The pandemic spurred a lot of people to buy and have more food on hand than ever before, which has created new challenges in many people’s kitchens and pantries.
Neat Little Nest has been helping a lot of families rethink their kitchens, pantries and storage spaces to make way for pop-up pantries.
Neat Little Nest is a Twin Cities professional decluttering and organizing company. It was founded by Michele Vig, who recently published a book called The Holistic Guide to Decluttering about her whole-life approach to decluttering.
Below are some top tips for creating a well performing pantry.
- Group like items together - grouping like items together is a key principle of organizing, but it’s really important in a pantry. This means you place snacks with snacks, pasta with pasta, oils with oils, etc. Just like you would find it in a grocery store because the reality is, that’s what a pantry is – it’s the grocery store in your home!
- Ditch packaging + convert to clear - boxes and bags take up lots of space, so for efficiency, remove unnecessary packaging and place products in clear containers before putting them away. Keep dry items like flour, sugar, rice and coffee in clear, air-tight containers. They will stay fresher longer, and using clear bins allows a quick scan to see when stock is low. Doing this simplifies inventory management and gets rid of the recycling in bulk – no more empty cereal boxes in the pantry.
- Label everything. Labeling in shared spaces is a non-negotiable, whether for family or for roommates. Keep categories broad — you can buy something different and not need to switch labels.
- Consider a remote pantry – Many people try to jam everything into a space that’s too small. If you don’t have the room for a large walk-in pantry, then consider a small closet or a shelf in the basement to create space for backstock. This way, you are able to separate what you’re going to cook with on a daily basis with items that are on deck for using when you run out.
Visit www.neatlittlenest.com for a free decluttering checklist, to read Michele’s blogs about organizing your life, and to learn more about Neat Little Nest.