Keeping an organized pantry in your Houston rental home can be quite a challenge for most of us. It is really important that you arrange things in an order that will allow you to keep things fresh and neat. To be certain that your food supply is fresh and easy to access, take note of these simple pantry organization tips.
1. Create a System
Most people approach pantry organization with a relatively simple system: grouping similar items together. Good as it may be, you can also opt for other ways to organize a pantry! You might want to take items you often use together and group them together, like pasta noodles, and sauce or baking essentials. There are, however, other methods to grouping pantry items.
Consider taking all your frequently used items and stashing them together in an easy-to-reach spot. You can also set up zones or stations inside your pantry, grouping your items according to their function, or according to the time of day, they generally get used. Examples of this might be a coffee station, a bin with after-school snacks, or a shelf for breakfast. Regardless, you should know best what system to use because it should show your everyday routine in the pantry.
2. Rotate Your Storage
Rotation of food items should be done regularly — this is often overlooked in pantry organizations. It’s not a surprise when food items get pushed into the back of the line and forgotten for several months. To prevent throwing out expired food, it’s essential to develop a first-in, first-out system for your pantry items. When restocking each shelf, place new items behind older items. Always sift through the items and look at their expiration dates so that you can do away with the ones that are expired. In doing so, you can ensure a pantry that’s always fresh.
3. Choose Proper Storage Containers
Storage containers don’t have to be expensive, at all. The most important thing to make sure of is that your items are sorted and stored properly in your pantry. Other items that aren’t canned food will need to be transferred out of their original packaging and into a separate airtight container.
To ensure long-term freshness, decant flour and other grain-based food items by taking them out of the bags they come in and placing them in glass or plastic containers with tight-fitting lids. Insect eggs or other problems could come with the original bags of flour, cake mix, or other similar items. It’s always best to transfer them to another container. The last thing you want is a pantry infested with bugs.
When it comes to grouping pantry items, here are a few tips to guide you. When grouping food items, note that there are foods that shouldn’t be stored close to others. Be sure to separate onions and potatoes in your pantry. If you don’t, the onions’ strong odor can permeate the potatoes and cause them to spoil faster.
Lastly, when looking for storage containers, go for the containers that fit your shelves and provide easy access to their contents. When it comes to storing rice, for example, mason jars are the usual choice for many. However, because of its narrow mouth, scooping the contents is difficult. When looking for containers, consider also the ones that are easy to label with different information about the item, as well as its expiration date. Buy removable labels so that you can easily update each of your containers every so often.
4. Size Matters
Finally, when you organize your pantry, it’s wise to arrange smaller items like spice jars in a methodical manner, but don’t forget to leave room for bigger items, too! If you have access to smaller shelves or trays, you can use those to separate different items. If possible, create some taller spaces for cereal boxes, bottles, or other tall or oddly-shaped items.
Ultimately, using just a few simple steps, you can make your pantry one that’s organized and filled with a food supply that is certainly fresh.
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