Bulk shopping has become extremely common since the COVID19 pandemic. More homeowners are doing bulk shopping to reduce the number of trips they have to make to the store. This surprising trend has led to many unorganized, overfilled kitchen pantries across the country.
Well-organized pantries are things of beauty. On the other hand, unorganized, overfilled kitchen pantries can lead to several issues for homeowners. If your pantry cupboard is over-stocked – you’re not alone. Many homeowners have ended up with poorly organized pantry cupboards in their rush to keep their kitchens stocked.
Thankfully, homeowners can continue stocking essential food items and kitchen essentials if they invest in the right kitchen pantry solutions. By that, we mean getting their pantry spaces organized with custom solutions. Here are five amazing pantry ideas that will make your kitchen spaces more spacious and more efficient –
- Create a custom pantry system suited to your needs:
The kitchen pantry solutions you implement should be suited to your specific needs. An efficient pantry storage system helps you use your storage space to the maximum. Do you need your kitchen pantry to be pleasing to the eye? Then, you need to acquire the right decorative items for your pantry.
Do you need your kitchen pantry space to be functional and easy to use? Then, you should declutter and throw away old items stuck at the back of your cupboards. If you want your kitchen pantry to be both functional and pleasing on the eye, follow these steps –
- Get rid of every kitchen utensil or food item you don’t need or use regularly. Focus on eliminating the items that haven’t seen the light of day for months. For example, old jars of pickles rotting away at the back of your cupboard.
- Reorganize all dry food items (rice, nuts, popcorn, etc.). Store them inside glass jars or canisters. Give each glass jar a label.
- Stack different categories of food items at different height levels. For example, keep junk food items away from your eye level. Keep spices, rice, and other essential items in the most easily accessible regions of your pantry.
- Store all vegetables in handy, easy to access baskets, preferably at the bottom of your pantry. This region of the pantry is typically the coolest so storing your veggies there makes total sense.
The best kitchen pantry solutions are always the ones that are customized to suit the homeowner’s needs. Follow these steps to create your custom pantry space. For a more detailed explanation, read – How to find the best kitchen pantry solutions, the provider?
- Create a customized labelling system:
Your glass containers or jars deserve special treatment. After all, they’re the most sensitive and the most appealing items in your pantry. To streamline the look of your pantry, attach customized labels to your glass containers. The customized labels will make it easier for you to locate important ingredients. The labels will also instil an extra element of style in your pantry.
- Make sure your labels look aesthetically pleasing. Keep them facing forward to ensure they’re easy to find.
- Assess each jar to know what’s inside. Use this step to learn what items you need to restock. Label each jar, basket, or bin with accurate tags. If possible, use label makers (they look very professional).
- If your pantry system has pull-out drawers, you’ll need to label your glass jars from above. Or else, you’ll have to pull out each jar to check what’s what every time you need to use them.
For an in-depth take on this labelling process, read – Why you should go after these excellent kitchen pantry solutions.
- Create an open shelving system:
Pantry shelves can be manufactured with all types of materials. From wires to glass to wood finished with varnish – you have many materials to choose from when designing pantry shelves. Reclaimed wood is a popular choice these days as it adds a rustic charm to kitchen and pantry spaces. Irrespective of what shelf material you choose, go for open shelving.
Open shelving is ideal for pantries as they help create visible and easily accessible storage spaces. However, homeowners must take some steps to keep their open shelves well-organized.
- Dedicate each shelf to a specific category of kitchen products or food items. For instance, you can create a “baking shelf” to store cookie cutters, cake powder, and other ingredients.
- Create a separate shelf for condiments, spices, and oils. These are often the most-used items inside kitchen spaces, and they need to be within easy reach.
- Create a shelf for healthy food items like beans, pulses, anchovies, dried mushrooms, etc. Consuming these items regularly is important. So, make them as visible and as easily accessible as possible.
Pro Tip: Having a mix of both open shelving and kitchen drawers is the best way to maximize your kitchen space. Use deep drawers to store less-used items like wine bottles, cake mixes, etc. Use your open shelves to store items you use most frequently.
- Group different kitchen items in separate baskets:
This is one of the most popular kitchen pantry solutions mainly because it’s easy to do. Instead of storing all kitchen items separately, group them based on specific categories inside baskets. By doing so, you won’t have difficulties locating different kitchen items.
For instance, create a “miscellaneous” basket category to store all tableware, tablecloths, etc. Any time you need these items, you can go directly to your labelled baskets.
- Eliminate cabinet doors:
Unlike the rest of the kitchen pantry solutions on this list, this one is slightly controversial. Cabinets will always be great additions to pantries as they create storage spaces for bigger, heavier items. But, the items that homeowners typically store inside their pantry cabinets are either not used frequently or too space-consuming.
That’s why getting rid of all cabinet doors in your pantry space makes sense. The items inside the cabinets will be easy to access. Plus, the absence of cabinet doors will make you think twice about cluttering. No more tossing items into the depth of your cupboards. Keeping cupboard spaces visible compels homeowners to stay organized.
Use these pantry organization ideas to ensure your kitchen space is functional and visually appealing!
