Pantry Cleaning & Organization

by Dawn @ Creative Cain Cabin

My strategy for cleaning and organizing a pantry

pantry cleaning organization, closet, kitchen design, organizing, storage ideas

Step into the mess….We lost power last week about 7:30 in the morning due to a transformer going down from the extreme cold temperatures, I had two options….hop back in bed to stay warm or clean the pantry. I decided to use the time wisely and do some cleaning and stay warm at the same time. I have to say while cleaning the power was restored in about an hour but our house had dropped 8 degrees in that time and ice was forming inside on one of the walls. Good thing I was keeping busy I needed to generate some body heat.

Hubby was out of town working about 2.5 hours away, so that meant no generator hook up for me. I knew the power company would bring in generators to power up the system while they worked on it. They couldn’t leave people without heat when it was 30 below outside. I was in constant communication with Grama Red, since they lost power too, and was ready to go start her generator if things didn’t change soon. Her house was down to 53 degrees by the time power was on. Ah the joys of living in Michigan.

That story was all leading up to why I cleaned the pantry believe it or not? It seemed to get a little sidetracked for a while there.

So here’s my strategy for cleaning and organizing the pantry. I opened the dreaded door, and said to myself where to begin? Now you see why the cute little curtain was a must.

1: Clear everything off my 9ft. island and use that as the space to organize everything. I purchased the plastic bins at Walmart to use for food storage. They’re square at the top and bottom so things fit nicely, I don’t like tapered bins (wider at the top than at the bottom) it’s a waste of space in my opinion.

2: line the storage bins up (as you can see in the picture above) and as I took things out of the panty, shelf by shelf, I organized them in the storage bins according, Nuts, Baking, Crackers, and so on. No need in handling the things twice. Also dispose of outdated items or donate items that you wont use. Don’t put them back in the pantry, it just makes more clutter.

3: Wipe off each shelf as it became bare and flipped it over to avoid any sagging.

4: Put things back into the pantry with items you use most at reaching height.

TIP: I have electrical outlets in my pantry that way I don’t have to have appliances out on my counter. For instance the bread machine never leaves the pantry. I pull out the loaf pan, add the ingredients, and use it in the pantry. Love having these things out of sight.

I’m happy to have it organized again and I told myself I couldn’t shop for anything but fruits, veggies, and milk until the pantry is empty. (Oh my, I don’t want to even say this but I also have a panty in the basement larger, much larger than this one loaded with food.) Soon it will only be Hubby and I in the home, so I need to learn to downsize.

Thanks for looking in on my new, clean and organized pantry. I know there’s still a lot of things going on in there, but I know what we have and where it’s at now.

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3 comments

Shirley Kalinosky on Feb 21, 2015
This is interesting. We will be moving (hoping for June) to another house we have that has a wonderful 6 ft, full-wall pantry just off the kitchen. The shelves are the open metal ones and I have been wondering just how and what to use & where to put the canned goods, and boxes. I love that you have your bread maker handy as I use mine at least once a week. I'm not sure if I have a plug in there, but that is a great idea to just keep it where it is to use it. I am only 5'2" tall and the top shelf will have to hold things I def don't use often. This re-do has given me hope that I can do as well as you did...but not in the cold. Hope you are warmer now.

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- Dawn @ Creative Cain Cabin on Feb 28, 2015
  @Shirley Kalinosky I do the same put things I seldom use up high and I have a step stool in my pantry for when I need those items. So far no warm up here yet :(
  
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Phyllis Stockstill on Aug 01, 2017

I like your idea here, but my kitchen pantry has deep shelves. These containers are just what I thought would work best for up front, but am uncertain how to cope with the space in the back. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks for sharing your great idea.

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