplicity

We have heard these steps many times from many sources.  Some switch a few of the letters to mean different things, but the basic message is the same:

Less is Best!

So here is my Friday Foment...
( Uh, foment means the same as plan, devise, cause to happen...check it out here.   I don't even think I am using that word right...I was just looking for a word that started with F.)

Now, it is for Friday as in you have the weekend to complete it!  Next week, I will post it earlier on Friday.  And if there are any good ideas for using an "S" word for a Saturday Challenge..feel free to share it with me!

On to the Challenge:

Pantry Overhaul

My goal is to have not only a pantry that stores food, but one that a guest in my house can find things quickly and just a place that makes me smile!!!

When I talked about simplicity in an earlier post, I shared how I wanted my home to be a place that my kids love.  In this post, I will share five steps that you can use on any cluttered space in order to organize your home and make it a place that you love.

A simple place to start is your food closet or pantry. Now, some do not have a walk in pantry that looks like this picture.

I do not have a walk in pantry that looks like this picture!  If I did, I would not have time to write this post because I would be too busy getting that kitchen towel to hang out of the Kitchen Aid mixer at just the right angle to look pretty!

Some have a small walk in pantry, some have just a cupboard, and some might have just a few shelves. I have one friend that only has four shelves, but she utilizes the space well and it is organized and beautiful with space for all she needs!

1.  SORT:

Put all of your like items in a pile.  Wow!  Did you know you had that many boxes of food coloring?  And water bottles?  I stopped counting at fifteen!

Once you have piles all over the place,

2. PURGE!

This is where you go through your piles and really decide what you need.  Do you really use the tortilla warmer?  How about that candle that has shells in the bottom of it?

 I have a pasta maker that we have used three times in the thirteen times we have been married.  I have wonderful dream like images of our family in the kitchen making pasta together and laughing as we take turns spinning the handle while oodles of noodles come out!  It happened once and I think the kids got bored after the second spin!  Toss IT!

Now, once the piles are REALLY piles you want to save,

3.  ASSIGN

Assign places to these piles.  Do some of the pile go together?  Party napkins, birthday candles, special napkins can all go into one pile.  If you are having a party, all you need is together.  Making lunches for the kids?  Put the water bottles, lunch bags, and cooler containers all together!

Once the piles are put together in an organized manner,

4.  CONTAINERIZE!

This is the fun part.  I read somewhere that the most unorganized people are often the ones that are always looking for bins or baskets to put their stuff as if a bin will hold their garbage stuff and make it look better!

I agree with that, but you have already gotten rid of stuff, so now you are looking for the perfect container.  It might be something you already have or you might have to go get a basket or a bin.  Sometimes, it looks nicer just lined up.  Like the photo above, there are a couple baskets to hold towels and a couple buckets, but the rest is in neat rows.

(Okay, I know there is hardly any food in this photo!  And the pattern that they lined up their sparkling water...C'mon!)

 I will show you what a REAL pantry looks like after I do my Foment!   (Now I know I am not using that word right...it's not a noun...right?)

This might mean that you put some things together that you never did before.  I have two "meal" baskets where I put ingredients for my "go-to" meals.  For example, there is all my pasta stuff and sauces in one and taco shells, spices, mexican rice, beans, etc. in another.

And the last step:

5. EQUALIZE!

This is actually a step you do after it is all done and it includes keeping it clean by checking on it every day and making needed adjustments.  For example, I kept all of my baking supplies together but I did not use the cookie cutters as much as I thought I did, so I put all of my cookie cutters in a bin and put it a little higher out of the main space in my pantry.

Now, this challenge is for you and me!  I will do this as well and I will post a REAL pantry photo on Monday.

Look for the updates!

Now, for the MOMent...

Get your kids involved!!!

No matter how old they are...my youngest actually got me started on this because he could not even walk up to the shelves without stepping over piles of lunch boxes and paper bags!  So he started to clean the pantry.

He organized it beautifully!  But I still don't think we need the candy bin in the bottom shelf...

Any good organizing tips?

Blessings,
Angie