Maintaining an organized pantry in your Colchester rental home can be difficult. It’s vital that you are able to keep all of your things in a way that they stay fresh and neat. To make sure that your food supply is fresh and easy to access, listen to these simple pantry organization tips.
1. Create a System
Most people approach pantry organization with a relatively simple system: grouping similar items together. This isn’t the only good way to organize your pantry, though. What you can do is to place items you often use together next to each other, like pasta noodles, and sauce or baking essentials. This isn’t the only means to grouping a pantry, though.
It would also be a good idea to stash your frequently used items in an easy-to-reach spot! One way of doing it is to create zones or stations inside your pantry which will segregate your items according to function, or time of day when they will get used. Examples of this might be a coffee station, a bin with after-school snacks, or a shelf for breakfast. Make any of these systems work by making sure that they fit your daily routines in the pantry.
2. Rotate Your Storage
One thing that you should never overlook in pantry organization is the rotation of your food items. It’s not a surprise when food items get pushed into the back of the line and forgotten for several months. So that you don’t have to throw out expired food, come up with a first-in, first-out system for your pantry items. When restocking each shelf, place new items behind older items. Make it a point to check the expiration dates of your food items so that you can throw out the ones that are already expired. This allows you to keep your pantry safe and fresh!
3. Choose Proper Storage Containers
Your containers don’t have to be expensive. Just make sure that each item in your pantry is stored and sorted out properly. 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. The original bags of flour, cake mix, or other similar items could be possible hiding places for insect eggs or other problems. This is why it’s wise to transfer them to another container. Imagine discovering that your pantry is infested with bugs!
Here are a few simple tricks to grouping your pantry items. Be wary of specific foods that should not be closely stored with others. Make it a point 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. Mason jars are the common go-to for most people when storing rice, but the narrow mouth makes scooping difficult. Go for containers that you can label with the name of the content and the expiration date. In this case, make use of removable labels for easy updating of each container.
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! Smaller shelving or trays can be used to separate these items from each other. If possible, create some taller spaces for cereal boxes, bottles, or other tall or oddly-shaped items.
Ultimately, with a bit of creativity and a few simple tips, you can turn your pantry into a well-organized storage space for food supplies that are consistently kept fresh and ready to use!
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