Declutter Your Pantry: Simple Steps to Kitchen Bliss

In this post, we’ll cover all the practical tips to help you declutter your pantry without a meltdown. Plus, learn to categorize and organize what’s left for easy access.

Forgotten cans of mystery meat, ancient cereal boxes, and half-opened bags of who-knows-what cluttering every inch of precious shelf space. Your pantry looks more like a frat party morning after than an organized rainbow of decanted goodness.

And aside from the stress that’s created from dealing with a messy pantry you can’t find your way around, there are a lot of unexpected benefits that come with decluttering your pantry.

So, ready to bring order to that hot mess? Let’s declutter your pantry!

The first step to declutter your pantry is to break down the simplifying process into manageable sessions.  We are NOT going to drag every item out at once.  That’s a recipe for overwhelm. Instead, you’ll decide on a pace that’s perfect for you.  We’ll discuss labeling and grouping pantry items for easy access and efficient organization. And I’ll share tips and tricks to maintain long-term order in your pantry so that it can stay clutter-free long into the future.

With a few simple systems, you can successfully maintain a decluttered pantry (even if it’s always been a hot mess).

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Break Down the Tasks to Declutter Your Pantry

Decluttering your pantry is less daunting when you break it down into manageable chunks.  Identify each task in your work area, and tackle them one at a time. In our house, we use a tall cabinet as a pantry (I’m only slightly jealous of those of you who have a walk-in).  It has 4 pull out drawers in the lower section, and three fixed drawers in the upper area.  So when I organize, I focus on one drawer at a time to keep the process manageable.  

If you have a larger pantry, you can do the same by focusing on one shelf or wall, or break it down even further to one section at a time.  The goal is to just keep the work area small and manageable.  I like to encourage my clients to break down spaces into 20 minute tasks, so that each task stays achievable and you get some quick dopamine hits (which will keep you pressing on!).

Set a Timer

Stay committed and focused by setting a timer for 20 minutes using the timer on your phone, or a distraction-free timer like this one.

Tackle One Area at a Time

There are a few methods you can as you work to declutter your pantry.  If your pantry is already organized into categories or zones, it’s easier to focus on one area at a time and modify it as needed. However, if there’s no rhyme or reason for where things are shoved in that bad boy, you’ll want to spend a little time creating categories first. That way, as you declutter and purge, you can organize what’s left into logical zones. 

• Create Categories: Make a list of categories such as grains, canned goods, snacks, etc.  Try creating categories based on meal types or nutritional categories (veggies, starches, proteins, etc). The best categories are always however your brain easily groups items.
• Select an Area: Choose which section of your pantry needs attention first.  Aim to keep the sections chinked into 20 minute tasks so that they aren’t overwhelming.
• Purge and Organize: Remove all items from each area, evaluate their necessity, and return them back onto shelves in an orderly fashion according to their category label.

By following this step-by-step approach makes decluttering more manageable and allows you to see visible improvements in smaller increments.

Declutter Your Pantry of Expired and Unwanted Items

It’s always a bit shocking to see just how much food is expired when you declutter your pantry.  While it hurts to see all that money tossed in the trash, use that pain to your gain by reminding yourself of why getting your pantry organized matters.  Not only will eliminating expired food items free up valuable space in your pantry, but it will also help you avoid wasting money on food you won’t eat in the future. 

Check Expiration Dates on All Products

Discard any pantry clutter that’s expired, damaged, or spoiled.  Removing unused or unwanted items is the quickest way to up the amount of free storage space you have in your pantry.

Wipe Shelves Clean After Removing Unwanted Items

After you declutter your pantry shelves, clean them with a damp cloth or sponge and mild soap and water.  I’m always shocked by how many random crumbs are hanging out at the bottom of my pantry shelves!  While the shelves are empty, I take advantage of the easy access and quickly give them a wipe down with a damp rag.

If your pantry is anything like mine, there are always ingredients inside that are perfectly good, but do not match our dietary preferences or restrictions at the time.  Instead of trashing unused food items, consider donating excess stock to local food banks (just be sure all donated items are still within their expiration date).  You can use Feeding America’s Food Bank Locator to find donation centers near you.

Action Steps:

• Set aside time to check expiration dates on all pantry products.
• Gather unwanted yet unexpired items for donation.
• Clean pantry shelves thoroughly after purging expired and unwanted items.
  

Get Your Pantry Organized

Labels are like name tags for your pantry items, making it easy to group like-items together and find what you need quickly.  While labeling is often a personal preference, it can be particularly helpful if you share your space with family members who struggle with organization or need cues to know where things go.  

When it comes to organization, you want your family to have to think as little as possible!  If your kids have to spend time thinking about where something goes as they unpack groceries, they’re likely to just shove things on a shelf somewhere.  However, if areas are clearly labeled (consider pictures for little ones), and they can quickly find where to place things, they are substantially more likely to place items where you want them to go.

Create labels for different categories

Start by deciding what categories make up your pantry’s contents, such as grains, canned goods, baking supplies, snacks, and condiments. Create simple DIY labels or buy pre-made label sets online.  Depending on your organizational preferences, you can keep the categories broad, or create subcategories with additional details.

Keep similar products grouped together

Organize your pantry by keeping similar products together, like storing all pasta varieties on one shelf, canned vegetables in another section, and baking ingredients such as flour and sugar near each other.  Clustering like items together is helpful because your brain won’t have to think as much to find what it is searching for in the pantry, as it’s categorizing like items into a single location.  

Also, it’s also likely many of these items will get used together (such as flour, sugar, or other baking ingredients), so clustering them together makes it quicker to retrieve them for use. 

Consider maximizing your pantry’s efficiency by using additional organizational tools like shelf dividers, lazy Susans, or jar and spice racks.

To Decant, or Not Decant

A quick Pinterest pantry search with inundate you with countless photos of perfectly decanted pantries. Clear bins, beautiful handlettered labels, and acrylic dividers galore. They are gorgeous. Truly. But are all those bins and baskets necessary?

It really boils down to preference. If you find you can stay more organized if you can see everything you have, clear bins might help you save money and sanity long term. Or, you might just love the uniform look of a decanted pantry. If so, declutter your pantry, get organized, and then splurge on some new fancy organizational baskets or containers.

Still others decant because they buy items in bulk to reduce their packaging waste. Buying containers they use again and again is an environmentally conscious decision.

However, if money is a factor, or you don’t want to spend the time taking things out of containers just to place them in different containers, don’t decant. There is no reason to spend a small fortune buying containers if it’s not for you.

In our home, I use a lot of sturdy cardboard boxes from previous purchases to create containers for our food. They help keep me organized, but don’t cost anything extra. I do have some acrylic containers for the varieties of flour and sugar we use, but everything else is repurposed.

Maintain Long-Term Organization

If you want to keep your pantry looking great, it’s important to create a plan. Observe how your family uses the pantry. Notice how frequently you have to reorganize or make adjustments. This will help you know how often you’ll need to check back to keep your pantry looking great.

Schedule Regular Pantry Check-Ins

Maintain an decluttered pantry by scheduling regular check-ins to avoid waste. Use this time to tidy up any cluttered areas that may have accumulated since the last check in.  Consider creating a pantry tidying day, such as a specific date each month on the calendar (the 1st, 15th, etc) or by week (the first week of each month, etc).  

During this time, take note of any items nearing their expiration date or running low in stock to plan meals accordingly.  This will help you waste less food, and save money at the store by cooking out of your pantry first.  

Create a Pantry Inventory

While not an essential step as you declutter your pantry, creating a pantry inventory list can be a great way to stay on top of what you have.  Plus, having everything organized in a list can make quick work of meal planning and grocery list writing.  You can quickly see what you have in stock and what you might need to order that week for your meals. This can help you avoid last minute fast food or pizza nights when you realize you forgot a critical ingredient.

Adjust Organization Methods As Needed

• Evaluate: Periodically evaluate what’s working in your pantry, and what’s not.
• Tweak: Make small adjustments as needed, like rearranging shelves based on frequency of use or investing in new storage solutions.
• Incorporate New Habits: Create tidying habits that support your new organized pantry, like not storing things on the floor or emptying out old food boxes.

By creating quick, regular check-ins, you ensure your pantry never gets back to the pre-purge frat party stage again.  

Declutter your pantry without the overwhelm

Simplifying your pantry doesn’t have to be daunting.  Start small, but breaking down the process into manageable tasks (I love 20 minute tasks).  Make quick progress by purging expired items, and donate any items that are never used but still good.  Then, organize your pantry items by category so that everything is logically connected in a way that works for your brain. 

Remember, though, you live with other people, so labeling pantry areas or items will ensure everyone knows where things go. If desired, use clear containers for bulk items, and consider adding a rolling cart for extra storage.

When you declutter your pantry, you reduce the overwhelm you feel in your home. You breathe new life into your kitchen. You simplify your stress around meal planning and groceries. And you experience less food waste. Plus, you save money by not purchasing duplicate ingredients or wasting food you forgot about. 

Thanks to decluttering your pantry, you’ll waste less food, save money by not adding duplicates to your grocery list, and enjoy cooking more at home now that the stress of your messy pantry is behind you.

The list of benefits that happen when you declutter your pantry is long. It’s time to purge the pantry clutter and enjoy your space again.