10-Minute Declutter: The Stress-Free Habit for Simplifying Your Home by S.J. Scott & Barrie Davenport

Author:S.J. Scott & Barrie Davenport
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3, azw
Publisher: Oldtown Publishing LLC
Published: 2015-05-14T07:00:00+00:00

Section 9: Pantry

Your pantry is a space that screams for attention. It often gets neglected because the door is kept closed and only opened when you need a certain item. As a result, there is little incentive to keep this area organized.

The trick to maintaining a decluttered pantry is to have a system where you can easily find things and to store items according to the “last in, last out” rule to prevent spoilage.

Like the other sections of your kitchen, get started by grabbing your notebook and cleaning supplies (including a step stool, dust broom, warm soapy water, and cleaning rags or paper towels). You probably won’t need your sorting boxes, unless you want to donate items to a food bank.

Set your timer for four minutes and begin with the top shelf. Remove everything from the shelf. Sweep off the shelf and then clean it thoroughly with the warm soapy water.

Set the timer again for six minutes and review all of the items you pulled out. Throw away anything that has expired. Check any open containers of baking goods, rice, pasta and other grains for bugs or evidence of other pests. Throw away anything questionable. (See Tips below for ideas on storing these items.) If there are items you want to donate, set them aside to place in your donation box.

Follow this process for each shelf in your pantry, allotting 10 minutes for each shelf. If you can complete two or more shelves in 10 minutes, then go for it! But plan for 10 minutes per shelf to clean, sort and replace items.

Once you have cleaned and sorted the entire pantry, create another 10-minute project to assess organization. Barrie likes to organize the pantry by category, keeping like items together.

As an example, all canned goods go on one shelf; baking goods are stored together in a bin; pasta, rice and other grains are in a different bin; and snacks are grouped together on a separate shelf.

Keep the items you use most often within easy reach. You might want to put lighter items up higher, heavier items on the bottom shelf and small items on a lazy Susan in the middle.

Organize the items on your shelves to your liking. Make notes in your notebook about any storage and organization supplies you want to purchase. Once you have these supplies, you can go back and put the food items in the appropriate containers.

Pantry Tips:

• For storing canned goods, consider getting a tiered can rack that allows you to put newer items in the back and older items in the front. This ensures you always use older food first.

• Get an assortment of clear plastic storage containers and bins. Use the containers to store and properly seal food items like pasta, baking supplies, dried beans and snacks. Not only does this protect those items from pests, but also it makes your pantry look beautiful. You can group some of the smaller related containers in the larger bins (for example, put containers with flour, sugar and cornstarch into one big bin).

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