Organizing your pantry, Step 3: delightful decanting
I hope you enjoyed part 1 and part 2 of the #uncomplicate your pantry series. Between tossing out expired foods and creating zones, you are well on your way to a beautifully organized and uncomplicated pantry.
The next step for organizing your pantry is to maximize the space you have and create some structure with containers to store food. Most of the time, the external packaging around food is just for transportation and doesn’t allow it to fit on the non commercial shelf easily. You can create a beautiful panty by decanting your food where it makes sense.
What is decanting you ask? Decanting is removing the extraneous external packaging and putting food into containers that fit on the shelf so that you can find them more easily and see your inventory on hand.
These beautiful Weck jars were used to store are variety of nuts and other snacks in this open door pantry. They come in a lot of different sizes and can be repurposed easily.
This is where form and function meet and take your pantry zones to the next level of organization. You may be putting the food into a clear plastic or glass container like the nuts pictured below or you may be putting snack bars in a basket labeled “bars” instead of storing them in the box on the shelf. This is especially helpful prior to grocery shopping so you're not over or under buying.
These baskets come in a variety of sizes for your snack or other food needs. I love the bin clip labels as well to clearly identify what does where.
Do you need to decant EVERYTHING? No, this is YOUR pantry so you get to create the pantry of your dreams by deciding what you want to decant. However, here are my suggestions of what you should definitely decant:
Foods that you buy in bulk like flour, oatmeal, other grains, nuts, and dried fruit
Food purchased from big box retailers like Costco or Sams Club. The packaging for selling isn't conducive to pantry storage.
Foods that are packaged into individual servings
Drinks that are in boxes or packaged with plastic rings.
Cereals purchased in large boxes that don’t fit easily on shelves
This is the best size for cereal boxes.
The above is a good example of a breakfast zone with the bulk foods in clear containers.
Baking supplies can be stored in glass jars.
Or you can store baking supplies in plastic containers. Your choice!
Individual tea boxes take up a lot of space in a pantry or drawer and it’s hard to see how much is left in any one box. Decanting allows you to see all of them together and it’s easier to select which one you want from a tea box.
Drinks stored in your pantry or refrigerator are perfect for decanting, even tea bags.
Take a look at the food in your pantry and see what could be better stored in a container. Remove any excess packaging around individually wrapped items like bars or fruit cups. You'll be amazed at the space you save and how much prettier it already looks!
Or we can do all of this for you with a pantry organizing session.
Happy organizing!
😄