New Year New Pantry – Tips for pantry organisation on a budget!
“Tidy house, tidy mind” is definitely something I’ve come to agree with over the past couple of weeks. At the end of 2018 after a busy couple of months of creating a new business (f.acne), my wardrobe, pantry, car & bathroom was a mess. It had gotten so bad that I had started rotating clothing based upon what I could find in the rubble of clothes left on my wardrobe floor. This decision making was also taking place when visiting my pantry (a space which in 2018 apparently became an electrical cupboard thanks to Mitch). Amongst the old crackers, flour & tuna jars were lightbulbs, a google home and random objects which had been thrown out of sight into the foodie darkness in an attempt to tidy the rest of the home.
I woke up the day before January 1, 2019 and decided enough was enough! The objective of my tidying wasn’t just to “tidy”, it was to feel happiness living in my work and home environment (for those that don’t know my home is also my office). To feel motivated I must have a motivational space and that is one of my biggest lessons coming into 2019. In this blog post I will share my tips for a pantry overhaul! Since the beginning of the year, I have also overhauled my desk, wardrobe and bathroom so definitely let me know if you would like to see any more #tidying tips for 2019.
BEFORE I DID MY TIDY (don’t judge..wait until you get to the bottom of this post to see the after photo!)
Tip #1 Get inspired! This is by far my favourite part of the process. I turn to Pinterest and google images for my Inspo. Simply search “Pantry organisation” and you should be provided with plenty of ideas to kickstart your overhaul. I like to save the pictures in my phone and use them as a reference when I go shopping…which leads me to my next tip.
Tip #2 Find bargains! Lucky for you I’ve already done all of the searching and my two favourite destinations for pantry organisation (jars, perspex containers and food holders & chalk pens for labelling) is Kmart & Target. Jump online before you head in store and see which store has any of your desired items on sale. I purchased Maison jars for $1.50-$3.50 (depending on size). To save money (and time) creating labels, I also used a CHALK PEN to write on the glass of the jars. You can find these pens in Kmart in the children’s section.
Kmart Liquid Chalk – https://www.kmart.com.au/product/liquid-chalk/693647
Kmart Jars & Canisters – https://www.kmart.com.au/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchDisplay?searchTerm=jars&categoryId=&storeId=10701&catalogId=10102&langId=-1&pageSize=30&beginIndex=0&sType=SimpleSearch&resultCatEntryType=2&showResultsPage=true&searchSource=Q&pageView=
Tip #3 Take EVERYTHING out of your pantry & start fresh. There are pros and cons to this tip. If you haven’t touched your pantry in a while you will throw out a lot (I’m not a fan of food waste). However, on the other hand you will de-clutter and get to know what you actually have in your pantry so it doesn’t go to waste! An additional tip is to wipe down all surfaces.
Tip #4 Organise your pantry into sections. I organised mine into baking, smoothie ingredients, canned food & packaged goods.
Tip #5 Start transferring product into jars to conserve shelf life (and make your pantry look like it’s got its S%&T together!). This is honestly my favourite part! Your pantry will come to life very quickly and wow whoever visits.
My final tip is to MAINTAIN your pantry. To avoid having to do it all again, try to keep your pantry organised & looking fresh. It is also handy to have some extra jars on hand so you can fill them up when new products are added to the space.
BEFORE & AFTER