By Georgina Martin, Professional Home Organiser
Every home has one: the pantry that never quite works the way it should. It’s one of the most frequently used spaces in the house, yet also one of the most frustrating. Category chaos, expired items and surplus supplies chip away at money, time and energy without you noticing. After transforming pantries of every shape and size across Adelaide, I’ve seen the same problems come up again and again. The good news is they’re easier to fix than you’d think.
Out of reach
Deep pantry shelves can be both a blessing and a curse. While they increase storage capacity, so often food gets pushed to the back and forgotten about. Before you know it, expired products and multiples are hiding out of sight. Naturally, we grab the easiest to reach items. After all, when preparing lunches or cooking dinner, we are often in a hurry and juggling multiple demands.
The key to solving this problem is to increase accessibility. Enter, my MVPP (Most Valuable Pantry Product) – Kmart’s range of roller storage compartments. These are available in assorted widths and heights, which means they work in almost any space. Additional features that increase accessibility are wheels which allow the containers to slide in and out of shelves easily and a handle on each end for easy lifting.
A close second is Howards Storage World’s range of Mimi pantry containers. These containers are ideal for pantries with shallower shelves, where accessibility and visibility are still a challenge.
For a fixed solution, you could also consider installing pull out drawers to the shelves like these Kmart options.
Category chaos
15 tins of tomatoes. Enough flour to last five years. Sound familiar? Without clear categories, duplicates creep in fast, and before you know it, you’re buying the same thing twice. Grouping like items together is one of the quickest ways to create order and cut waste in the pantry. Pair that with the right storage containers, and you’re one step closer to a system that actually works – and your sanity intact.
Add labels to the mix, too. In my experience, they’re less about organisation and more about making sure everyone else in the house has no excuse for not knowing where something goes. A simple Dymo label maker does the job, or you can order personalised labels from stores such as Little Label Co.
Surplus supplies
Trying to remember what’s already in your pantry while you’re racing around the supermarket is its own kind of mental load. Once your categories are under control, the next step is a system for tracking what you have. Apps such as WiseList or My Pantry Tracker let you monitor your supplies, build shopping lists and cut back on unnecessary purchases. If you’re also trying to go additive-free, the Supermarket Swap app is worth a look.
For an app-free option, consider taking photos of your pantry categories when you are placing groceries away. Building the habit of checking this visual reference before purchasing can once again save you time and money.
Rotation
Unpacking shopping can often happen in a flurry, meaning newer items you intentionally have duplicates of (cue favourite meals and snacks) can get put at the front repeatedly. To avoid expiration exasperation, try placing new items in your pantry behind the older ones. This habit of rotation also presents an additional opportunity for auditing your pantry and adjusting your shopping list.
Spacing constraints
Sometimes the fix is as simple as adjusting your shelves. Most pantries let you change the shelf height, and it might be worth adding an extra one altogether. Bunnings offers an in-store timber cutting service at a reasonable price to make this easier – just remember to measure first, and purchase second.
Set aside a couple of hours, send the family out, and get sorting!
Georgina Martin from Collective Order shares what actually works when it comes to organising a home: less stuff, more space, and an end to buying things you already own.
collectiveorder.com.au
@collectiveorderau
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