With a new year comes the urge to start anew in every aspect of our lives. Did you know that January is officially known as the “get organized” month?! It’s legit a thing!
Researchers wanted to bring more awareness around the benefits of being organized. So, they dedicated the entire month of January to organizing. Studies have shown that the average person wastes one hour everyday searching for things they misplaced. Mind boggling right? Think of what you could do with that extra hour!
Our old house didn’t have a pantry and it was awful. Things would get lost in the back of the cabinets, and it felt cluttered. Our new house has an amazing walk in pantry. At first, I had no idea how someone would fill such a large pantry, but have a kid that requires endless snacks… and here we are!
I tackled this pantry last year and it still stays fairly clean and organized! The odd item doesn’t make it to its home, but overall I am impressed with how organized it has stayed!
Here are my pantry tips:
Take everything out.
I took everything out of my pantry.. and I mean everything. My pantry exploded into my kitchen, and I started throwing out anything that was expired or didn’t belong there. It’s amazing what can hide in a pantry.
Group items together & sort.
Think about what products you use when you bake, make breakfast, or dinners. This makes it easier for you to assign those items to a bin. For example, I have categories for flour, Aria’s snacks, our snacks, dried fruit, pasta, and so on.
Get ALL of the bins.
I have an assortment of bins from all over the place. I buy new bins all the time (you’ll see my bin obsession when I share the rest of my house ha). Also, bins don’t need to be expensive to look good.
Most of my pantry bins are from IKEA, or clear bins I continually buy when I see them in stock at Homesense or Amazon. (you can shop my home here!) When choosing bins, make sure they are the same style/color, so they look good on the shelves. You also want to make sure they will fit on your shelves – so measure before you buy.
Label your bins.
Labels are game-changers! Labelling your bins will help keep your organization efforts in tact and will help less organized spouses know where things live. My husband has said the labelled bins help him find things faster (his seeking skills are questionable) and easier for him to put things away.
I have created some printable labels you can use – Large Pantry Labels and Pantry Bin Labels. Make sure to print on a full label sheet and cut them out on the outlines.
Store dry goods in glass jars.
I LOVE the way a pantry looks with glass jars on the shelves. It just elevates the space. It also makes them more accessible and keeps them fresh longer than the cardboard packaging. These glass jars are from IKEA, and my plastic clear containers are OXO brand – all items are linked at the bottom of my page.
Organize your pantry into sections.
I tried to keep similar items together when placing them on my shelves. For example, dinners are all on one shelf (pasta, rice, canned goods) and on the other side of my pantry are breakfast items (cereal, granola, coffee). This has worked well for us.
I also placed Aria’s snacks at her eye level so she can easily grab them on her own. She’s super independent, so when we say she can have a snack and can get it on her own – we are all happy.
You’ll have to trial and error a bit to see what works for you and your family and where you naturally look first for things. I have moved things around a lot as I figured out what we were using the most, and what I could place up high for occasional use.
Regularly clean it out.
I go through my pantry at least twice a year (usually spring and fall) and throw out any expired goods, etc. Sometimes things just get thrown in there randomly too, so this is a good way to keep it from getting out of control.
And that’s how I organized my pantry! I’ve had our pantry organized for a year now, and even my three year old remembers where things go – it’s amazing! I thought it would maybe last a week being completely organized, so I am in shock it’s still in pretty decent shape. If everything has a home, it’s easier to put it away in the right spot and easier to find.
Happy organizing!
Free Printable Pantry Labels:
**Print the labels on Avery FULL sheets and cut them out.
