Situation: An incredibly large pantry with built-in shelves and drawers but a very industrious and busy cook. It seemed to have a life of it’s own and created it’s own systems if we didn’t keep an eye open for small hands and hungry mouths!
Challenge: There were so many shelves and drawers that it looked deceptively easy to organize. This is a common situation with too much space in pantries, closets or other areas in your home. Because of the expanse of storage space, you keep buying more and more products to fill it up. Sound familiar? This actually wasn’t the issue in this pantry but a good thing to keep in mind if you have a large but out-of-control storage area.
Solutions: We decided what zones were really necessary to keep everything organized in this space. Zones were super important since this was a very busy mom with a multi-cultural family with a variety of palettes.
Specific zones were created to include:
1. Condiments, Sauces
2. Asian Cuisine
3. Canned Goods: Soups, Veggies
4. Canned Goods: Mexican
5. Baking / Entertaining Zone
6. Rice/Pastas
7. Teas / Beverages
8. Snack Zone
9. Breakfast Zone
These are the zones created specifically for foods. After that we created storage for appliances and other items to include:
1. Entertaining 2. Baking 3. Cooking 4. Paper Goods
Click here to see more specific solutions for storage and zone organizing for pantries. I use these solutions frequently when I work in with clients and you might end up with some new ideas for your own pantry!
PS Please post any good solutions you have developed on your own in the comment form below so that others can benefit from your clever tips and tricks!