Behind Closed Drawers: Kitchen Pantry Edition
A pretty, practical and organized pantry can feel elusive, especially when my four littles roll in after school. But that special corner of high traffic real estate deserves extra special attention to make the every day feel more efficient, streamlined and yes even beautiful. Our dry food storage is limited to a few shelves. And while I can’t stand a wild mix of packaging, I respect the need for practicality. It has taken a few attempts, but we’re finally honing in on a system that works for the six of us. Here are a few quick tips for an organized pantry that apply to tidy medicine cabinets, junk drawers and car consoles too… should you get the itch:
Take everything out. Make toss (ahem, expired when?!), give, keep piles.
Divide contents by category. Snacks is our most used bin, so we made three.
Find lightweight baskets for each category. I like opaque, water hyacinth bins.
Decant, decant, decant. I love these air-tight, clear containers.
Label, label, label. Who doesn’t love an excuse to pull out their label maker?
Make access to frequently used items easy. Our snacks were too high, at first.
Set a time limit. I gave myself an hour, turned on a podcast and got to work.
Assuming these updates hold and my family doesn’t revolt, I’m considering lining the interior with pinstripe paper like this. If you’re rolling your eyes, I don’t blame you. But if it makes me smile, I’ll probably do it anyway. Here’s to elevating the everyday and lots of smiles along the way! XO, L
