Sugar & Spice and Everything Nicely Organized--Your Pantry

SUGAR AND SPICE AND EVERYTHING

 NICELY ORGANIZED

THE PANTRY MANTRA:  My Pantry is re-Purposed from a Practically Perfect Place for Pandemonium to Prevail to a Pest-free Place for Provisions.

Organizing a pantry provides great returns on your easy and quick investment of time and money because anyone can do it, on any budget.  The trick is to define your current lifestyle, consider the purpose of your pantry and be receptive to change.

NO PANTRY, NO PROBLEM

If you have a gourmet-sized pantry, that’s great!  If not, do you have a piece of furniture such as an armoire or cabinet that can be requisitioned for the job? Even if you just have a few cupboards or a small closet, these will work fine, but the trick is to use the available space wisely and keep your inventory well edited. Whatever serves as your pantry, do you also use it to store everything but the kitchen sink?  Items such as hanging ladders, brooms, table cloths, and gift wraps sometimes must be stored in the pantry, but consider alternative locations that may be more functional.

PANTRY PARTICULARS

Ask yourself:

ü      What kind of order works best for you?  Grouping like items together (canned veggies together, breakfast items together, baking products together) or arranging items alphabetically (Apricots on the left and Ziti on the right)?  Organizing is not a one-size-fits-all activity; put some time and thought into a system that will work best for you. 

ü      Are you a neat-freak who prefers matching containers?

ü      Are you a warehouse shopper who takes advantage of sale items and buys in bulk?

ü      Are you an epicure who enjoys acquiring lots of small luxury tins, jars, and bottles of artisan-type gourmet food items?

ü      Are you a shopper who scours department stores, online catalogs and flea markets seeking novelty items, such as a talking can opener?

ü      Is your pantry a holding place for kitchen gadgets and gizmos?

ü      Do you or other members of your home snack often on a wide variety of foods?

ü      Do you entertain frequently or want to entertain more?

ü      Do you have mice, roaches, ants, or moths?

PLASTIC IS FANTASTIC

Empty the contents of the pantry and discard anything stale, spoiled, or expired.  You now have an empty space and can start fresh with a “new” pantry. Decant the products that require decanting. (Decanting is taking the product out of its original packaging and storing it in another container.)  I suggest decanting flour, sugar, and leavening agents or any items that need to be scooped or poured – such as pancake mix, flour, sugar, coffee beans, rice and cereal – into airtight, sealed containers. Some clients specifically request Tupperware® containers knowing that the products are guaranteed for life and keep things fresh for up to a year.  In addition, Tupperware is pest-proof.

Regardless of whether your home is sleek and sophisticated or warm and traditional, many options for containers are available that can help make your pantry pest-resistant (and, therefore, safer and healthier), more workable, more stylish and better organized. 

STICKY SITUATIONS

Wipe down the shelves and walls.  Various oils, vinegars, and honeys leave a sticky residue on the pantry shelves.  Consider placing such liquids on long, narrow plastic trays, which are much easier to clean than the pantry shelves.  Another option is a multi-level lazy Susan; however, the round shape is less space efficient.

FROWN ON ROUND

Round containers are not space-friendly.  Instead, use square, rectangular, or Tupperware’s oval-shaped Modular Mate containers that are blunt at the ends and flat on the sides so they fit snugly up against other containers. 

Use as much vertical space as possible.  Stores such as Lowe’s and Home Depot have expandable chrome shelves – made by companies such as Rubbermaid and Closet Maid -- that are helpful for maximizing vertical space.  You can even store paper plates upright by using a Tupperware product that is designed to hold lids (photo).

And finally, remember the back of the door.  It’s a long, vertical place; perfect to hang a unit of shelves for spices.  Elfa makes a system that enables users to hang a multi-level rack over the door and adjust shelves without using screws.

CONTAINMENT POLICY

Sets of stacking drawers (found in office supply stores) are great for odds and ends that typically fall into the “F & F” category (Forgotten and Fossilized).  Dog treats, towelettes, stray pieces of candy, Chapstick®, fortune cookies and tea bags all seem to end up lost in the pantry.  The small plastic units are perfect for baby food jars as well – separate drawers can be used for fruits, veggies and meats.

BIN THERE . . . .

Think deep but not wide when selecting bin-like containers to hold snack foods such as applesauce, pudding, pretzels, and snack-size boxes of dried fruit.  The metal bins pictured here (photo) are sturdy, inexpensive, indestructible and easy to wipe clean.  In addition, they provide easy access for “grab and go” parent-approved snacks.

LET THERE BE LIGHT!

Consider installing a light that comes on and off as the pantry door opens and shuts. An electrician can install a magnetic contact switch (like your alarm system) or a plunger switch (like the one in your fridge) for very little money. This idea is a wonderful option for the convenience of elderly or handicapped members of your family, visitors, houseguests and young children. 

RAID YOUR PANTRY!

Proper planning of your pantry is the recipe for a successful kitchen.