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After a year of being on lockdown, you've likely accumulated quite a bit in the way of paper and crafts for the kids. You may have even acquired some new hobby supplies you had every intention of trying out 'since you were home anyway,' but never got around to using. It's finally time to spring clean closets, deep clean bedrooms, declutter and purge and donate those unused items.
That goes for the kitchen too – as the hub of your home – it's likely bursting at the seams. If your kitchen is in need of some attention, here are 7 pantry organization tips for spring cleaning to help refresh your space.
How to organize your pantry
Knowing when the food in your pantry and refrigerator actually expires is the first step to a good pantry cleaning. Then, take some time to think about how you use the items in your pantry to determine the best storage solutions.
1. Have a plan in place before you begin your pantry organization
Mom Cyn Gagen shared her pantry organization process. "Once I clean it out, I take inventory of what's left in there. I use a Google spreadsheet and add everything to it so the whole family can access it," she told Mom.com. "We can use it when meal planning and before grocery shopping. I also highlight the items that are close to expiration so we can be sure to use those up first."
2. Think outside the box to reconfigure food storage containers
Choosing the right storage containers will make a huge difference in your pantry organization. Professional organizer and home lifestyle influencer Nikki Boyd says one of her favorite tips for organizing the pantry is to remove the original packaging of most of your non-perishables.
"I love canisters, I think they streamline a pantry; you don't have to see all the boxes and food and things that bring on visual clutter," she said in one of her recent pantry organization videos. Nikki suggests taking boxed items like pancake mix out of their outer packaging and placing them in a canister.
3. Use lazy Susan type items to store oils, vinegar, and syrups
You can either purchase a lazy Susan or DIY them as Nikki does in her pantry organization video. Using deep bowls from Target and a lazy Susan swivel plate hardware from a home improvement store, you can corral and organize bottles for easy access.
Tips to help organize spice cabinet shelves
There are a handful of spices in my pantry that use so infrequently I find myself accidentally purchasing multiple containers. Alleviate multiple purchases and save by organizing your spices or cutting back on what you purchase.
4. Purchase spices from the bulk section of the supermarket
If you were to check expiry dates on many of your spice containers, you'd probably notice they're long past their prime. Popular YouTube content creator and cookbook author Bobby Parrish suggests purchasing spices in the bulk section of stores like Whole Foods or a spice shop. Rather than buying in bulk though, simply purchase just the amount needed for a few week's worth of meals.
"I don't know how long it's been on the shelf, so why would I pay top dollar for something that's been on the shelf for 6, 8 months," Parrish says in a recent video. He instead suggests buying spices by the ounce. "If I just need a pinch, I get a pinch, If I need an ounce, I get an ounce." The other benefit to this is that you're not paying for glass or plastic packaging, which factors into the cost of spices on the grocery store shelves. "Don't pay for the packaging, you don't know how long it's been there," he explained on his YouTube channel, FlavCity.
5. Use tiered shelf storage to keep spices organized
If you like having bulk containers on hand or cook for a large family, a simple pinch of this or that isn't going to cut it. Consider upgrading your spice rack organization with a tiered shelf. Storing those larger spice containers in this way tiered makes it easier to see what's available. We've been using these 2-tiered spice rack organizers in our pantry for years.
Easy solutions for reducing food waste
Our family has been taking small steps toward a more eco-friendly home and trying to reduce the food waste we generate. One fun way to do this is by composting and food recycling in the kitchen. It also helps keep the pantry organized because we’re able to use everything we have.
6. Regrow vegetables and herbs from scraps
Try your hand at a DIY herb garden. Green onions and scallions are the easiest herbs to grow from scraps and some have had success growing onions, celery, and potatoes from discarded ends.
7. Use compost from food waste in your garden
Food recycling or composting is a way of using discarded scraps of fruits and vegetables to nourish your backyard garden beds or container garden.
As we move into the warmer months, tackling big spring cleaning projects is less intimidating when taken in small chunks at a time. Your home didn't get cluttered overnight. It's going to take time to get it back to its normal pre-pandemic state. Take your time and try not to get overwhelmed — we've had enough of that to last a lifetime.