7 Best Tips for a Very Well Organised Pantry!

Everything from spices and snack packs to canned foods and dry ingredients are stored in one’s pantry. These assorted items are accessed daily in most households and therefore, often become disorganised if you aren’t paying attention to what you pull out and where you put it back. 

A messy pantry can be extremely frustrating to work with, especially when you are in a hurry and looking for something specific. With that in mind, you’ve probably seen pictures of an organised pantry, complete with matching jars, baskets, and containers (all of which are conveniently labelled), and so on. Well, the stark comparison between these organised pantries and your not-so-neat pantry may have given you the push you needed to finally put things in order!

Luckily, you’ve come to the right place if you want to know how to organise your pantry for efficient and convenient storage. Check out these seven tips that will transform your messy pantry into a truly well-organised one!

Categorise the Contents

Organising a pantry is not limited to putting things away neatly; there must be a system in place that keeps things categorically in order. So, before you can even begin to organise your pantry, take a look at what you store in there to begin with. When you have everything in front of you, categorising the contents is a lot easier; it also gives you a better understanding of what types of organising aids you require for efficient storage. To do this, club similar items together such as spices/condiments, canned foods, grains, baking products, snack packets, sauces/dressing, seasoning, and so on. 

Choose Your Storage Aids

Depending on the kind of items you have in your pantry, you will likely need glass jars/bottles, plastic containers, baskets, and other types of storage aids to properly organise the contents. Sizes of the same must be picked in accordance with cabinet, drawer, or shelf space; pay close attention to measurements of both the storage aids and pantry space to ensure that everything fits perfectly. For aesthetic value, pick sizes that are uniform and stick to a theme as opposed to mixing and matching too much. Another pro tip is to purchase transparent storage containers for quick identification, as well as to check the levels of ingredients to know when it’s time for a refill.

Label Everything!

Labels are a pantry’s best friend! It is absolutely necessary to label each and every bottle, container, and basket that you have in your pantry if you want to find things easily and quickly. Moreover, labels help to keep contents organised since you are more motivated to store items where they belong instead of dumping things in a haphazard manner. Make sure that the labels are large enough to write or print big, bold letters onto for better readability. You can also colour-coordinate the labels as per their respective categories; the choice is yours!

Organise With Racks, Dividers, etc

For smaller items such as whole spices stored in small containers or a range of sauce bottles, we highly recommended using a rack or some type of divider to organise them. Pull-out trays or drawers are also great tools for organising your pantry, especially if the shelf depth often leaves contents pushed all the way to the back. Another great tip is to use the space on the inner side of cabinet doors by stalling small racks for added storage.

Organise As Per Your Convenience

Pantry contents that are used daily should be the most easy to access. These might include cereals, coffee/tea, snacks, fruits, and cooking ingredients such as spices, dressing, etc. It’s a good idea to categorise these items in labeled baskets so that you can pull the whole lot out and pick whatever you need without wasting any time shuffling between shelves. Since no two pantries are the same, nor are their contents, it is important to organise yours as per your convenience.

Stack Plastic Containers

Ingredients or items stored in airtight plastic containers can be neatly stacked one above the other to save space in your pantry. A few tips to keep in mind when doing this include stacking same-size containers for a neat and uniform appearance; purchasing containers with handles facing outward to pull out more conveniently; and storing large containers on one end (even if uncategorised); again, to achieve a uniform look. Some pantries are organised almost completely with plastic containers of varying sizes and look extremely neat; however, if you’ve got pantry contents that require the use of bottles, jars, etc, it’s okay to mix and match.

Forego Packaging

If you really think about it, a pantry looks best when there is no packaging in sight! While canned items may be an exception, your pantry will be much more organised if you transfer packaged/boxed foods into storage jars and containers. Items like cereal boxes, cookie boxes, pasta packets and similar packaged foods disrupt uniformity in your pantry and make it harder to store once opened. For these reasons, among others, it is advisable to forgo packaging/cardboard boxes wherever possible, and we guarantee that you will be satisfied with the outcome. 

Organising your pantry is a pretty simple task if you’ve got the right organising aids, coupled with efficient tips that make storage neat, orderly, convenient, and aesthetically pleasing! Today, MaidForYou has shared seven best tips to organise a pantry that is super easy to maintain and never tiresome to look at! So, use them wisely and get your pantry well organised once and for all!