Organizing your pantry
Many items in your kitchen should do double, if not triple, duty. Your salad spinner should hold your salad after you've cleaned your greens. Your frayed dish towel should evolve into a rag. The same goes for that unused closet near your kitchen. Turn it into a pantry that holds your groceries and kitchen supplies and turns your once-disorganized kitchen into an organized and efficient space. Does this Spark an idea?
Shelving
Install metal shelves. While the shelves should be uniform in color and construction, they should not be uniform in height. Keep some space between shelves for taller food items, such as cereal boxes and big bags of chips. Don't forget the walls. If the walls are a dark color and there's no lighting in the closet, consider painting the walls white or a bright color that will make finding pantry items easier.
Storage
Pantries need more storage than just shelves. Consider organizing all similar shaped items, such as marinades in glass bottles or bottled dried herbs, in clear plastic bins. Hide your old rags and cleaning sponges in woven baskets or decorative bins with labels. Be sure to store perishables, such as bottled sauces, in bins that can be cleaned easily. Try something innovative, such as hanging a shoe organizer off the back of the door. Use each shoe pocket to hold something light, like a roll of paper towels or a box of microwave popcorn. The key to an organized pantry is to keep everything accessible and visible.
Pantry Door
A door can be more than just a door, so use it to your advantage. If the pantry is in a busy area of the house and opening and closing the door causes major traffic jams, install a sliding door. A sliding door, attached to a top and/or bottom track, allows for easier pantry access in tight spaces. Make the door multipurpose. Paint the whole front of the door or just the top half with chalkboard paint and use it for jotting down grocery list items. Another option is making the pantry door part of your family's organization center. Attach a cork board and calendar to the front of the door and utilize what was once unused space.
Tags: front door, items such, should uniform, sliding door, than just, your kitchen