A Personal Organizer | Helena Alkhas
Professional Organizing Glenview, IL | Become a Professional Organizer
You may want some practical pantry organizing tips if you do your groceries and at the check out you brace yourself for the total, and you start asking yourself “Can we possibly be eating this much?” Your pantry is packed and yet you still you can’t find what you need for tonight’s dinner. Some pantries can be hard to organize: a large family, an awkward corner and you feel stuck!
Do you have a junk drawer?! Is it a big mess and jumbled with everything that doesn’t have a home? Well, we all have one, and it’s hard to figure out how to organize it when there are so many tiny parts and multiples of everything in such a small space. After all is a drawer!
But don’t worry, everything can get organized, and I will show you how to organize it and make it look impeccable.
Keep watching to see what you can achieve and how to organize it and make it super functional for daily use!
Enjoy your great looking and functional drawer!
I hope you find this video on How to Organize your junk drawer useful and that it helps you get your junk drawers organized.
Did you like these tips? SHARE them with your friends and family!
Do you have a monster living in your junk drawer?!
I can’t bear to show you photos of the other parts of my ‘pantry’.
The poorly designed space in my kitchen means it’s impossible to organize, so as a result my ‘pantry’ is in 4 different areas of my kitchen.
How many times a week do you look up from whatever it is that you’re doing only to realize it’s almost dinner time and you have no idea what you will serve? If you’re as busy as I bet you are it happens more times than you’d like to admit.
When dinner time looms and the fridge is unhelpfully empty, my pantry saves me time and time again. A chance comment about how my pantry is so helpful on photo of a gorgeous pantry Helena posted on her Facebook page led to her asking if I’d like to write this post.
I accepted and then was immediately filled with doubt…you see my pantry looks nothing like the gorgeous, glossy photos you see in the magazines. Compared to those sleek, color and size coordinated miracles of organization and style, my pantry is a ghastly mess. A prior owner of our house had the kitchen re-done at some time in the last 15 years or so, and the kitchen is seriously lacking in well designed, functional food storage space. Instead my ‘pantry’ is an awkward jumble of spaces that defy all my attempts to tame it. While I struggle with finding a solution to this chaos I’ve realized that a ‘pantry’ has a dual nature.
The obvious is the physical layout. More important are the contents to be found within it. Despite the fact that my pantry is located in 4 different locations in my kitchen it is a constant source of help. Each zone has ended up with it’s own focus – snacks in one place, baking supplies in another, beans, pastas, rice, etc in the third and so on. While a magazine stylist would recoil in horror, I keep it well stocked and am able to pull a miracle out of the hat when the dreaded question “What’s for dinner?” heads my way.
And once I’ve made dinner, I turn to my far better organized silverware to lay the table, then sit down to eat a real meal with my family.
Click for my sterling silver.
_________________________
Nancy Stuckwisch of Silver Magpies has had a life-long fascination with vintage silver.
She loves to cook, then sit down with friends and family to eat.
Nancy believes we should get the sterling silver out of the cupboard, onto the table, and then into the dishwasher.
Even if cooking is not your favorite activity in your household list we have to agree that a well-organized kitchen makes life easier, less stressful and also more economical.
Maintaining the kitchen clean will also be easier when you don’t have to deal with clutter on the countertops or messy containers and spills in the fridge or pantry.
Planning healthy, home-made meals becomes a breeze when we know what’s in our pantry and freezer.
So, let’s see how you can get your kitchen organized and start enjoying that space, even if it’s just for a coffee break!
PS: I am not known for my cooking skills. However, I joke that I’m excellent at keeping the kitchen and the pantry organized so the chef can do what he does best! Got it?
– Food storage
– Pantry, Fridge & Bulk Storage
– Food prep
– Cooking
– Washing
– Storage
Today, let’s take a look at some ideas on how to make the pantry perform its best!
Maintaining the pantry organized is essential to make your life simpler when it’s time to cook dinner or just put a sandwich together for a snack.
It allows you to see what you have in storage, avoid waste by using them before expiration date as well as reduce trips to the supermarket. Not to say it will save money as you won’t buy duplicates or unnecessary ingredients. Bonus benefit? It will avoid upsets when you decide to prepare dinner just to find out you don’t have all you need.
However, to make this work, assign a time to empty, clean and then re-organize the pantry.
Depending on the size of your pantry we may be talking anywhere from to 2-3 hours to a full morning.
First, remove all the items in your pantry and organize them in “families”. As you empty the pantry, go through each item and check for the expiration date, clean the cans and containers and then place them on your counter or if it’s too busy, open a sheet on the floor and work right there.
[clickToTweet tweet=”When it comes to organizing, everybody has a family and every family has a home. Use my easy to follow steps to organize your pantry! #organizing #kitchen #proorganizer” quote=”When it comes to organizing, everybody has a family and every family has a home.” theme=”style1″]
– Baking Goods
– Bread & Cereal
– Breakfast – maple syrup, coffee, cocoa, teas, jelly, honey, Peanut Butter, Nutella, etc.
– Canned Goods
– Dry Goods (Flour, Sugar for example)
– Grains
– Pasta
– Snacks
– Spices
Now that you have everybody lined up and assigned to a group let’s go back to your pantry and clean the whole area.
Of course, you can make this a bigger project by painting the inside with a nice, happy color, by lining the shelves, adding a trim to each shelf, by installing lighting or simply by adjusting the height of your shelves.
Place your least used items on the very top shelf or the lowest one. Heavy items should also be placed lower, so they don’t break your back when you’re retrieving them.
Heavy items should also be placed lower, so they don’t break your back when you’re retrieving them. A great way to use corners is by placing an extra-large turning table (also known as lazy Suzan) in this area to make the best of your space.
Your most used items should be placed at eye level. Think breakfast, grains, and canned goods.
You can use containers to house all the “families”. You can use anything, from plastic bins all the way to beautiful natural fiber baskets. Whatever fancy your eyes and budget best, go for it.
I recommend BPA-free plastic containers as they are easy to clean on an ongoing basis, allow you to quickly check your “inventory”, and tend to be less expensive!
Now that you know how much you have of each item, if you decide to install organizing gadgets, you can make your shopping list.
But wait, before you go, take all the measurements you need to buy items that will fit in your space.
Take the measurement of each shelf: how deep, how wide and the space between each of them. Make a drawing of your pantry and insert the measurements there. When going on your shopping trip bring your list and a measuring tape!
Looking forward to having your kitchen, pantry and meals planned and organized?
Use the Kitchen-Menus Printables Specialty Set to get your kitchen and menu organized to have time for more fun!
It’s a great value and includes all the forms you’ll need to manage your grocery shopping & food storage needs. All files are editable and can be used for years to come
Here is what you’ll get in the Kitchen Printables Specialty Set:
 SimpleHuman Pullout DrawersThese are my favorite pull out drawers! They have great quality and come with a divider, helping you group like items together. They also have a flat surface, easy to clean and that won’t allow items to fall through. |
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 Bakeware OrganizerAvoid hard to reach and tumbling baking sheets on your cabinets. With this organizer you can neatly file your baking pans. |
 Shelf RisersA must have in cabinets! Increase your vertical storage and make better use of the space under the sink with this versatile gadget. |
 Gravity Can Feeder |
 Handled Baskets |
 Grocery Bag Container |
 Corner Shelf Riser |
More Pantry Organizing Products
Spring is one of my favorite times of the year. After a long winter, we are all open to the idea of letting some fresh air come in, we want to get ready for the “new time” ahead and warmer days to enjoy.
At this time of the year, I work with my clients in large de-cluttering and organizing sessions getting their house organized and ready for summer!
In each case, I suggest simple strategies that will bring lasting results:
Start small, both in space and time, so you can feel you got somewhere after each session. Use a timer and work until it’s up. Keep your water and phone close by.
When working on a large area, select a space to work on, the one closest to the door and then, work on a clockwise direction, until you reach the door again.
Before working make sure you have all you’ll need: paper bags (for repairs, move to another room, donate, toss), markers, dust cloth, a quick pick up vacuum cleaner, measuring tape, notepad, and a pencil)
This is the time of the year we do switch from warm and bulky sweaters, back to lighter outfits, so it’s the perfect time to check all that was used, that needs repairs, dry cleaning or that you decided to donate. Be honest and let go of what you don’t love, don’t need or that you won’t use because hurts you (expensive shoes?), won’t look good (tight on the hips), but you keep because you paid for it. Keeping them won’t change the fact that you don’t use them.
It’s a new week and a great time for checking how our organizing morning routines are going.
One of my most important daily home organizing routines, for an enjoyable morning, happens the “night before”.
This is the time of the day, right after dinner, while the boys are in the shower when I organize the kitchen and get things done, so when I wake up for a new day, things are all lined up and I’m a happy camper!
So here are my simple organizing tips on getting your mornings easier and who knows, stress-free. (hey with kids & work to juggle we might as well smile, right?)
Get everything in the dishwasher, ready to go. If you wash your dishes, five minutes of drying and putting away will give you a clean countertop and a smile of satisfaction the next morning. I guarantee!
Wipe your counters with your favorite spray. I use Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day and I love all the scents of this line. A clean, clutter-free kitchen counter is a half-way organized kitchen!
Use a pick-up vacuum to clean the floors and mop it every 2 days – or as needed.
This will help you keep the entire house clean.
The main entrance of your house and your kitchen are the areas that bring most of makes your floor dirty: dust and crumbs. So keeping these areas always clean and having the tools to help you in this job is essential!
In my case, spoons, bowls, and containers with cereal and I’m set. The boys are big helpers and love to wake up – usually before I do and just grab the milk to enjoy their breakfast.
Set your coffee-maker with filter, coffee, and water and when you wake up, it’ll be ready and waiting for you. Even before having a programmable coffee maker, I used to have it ready and on the push of a button, I had my coffee.
Do you prepare school lunches? I do and we know how hectic it can get in the morning, so make sure the kids bring the lunch boxes after school to the kitchen.
Go ahead and prepare everything you can do ahead of time, like sandwiches, snacks, boxed drinks and get it organized and out of the way.
Keep the refrigerated items in the fridge, but all together and ready to go. If I send cheese sticks, ketchup, hot-dog, then I place it all together in a small box in the fridge.
Lastly, make sure the backpacks are ready with homework, signed papers and that jackets, hats, and shoes are also in place and ready to go.
All this takes me 30 minutes to get done, and I can tell you, it’s all worth it!
We get to enjoy our morning coffee or whatever your morning ritual is without rushing, without stressing ourselves and everyone around us.
We get to enjoy our kids and are able to focus on the good things, how sweet and yummy they are, instead of being in a battle with them.
Do you have a morning routine? What are your biggest hurdles? Leave your comments in the comment section below!
Looking forward to having your household chores planned and organized?
Use the Chores Printables Specialty Set to get your household routine in place, so you have time for more fun!
Here is what you’ll get in the Chores Printables Specialty Set:
