‘Top tips for organising your pantry’ will get your cupboard in tip top shape! Many of us have pantries or food cupboards stacked full of food items that get lost at the back of shelves – long since forgotten. No matter how hard we try, we lose things and eventually forget them when they fall out of our radar. We buy more and soon our pantries are stuffed full of disorganised and unwanted items. This post will show you 6 top tips for organising your pantry and making the best of the space you have.

Top tips for organising your pantry

Zone your food items

We don’t use the same ingredients (spices, sauces, raw pasta) to cook pasta as we do to cook curry or stews. Zone your food items as far as possible (I know not this will not be possible with every item) on shelves, in baskets or clear plastic bins. This also makes it easier to see what you’re running out of before you actually do use them up. If you make it a point to put things back where you got them from – and ask all cooking family members to do the same – finding and replacing items in your pantry will be a whole lot easier. This will also enable you to find and throw out things that you no longer need or can use. See how to make the best of storage here.

As an extra precaution, you can label the jars/bins so that things go back where they belong.

Pack a basket

Storage baskets are great ideas when it comes to getting organised in your kitchen pantry. The last thing you want to do is mess around wasting time when your guests arrive or when people drop by unannounced. Pack a basket of things you use for guests like: napkins, trays, toothpicks, cans of peanuts, jars of olives etc, and you’re good to go. Store this in your pantry and replace the food items at intervals. You can use them up as healthy family treats.

Shelf your baking supplies

Baking can be very complicated and time consuming. You don’t want to waste even more time rummaging around to find your cake toppings or icing sugar when you’re in the middle of baking your cake. Pack your pantry in such a way that you have a shelf or two dedicated to your weighing scales, cup cake baking trays, frosting and other baking items stored in the same place. You can even use large plastic containers to store the little baking paraphernalia in. This will keep them fresh, make them easy to find and make baking less fumbly for you. And if you have a small kitchen, see how you can make the best of it at this article.

Stair steps

It’s a great idea to buy steps for your shelves so that items in the back can be seen easily. I’ve seen these at Ikea. Not only do these give you more space inside your cupboards or shelves, they enable you to store items in such a way that you don’t need to move too many things around to get to what you want.

Undershelf baskets also are great for extra storage space, and for storing small tinned items. You can make your urban kitchen feel enormous at this post.

Clear plastic

Clear plastic jars are great for storing things that need to be kept air tight. Not only will this prevent smells in your pantry (you won’t have half opened bags of stuff falling around on your shelves), you’ll also be able to see exactly what’s stored where. Sealed containers also keep food fresh for longer, they look neater and stack better where space is concerned. Best of all, they can be easily labelled.  You can always write the expiry date on the jars with a dry-erase pen.

Introduce tools and appliances

Most of us have kitchen appliances and utensils that we rarely use (or use for speciality foods). Why not install a hanging rack or hooks at the back of your pantry door and use them for storing utensils you hardly use. Remember that appliances like the bread maker or grinder can also be stored on the top or bottom shelf in your pantry. This will give you more space on your counter top and keep them relatively dust free.

If you have any other great tips for organising your pantry please share them in the comment section below. Please also share ‘Top Tips For Organising Your Pantry’ on your social networking sites. I’d appreciate that very much.