Guest Post: Organizing Your Kitchen Pantry

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The following is a sponsored guest post. 

You have a secret weapon just waiting to be unleashed allowing you to have a rock-star kitchen: an organized pantry. No fear if your pantry is currently more of a dud than a stick of dynamite. Every pantry has the potential to be an effective tool for a well-run and healthy kitchen. Follow these tips to turn your cluttered and disheveled pantry into a sleek and efficient storage space. Don’t be afraid to ask for a little help. Finding the maids who specialize in organization can help ensure your pantry reaches its potential.

Clear It All Out
This will be the most difficult task to complete as it will be the most time consuming of the steps to get your pantry in shape, but it is a crucial phase of establishing an organized pantry. Clear all of the food, cans, boxes, jars, containers, etc. out of your pantry, and take a good look at what your pantry was harboring. Is it time to make better choices when it comes to buying ingredients, snacks and meals? This is a good time to get rid of the bad stuff and make a list of the healthy options you can purchase to replace them.

Evaluate Your Space
Since you should have an empty pantry if you followed through with the initial step, you can evaluate the storage space your current pantry layout provides. Add shelves, hooks, and storage units as you see fit. Make use of vertical space and add storage in between shelves spaced far apart.

Prioritize Your Food
Time to put the good stuff back into your pantry. But, before you do, take some time to prioritize the items you are adding back to your pantry. Items used daily such as coffee, tea, or cereal should be on a shelf that is most accessible to you. Likewise, rarely used ingredients should be stored on the top shelves. Be sure not to store food items on the floor of your pantry as this can attract rodents. An easy storage tip is to group like things together. This keeps things organized and in place.

Keep an Eye on the Goal
Now that you have a stellar pantry, keep it up. Don’t lose track of the purpose of an organized pantry – to keep you efficient while you are in the kitchen and to help promote healthy eating habits. The holidays can wreak havoc on your organization if you let it. Be sure to put things back where they belong after you use them. Schedule weekly spot checks to give your pantry a once over to ensure it is still in rock star shape.

This guest post was written by Judy McGhee, operations manager for the Maids of DC. She loves sharing her housekeeping tips with people through blog posts, articles and newsletters.