HOME ORGANIZATION: KITCHEN AND PANTRY

Photo by Edgar Castrejon on Unsplash

My wife and I decided to organize our kitchen and pantry. Organizing a kitchen/pantry is no small undertaking. Most times, it will be one of the most difficult spaces a couple can organize, but it's the perfect place to organize. Since you are a prepper, food storage is important to you and your family. You need to know how much food you have in stock, and how long it will sustain you and your family during emergencies. Don't jump into organizing without a plan. Plans are easier to write when they follow a repetitive format.

The first step in creating your plan is to define your requirements. What is the reason you are organizing your kitchen? What are your goals? When I was organizing my kitchen, my primary goal was to make it easier to find things. I wanted to know exactly what groceries we had. It was important to me because my wife and I spent money re-buying items we already owned but could not find. I would guess we wasted $500-1000 a year on groceries doing this, and I wanted it to stop. I had to figure out how I could stop this from happening any longer. Defining requirements enables you to use them as motivation to complete your project.

The next step in creating your plan is to inventory what is currently in the kitchen and pantry. By inventorying, you become aware of what you own. You will also determine what size containers, shelves, etc. you will need. Use this opportunity to rid yourself of the unnecessary. For example, check the expiration date on your food. Throw away, recycle, donate, or sell anything you don’t need or want. You don’t need to take a thorough inventory for this step. If you have 2 cans of corn, 1 can of beets, and 3 cans of carrots, jot down ‘can goods’.

MEASURE EVERYTHING

Photo by William Warby on Unsplash

After you complete the inventory, bust out the tape measure and create a diagram of the room. A diagram will aid you in shopping for containers to better organize the room. Measure your cabinets, closets, and open wall space. Draw it out on graph paper, or use my favorite free diagram web app https://www.draw.io. Either way, do it, as the data is important. Calculate the number of storage containers needed. Don't forget about calculating the amount of contact paper you need (if you so choose).

Once your inventory and diagram are complete, the final step is to write out how you want to organize the room. Take your diagram and create ‘zones’ (use no more than 5 zones). By sectioning off areas of your room into zones, you can concentrate on one area at a time. If zone 1 is your pantry in the kitchen, then create a line item for zone 1, and add bullet points like below.

Zone 1: Pantry

- Shelf 1: Can goods, oil, vinegar

- Shelf 2: Cereal, snacks

- Shelf 3: Bread, pasta

Continue writing your plan until you covered all the contents of the room. Upon completion, it is time to go shopping.

TAKE ACTION

Use your measurements to buy or build shelves, containers, or cabinets. My method for organizing is to place items in containers and layer each by height so you can see behind them. Label each container with its contents. Buy pre-made containers. Don’t be afraid to buy more than you actually need; you can return the unused ones. By purchasing extra containers, you will have more options to configure your storage. Next, it is time to start organizing.

Photo by Heather McKean on Unsplash

Concentrate on one zone at a time. Completely remove all the contents from the zone you start with. Once this zone is empty, take advantage of this and use some Lysol wipes and a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and clean that area. You may not have done this in a while, so it's is a good time to take care of it.

Once you’re done cleaning, get a staple gun (or tape) and scissors. Place the contact paper on the shelves. Next, start fitting the new containers and shelves in the new area. I prefer to make things symmetrical. If I have a variety of containers, I ensure one shelf has all the same containers. Figure out what containers fit in each place then fill them with the items you previously removed. Grab a label maker (or masking tape and marker) and label the container with a generic name for its new content. This step is time-consuming, and likely frustrating too. Nothing fits perfectly every time, so you’ll have to be a combo Jenga/Tetris master to make all this work.

Once complete, take a step back and admire your handy-work. You did it! Brew yourself a delicious cup of coffee or tea and enjoy it. Now take a picture or your organized kitchen/pantry, upload it to our Facebook page, and show us how it looks!