Maintaining an organized pantry in your Bellingham rental home can be difficult. It’s vital that you are able to keep all of your things in a way that they stay fresh and neat. To make sure that your food supply is fresh and easy to access, listen to these simple pantry organization tips.
1. Create a System
Most people approach pantry organization with a relatively simple system: grouping similar items together. There are other ways to organize a pantry, though. Consider taking your pasta noodles and sauce, or even baking essentials, and group them together since these are items that are often used together. This isn’t the only means to grouping a pantry, though.
If you have items that are frequently used, that could be reason enough to also group them up in easy-to-reach-spots. One way of doing it is to create zones or stations inside your pantry which will segregate your items according to function, or time of day when they will get used. Examples of this might be a coffee station, a bin with after-school snacks, or a shelf for breakfast. Nevertheless, the way you set your system up should be a reflection of your daily routines when using the pantry.
2. Rotate Your Storage
Pantry organization should involve regular rotation of your food items. This is often overlooked by a lot of homeowners. What usually happens is that those food items start to pile up and the older ones get pushed to the back and forgotten. So that you won’t end up throwing out expired food, get a first-in, first-out system in place for your pantry. When restocking each shelf, place new items behind older items. Go through your items every now and then so that you can check the expiration dates and segregate the ones that are already expired. By doing this, you’re making sure that the items in your pantry are constantly fresh.
3. Choose Proper Storage Containers
The best way to keep your food fresh is to store them properly. You don’t have to go for the more expensive containers, though. You can use the easily available ones so that your items are safely stored in your pantry. Not all of your items will be canned food — others will have to be removed from packaging and stored in other airtight containers in order to keep them as fresh as possible.
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. There’s a reason why flour, cake mix, and other original items are transferred out of their original bags — the bags could be hiding insect eggs and other problems. No one wants a pantry that’s infested by bugs.
Another thing to take note of is the set of rules that guide the grouping of pantry items. Be wary of specific foods that should not be closely stored with others. Make it a point to separate onions and potatoes in your pantry. If you don’t, the onions’ strong odor can permeate the potatoes and cause them to spoil faster.
Finally, a good storage container is one that you can fit in your pantry shelves; but, they should also allow you to easily access its contents. Mason jars are the common go-to for most people when storing rice, but the narrow mouth makes scooping difficult. Go for containers that you can label with the name of the content and the expiration date. In this case, make use of removable labels for easy updating of each container.
4. Size Matters
Finally, don’t forget to leave room in your pantry for bigger items, too. Don’t let all the smaller items like spice jars take up all the space! You can make use of smaller shelving or trays to keep similar items or separate different items. If possible, create some taller spaces for cereal boxes, bottles, or other tall or oddly-shaped items.
Ultimately, with a bit of creativity and a few simple tips, you can turn your pantry into a well-organized storage space for food supplies that are consistently kept fresh and ready to use!
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