Which style best fits your home? A pull-out pantry as part of your cabinets, a separate pantry room, or no pantry at all? Do you have a kitchen design that allows for organized storage? Is this your dream kitchen or does it bring bad dreams!?
Whatever you have, we can all agree on one thing, organizing your storage will save you time and trouble. Here are a few basic ideas for starting down the path to an organized pantry!
Start With the Dishes
Select a storage area and decide what you want to keep there. A simple first step? The cabinets or drawers near the dishwasher should hold dishes and glasses you use every day so putting them away is quick and easy. You can store your special dishes in an out of the way cabinet, china cupboard, hutch, or top shelf of a pantry. Casserole dishes, and food storage items need to be near the area where you prepare and preserve food.
Move on to Cooking and Baking Items
Pots and pans will be best near the cooking surface and baking pans near the oven. Pull out shelves or drawers in the kitchen make finding these items quick and easy. To store large items like pizza stones, baking sheets, or shallow casserole dishes, consider installing dividers in the cupboard. This will allow you to store them sideways rather than stacked.
What about Boxed Food Items?
Create uniform kitchen storage for food sold in boxes. This will maximize your storage space and allow you to find what you need at a glance. Think about BPA free plastic storage containers that stack. Baskets and wire bins will also help organize those items that you may not want to remove from their containers. Oh those Multi-sized Canned Goods…
Organize your cans according to size and use. A pull-out pantry with multiple shallow shelves is idea for storing cans. In cupboards, you might install stackable shelving or under shelf baskets to take advantage of extra space. If you need to stack cans, try to stack like items together and always put those items in the same place. Knowing which cupboard to open, or shelf to look on to find items when you’re preparing food saves time. An added bonus? This also makes it easy to see what you need to buy when making a shopping list! But, What If?
What if the thought of organizing your existing pantry (or lack-therof) points you down the road to doing something drastic? Like a kitchen remodel? Not to fear, there is help just a click away in our guide all about creating the perfect pantry, cupboards and finishing off your dream kitchen. We can even help you with tips on what to expect when it comes to kitchen remodeling costs!
