Organizing & Purging The Pantry

As many of you know, I use my pantry as a major part of my kitchen.  It is truly the workhorse of my kitchen.  Now I love all those wonderful custom pantries that are so dreamy and to die for.  They are prettier than my kitchen, but mine is not that kind of pantry.  My kitchen is really small, so my pantry is what makes it function.  I call it my “Mini Mart”.  Since it is used multiple times a day, it’s really easy for everything to get out of control.  It was time for Organizing & Purging The Pantry.

I like to keep it clean and tidy and I am a fanatic about rotating the food so that we use what is oldest first.  That way everything in my pantry is fresh and I never have to worry about something spoiling.  It’s just a place that can get out of control if I don’t keep everything out of here that shouldn’t be here.  Over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, I cook a ton, so this room is constantly being used.  Not only all the food items but all the small appliances and baking dishes I have stored here too.  Pretty soon chaos can reign.

It was more than time to find all the things that don’t belong in the pantry and put them back where they belong.  A little moving and purging and this is the mess I came up with.  None of this belongs in the pantry, and I had it stuffed in every corner and on top of the shelves.

That wasn’t all, when I took down the Christmas decor, I put the bar cart away, so all the liquor was stuffed in the pantry too.  I need to find a place other than the pantry for this.

I took almost everything out and made sure I organized it like a grocery store shelf again.  That way it is really easy to shop when I start cooking.  Now everything is cleaned and the floors are mopped and things are back where I can find them and I have room to move around.   Now my appliances and baking dishes are all stacked nice and neat and easy to get if I want to use them.

 

This side is straightened and the top shelf doesn’t have tons of bottles about to fall on my head.

The other side is straightened up too, so now I can find anything I need without a search.

The liquor problem was solved too.  I put everything on a tray on the buffet in the dining room.  Works out great.  Now if someone wants to make a drink they can find what they want too.

 

It always makes me feel good when something is organized and cleaned up.  I love this pantry and am so grateful for all the fabulous easy storage it provides.