A Professional Organizer’s Top Pantry Hacks
The pantry is the hub of your home and a great place to begin organizing. As a professional organizer with a busy family, I know the ins and outs of creating an efficient and beautiful space to be utilized every day.
Want my top tips I apply to many of my client’s projects and my own personal pantry? Read on below!
Pantry Organization Hack #1: Use a Categorized Weekly Grocery List
An organized pantry must start with a stocked one. Make sure to have all of you and your family’s most used food items before you begin organizing - this guarantees a designated spot and enough room for each necessary item. I use a weekly grocery list like this one - click below for a printable copy!
There are two ways to go about planning for your weekly grocery shopping. Checking your product and making a list at once, or making a list as you go. I have taught my family to (try) and let me know or add to the list when an item runs out. This is helpful because I can grab my list, add perishables for next week’s meals, and run to the store. (I mean, order for pickup from the store.) Definitely, the best thing to come out of the pandemic is that almost all my favorite stores offer drive-up pickup! A great timesaver for me and my busy family.
Pantry Organization Hack #2: Use Furniture Pads
One of my top priorities when organizing a pantry is creating a system that is beautiful and will last for years. Part of this is high-quality products, and part of this is protecting your pantry space! Whether you are just moving in, have installed new pantry shelving, or your pantry is well-loved, we want to protect it and keep it in the best shape possible moving forward.
My tip for doing this is to install felt furniture pads on the bottom of your bins and baskets. This helps slide the product in and out easily, avoiding scratches or struggles in moving bins. The felt pads are easy to apply - just peel and stick on. You can always add a dot of super glue for extra sticking power to make sure they last and protect your shelves for years to come!
Recently I had the privilege of organizing the above-pictured pantry with some beautiful wood bins from The Home Edit’s new line at the container store. I quickly realized the bins needed additional padding to prevent scratching on my client’s newly painted pantry shelves - she has three young boys and needs a system that will hold up! We got creative and added felt pads to the bottom of the bins. Now it is super easy to move the organizing product in and out while keeping the shelves in great condition.
Pantry Organizing Hack #3: Create a Kid Friendly Shelf
My final tip - make your pantry work for you and your family! I always keep a section of my pantry (generally at my kid’s eye level) for snacks and easy breakfast options. I love creating opportunities for my kids to be independent - picking their own after-school snack or morning cereal option is always a win and timesaver for them…and me! I like individually packaged snacks for my kids to grab and cereal options in clear canisters so they always know what’s available.
• Pantry Organization Hacks: Mentioned Products •
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