Look, I won’t lie.  When family and friends come over and catch a glimpse of my pantry the first thing they usually say is, “Where’s the food?!”

I reply with, “It’s to your right.”  They poke their head inside, turn to the right, have a look around and respond with either, “Um, that’s not normal” or “When can you come over and sort my pantry out?”

#notnormal

Now I know not everyone is bonkers enough to want to display colour co-ordinated platters, cake stands, vases and drink dispensers in their pantry

Or possibly have sections dedicated to small appliances and beverages

#stillnotnormal

but we do all need to eat and for most of us, that requires some level of storage.  

So today, I’m going to show you how to organise your pantry in 3 easy steps.  Are you ready? Great!  Let’s get started.

How To Organise Your Pantry

Step One:  Take Everything Out

This is the most painful part of the whole process.  It takes ages and it gets messy, but it’s totally worth it.  

Take every item out of your pantry and as you do these two things:

1.  Check the expiry date.  If it’s out of date, throw it out!

2.  If it’s in a jar or a container, give it a quick wipe down with a damp cloth.

Put everything on your kitchen bench and get on with Step Two.

Step Two:  Wipe Down The Pantry Shelves

Give those pantry shelves a good wipe down or maybe even a gentle scrub, depending on how long it’s been since you last saw them.  Once that’s done, the fun part of actually organising your pantry can begin!

Step Three:  Begin Operation Organise Your Pantry

Now there are a few different ways you can organise your pantry and it really depends on how much space you have and what sort of set up you’ve got.  I’ve got a corner pantry, which can be a bit of tricky to work with (lots of wasted space in those corners) and it’s definitely a work in progress, but here’s a breakdown of how I’ve organised things so far.

Top Shelf: Grains, Pasta, Cereals

Second Shelf: Baking ingredients, tinned goods, herbs, spreads, sauces & oils (out of shot)

Third Shelf: Scott’s protein powders, potatoes, tissues (Random.  Probably need to move those), snacks for the kids, bread & crackers, chopping boards

Bottom Shelf: Cookie cutters & random baking items, silverware that never gets used but I don’t know where else to put it, missing bowls

Ok, so on the second shelf I have a little trick to gaining a bit more shelf space with all the herbs and sauces and it’s this:

On the left is a 3 tiered shelf that houses herbs and spreads ($7 from Kmart) and on the right is a spinning lazy susan (also $7 from Kmart) that stores sauces.  If you’re short on space, these little gems are miracle workers and worth every dollar!

And that’s how I organise my pantry.  Yes, it’s usually that tidy and sure, I’ll come over and organise your pantry anytime. I find doing things like that oddly relaxing and nothing makes my heart rate lower faster than a row of alphabetised herbs! (There’s a sentence you don’t hear very often!)

Oh and if you’d like to see how I organise my wardrobe, you might like to read this post: How To Declutter Your Wardrobe Like A Boss  It’s full of tips that are easy to do and don’t involve wiping down shelves, so that’s a win!

And finally, if you’re on a organising roll, you might like to grab yourself a FREE Meal Planner Printable which is waiting for you in The Shop.  All you need to do is download it and BAM!  You’ll be able to print it out and plan your meals using all the food in your freshly organised pantry.

How do you organise your pantry?  Is it a hot mess or is it cool, calm and collected?  This is a judgment free zone, so don’t be shy!  Share your pantry stories here or on the blog’s Facebook page.  I’d love to read them.