Taryn is a writer, editor, content strategist, and homebody from Atlanta. I might have helped you declutter your apartment through the magic of a well-paced email newsletter. Or maybe you know me from The Pickle Factory Loft on Instagram.
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Your pantry — be it a room, a cabinet or even just a drawer — deserves a little love. It’s the commissary of your kitchen. The foundation of your foodstuffs. And it’s all too easy to let spice jars and half-full bags of granola take over.
Instead, make a vow to live by these ten guiding principles and enjoy a happy, healthy pantry for years to come.
Thou shalt group like items together
The things you reach for together — like coffee and sweetener — should stay together.
Honor thy baskets
The secret to an instantly organized pantry is a whole lot of baskets or bins. Find some perfectly sized to fit 2 or 3 or 4 to a shelf and stick everything in them. I use these cheap Target ones all over my house.
Thou shalt use uniform containers
In life, I subscribe to a “march to the beat of your own drummer” philosophy. But in a pantry, you’ll be surprised how much a little uniformity makes everything look and feel amazing.
Thou shalt decant thy pantry staples
Speaking of uniform containers, take your pantry staples — the things you run out of and re-up on, like flour or cereal or pasta — and decant them into matching containers like these OXO POP ones.
Thou shalt label everything
Your baskets, your containers, everything.
Remember your habits and make things easy to find
The things you reach for most often should be the most accessible — keep them front and center at eye level.
Honor thy healthy snacks
You can use your pantry organization to help you along on your wellness goals. Put healthy items in front and at eye level, and hide your weaknesses (hi, butterscotch chips) on the backs of high shelves.
Thou shalt make use of shelf risers
If you have deep shelves, stepped shelf risers like this one put everything in reach.
Remember and honor the FIFO principle
That’s “first in, first out.” Use the oldest things in the pantry up first.
Thou shalt purge weekly
It’s the final commandment, but the number one tip: Take on a weekly pantry purge (set an alarm!) to get rid of expired items and consolidate almost-gone goodies.
