The Organized Pantry

As featured in The Suburban

organized pantry

There’s nothing worse than being in the middle of a recipe and having to spend 15 minutes searching through your pantry for the baking soda. Or buying a third box of cornstarch when you know you already have two open ones that you can’t seem to find.   Welcome to the black hole that most people refer to as their pantry.  Many of the homes I organize have deep kitchen pantries, which theoretically offer more space, but ultimately cause you to lose items in the back of the pantry.

Enter the “Zone Pantry”.  Although it’s a bit cliché for a Professional Organizer to use bins and baskets to make a space work, it’s cliché because it works.  Every client I have set up with this system has loved it and has maintained it.  Depending on the height and depth of your shelves you may want to go with tall, clear bins, or lower open baskets.  Ultimately it comes down to what works for you and your home.

The first step is to take all the food out of the pantry and group it together. The most common groupings are: oils & vinegars, baking, syrups & sweeteners, sauces, sweets, chips & crackers, pasta & rice. It ultimately depends on your style of cooking but try to put “like with like”.  This way of organizing really cuts down on the time spent looking for items as well as allowing you to take stock of what you need at a glance.

Cans and spices can also be difficult to organize.  If you don’t have a wall mounted spice rack that works for you, try storing your spices on a Lazy Susan.  It offers easy access for your most common spices without having to move things around to find them.  For cans, one of my favorite products is a can holder or can rack.  These allow for easy visual access to your cans and can usually be adjusted based on the sizes of cans you have.

Happy Organizing!

Taming the Kitchen Counter Clutter

As featured in The Suburban

declutter

One of the biggest complaints my clients have is counter clutter.  The kitchen is the heart of the home and we tend to spend a lot of time there.  Unfortunately that doesn’t just apply to people. Paper and random household items gather there as well.

One of the easiest ways to tame that kitchen clutter is to designate areas to leave things until you have a moment to deal with them.  I get it, we all have busy lives and don’t always have the two minutes it takes to file that paid bill or put away that toy your child left on the table.  We need to work within our busy lives and use a system that makes sense for our lifestyle.

Take a look around the kitchen and take a mental tally of the most common items that seem to congregate there.  Toys? Paperwork? Office supplies? Homework?

Now try to make a contained space or “zone” for each type of item. One of my favorite tricks is to have a small container or trinket tray on my counter.  It’s where you will keep a few pens, some paperclips, lip balm; any small items that you need access to in the kitchen but don’t want splayed all over the counter.

For larger items (like toys or clothes that have found a temporary home in your kitchen) try designating a basket that can be easily transported to other areas of your home.  A great solution can be a stair-basket. Throw the items into the basket at the bottom of the stairs and next time you have a few minutes bring the basket upstairs with you to put the items in their proper place.  

For paper try using a clear folder on the inside of a kitchen cabinet.  It’s a great place for the papers you need to have access to in the kitchen and a temporary home for the ones that need to be filed later.  You can also add a few labeled folders inside to differentiate the papers.

Happy Organizing!​