Keeping an organized pantry in your Liberty Lake rental home might be an enormous task for most. Keep things fresh and neat by keeping them in order and in their designated places around the house. To make certain that your food supply is fresh and easy to access, keep track of these simple pantry organization tips.
1. Create a System
Most people approach pantry organization with a relatively simple system: grouping similar items together. This isn’t the only good way to organize your pantry, though. Think about grouping items that you often use together, such as pasta noodles, and sauce or baking essentials. But, you can go with different options for grouping your pantry.
Frequently used items can also be placed together in easy-to-reach spots. Also, you can designate zones or stations in your pantry, grouping food items by function or the time of day you will usually use them. Examples of this might be a coffee station, a bin with after-school snacks, or a shelf for breakfast. You should be able to use any system to your advantage, as long as it mirrors your daily routines inside your own pantry.
2. Rotate Your Storage
Something that is often overlooked but is an important part of pantry organization is the rotation of food items. It really shouldn’t be too alarming when food items are stashed all the way in the back and then forgotten for months. This is a very common scenario for most people! To avoid having to discard expired food, put a first-in, first-out system for your pantry. When restocking each shelf, place new items behind older items. Make it a point to check the expiration dates of your food items so that you can throw out the ones that are already expired. This will make it so that your pantry is always fresh.
3. Choose Proper Storage Containers
Use storage containers to keep your food fresh. You don’t need to get the expensive or fancy ones — just use them to segregate and store your items! Other items will not be like canned food. They will have their packaging, and will most likely need to be transferred to an airtight container to stay fresh.
To ensure long-term freshness, decant flour and other grain-based food items by taking them out of the bags they come in and placing them in glass or plastic containers with tight-fitting lids. The original bags of flour, cake mix, or other similar items could be possible hiding places for insect eggs or other problems. This is why it’s wise to transfer them to another container. I’m sure you don’t want to come home to a pantry that’s infested with bugs.
Remember these simple tricks when grouping your pantry items. Certain foods should not be stored closely with others. When you have both onions and potatoes in your pantry, make sure you separate them. If you don’t, the onions’ strong odor can permeate the potatoes and cause them to spoil faster.
Finally, look for storage containers that not only fit snugly in your shelves but ones that give you easy access to the contents. Even though a lot of people use mason jars for storing rice, because of its narrow mouth, scooping the rice can be challenging. Label your containers accordingly so that you don’t lose track of what’s inside, as well as the content’s expiration date. Using removable labels will make it more convenient for you to update your container whenever the need arises.
4. Size Matters
Finally, in your pantry organization, think about arranging smaller items like spice jars in their own space, so that you can make room for bigger items, too. Smaller shelving or trays can be used to separate these items from each other. If possible, create some taller spaces for cereal boxes, bottles, or other tall or oddly-shaped items.
Ultimately, with a bit of effort and a whole bunch of tips, you can transform your ordinary pantry into one that’s organized and designed to keep the food supply fresh!
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