One of the best solutions for a neat and clean kitchen, especially for small kitchens, is to install a dry food and spice cabinet, also known as a food cabinet. However, to make it work smoothly and efficiently, you will need some reasonable organization ideas.
Here are six pantry organization ideas to make this limited space functional and efficient.
Divide cabinet space into zones
Laura Price, professional organizer and founder of The Home Organization, says creating these "zones" in your pantry makes finding things easy.
That way, "you create the building blocks of the space in the cabinet and you can adjust and move around to create the combination that works for you," she says.
Organizing your pantry by food category is the first step (Photo: Martin Moore).
For example, if you like to use spices when cooking but rarely grill, then the spice area needs to be larger than the grill area.
Laura also notes that as you devote more space to one food group, one or more other areas should be smaller to keep your pantry clutter-free. She suggests using shelves to make it easier to adjust as needed.
Clean regularly
To keep your cabinets tidy, you need to clean and check the contents of your cabinets regularly to ensure you are using the space efficiently.
According to Barbara Oldham, professional organizer and founder of The Inspired Home by B, you should remove anything from your cupboard that doesn't fit in your pantry, or anything that's expired or no longer needed.
Regularly clean the cupboard to check food expiration dates and avoid waste (Photo: Future).
You can arrange your items in the following order: the top shelves are for items you use less often; the middle shelves (within easy reach) are for foods you use frequently; and the bottom shelves are for larger, bulkier items.
You should use this organizing tip regularly as an opportunity to make a list of dry foods you have, foods that are similar, or that are about to expire. This is especially helpful if you have a pantry with deep shelves, so that foods placed at the back don’t get forgotten.
Keep expiring foods ahead of time.
Keeping foods with a short shelf life at the front will ensure they're used up before they expire, says Dawn Falcone, professional organizer and founder of The Chaos Liberator.
Keep foods that are nearing their expiration date in a visible location (Photo: Mowlem & Co).
When you're restocking your weekly shopping, Dawn suggests putting new dry goods and canned goods in the back and moving half-eaten snacks to the front to ensure you use them before they expire.
Regularly rotating items will help reduce food waste.
Use ladder shelves
One of the many items that kitchen organization experts recommend purchasing is step shelves that allow you to see all the foods stored in your small pantry without having to rummage through the pile.
Ladder shelves make it easy to see all the food stored in the cabinet (Photo: ProCook).
These shelves are also particularly useful for deep kitchen cabinets. To get the most out of them, place the smallest jars towards the front and the taller ones towards the back. This ensures that nothing is hidden behind them and makes it easier to reach items at the back.
Utilize the space along the cabinet door
Using vertical space is a great trick for organizing a small pantry, says professional organizer Barbara Oldham.
To do this, you can add a shelf above the door to hold small items like spices or snacks.
Expand storage space in small cabinets by taking advantage of cabinet doors (Photo: Future).
Use containers that fit the space
Professional organizer Laura Price recommends taking full advantage of the height of your shelves by investing in stackable jars and storage containers for pasta, flour, and other foods. This makes it easy to see what’s inside without wasting any space or food.
“For small pantries, you should use square boxes to make the most of the space in the pantry,” adds Laura.
Glass jars make it easy to get the food you need (Photo: Future).
Organizing a small pantry can be a bit of a puzzle, but it becomes easier with the right storage, organization tools, and a good kitchen organization system. Regularly cleaning and reorganizing your small pantry can make your kitchen life easier.
Source
Comment (0)