What's in Your Pantry? By Lisa Totzke

I don’t know about you, but when I open my pantry, I want to have everything I need at a glance. More times than I care to admit, I spend longer than necessary staring blankly at what’s in there, not knowing what’s what. Recently, having a little extra time on my hands, I decided to tackle the task of organizing it once and for all.

Where did I Start?

I started by paying a visit to my local Dollar Store. They carry a ton of budget-friendly bins and storage solutions. This allows me to make my pantry pretty and not break the bank. I chose to pick up some clear bins and jars with lids, so when everything is organized, I can easily see what I have available.

Once home, I did a quick wash with soap and water to make sure that the containers were safe and ready to fill with goodies (you can never be too safe).

Empty it all Out

The next thing I did, was pull everything out of the pantry, and spread it onto my counter. I checked expiry dates and threw away anything that had already expired.

Assign Items a Container

Some of the items I had were already in containers, so I checked the freshness, and cleaned the jar/bin before putting it aside. Other items were put into the new containers.

Arrange in the Cupboard

Once I finished sorting through all the items on the counter, I was then able to clearly see what I had to fit back into the cupboard space. I assigned categories to each shelf before putting them back, making sure that items were visible at a quick glance.

Overall, spending a little time and money, has had a big impact visually. It will save me time in the long run, I imagine it would for you too!