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Willa
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How do you all organize your pantry whether it's a walk-in like I have, or a closet or cupboard? DH made a comment about not being able to find things in ours and so I thought I'd do an overhaul before summer is over  I'm an intuitive who likes to organize by how it "feels" to me but that doesn't help teenage sons to put away groceries or dh to find the chili when he wants it 
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Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
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Bridget
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We have 2 pantries. (Well, one is the coat closet with a shelf in it.) In one we keep dry and boxed food. The other has cans and jars. This makes it easy for everyone to put groceries away and pretty much find what they are looking for. You could divide your shelves up this way. Very straight forward. Label the shelves if it helps your family.
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Bridget, happily married to Kevin, mom to 8 on earth and a small army in heaven
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stefoodie
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i organize by "cuisine". i have a "healthy baking shelf" that has all the different flours (really should be in the freezer but there's no room there, so i just put them in airtight containers and pray the bugs don't get them), meal, etc.
then i have a "regular baking shelf" that has chocolate chips, bittersweet choc, cocoa powder, cake flour, etc.
an asian shelf that holds noodles, asian canned goods, sauces and condiments, Chinese mushrooms, tree ears, etc.
an italian shelf for canned tomatoes, pasta, etc.
then i have a "catch all" shelf where anything that doesn't go into any category goes. mexican guava paste, spanish bomba, grape leaves, peanut butter, etc.
that's the pantry in the kitchen, basically a cabinet about 3 feet wide.
then i have a rolling cart that holds all spices (top shelf), sauces and vinegars (middle shelf), wines (bottom shelf), etc. -- this is stationed beside the fridge but goes around the room wherever i need it. the spices are all together in one box, with labels on the tops of the spice jars so i can look down and know what's in them. the items that are used most often are on top like baking soda, cornstarch, salt, etc. and are grouped by box/container shape.
then there's the pantry downstairs in the basement near the freezer that houses "bulk stuff" like rice milk, Asian food items that we can only get every once in a while at the Asian store 2 hours from here, things from the co-op that we order by the case like cereal, canola oil, etc.
at the island the kids have their own cupboard where they have their "easy access" cereals and snacks and teas.
AND shelves, drawers and cabinets are labeled so they know where to put stuff. still doesn't work perfectly but good enough.
hth,
stef
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JennGM
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I organize by types of cooking/baking. All the flours (I have specialty/allergy flours) and sugar and cornmeal in one area. All the chocolate chips, nuts, brown sugar, powdered sugar, (dry baking goods) next to that.
Canned goods are on two shelves. All broths and soups are in one area. Beans in another. Canned tomato types all in one section. Then miscellaneous, like artichokes, green chilis, olives, in one section.
Extra jars or containers of mayonnaise, peanut butter, soy milk in one area.
Another area is noodles, spaghetti, rice, etc.
Then cereals and oatmeal and breakfast items.
Tea is in another area (we seem to have a lot of variety).
And then my problem is chips, various treats that float in and out. That doesn't have a particular home...mostly because "Not Me" puts it in various places.
[Edited to include:] All bottles, like olive oil, vinegars, soy sauce, are also in another section.
Garbage Bags and extra wrap and ziploc bags and foil and paper plates and napkins are in another section.
Small appliances are also included in the pantry, and then I have some casserole and baking dishes on another part of the shelf, since I have so few cabinets.
Spices are near the stove, where they aren't supposed to be, but they are most convenient.
Now I'm moving in 2 weeks, and have to start a new pantry, but every time I've had to set up, I still have the same "feel" to my pantry. I love to label things, so that dh and family know where things belong. This house had wire shelves, but joy! the next house has real shelves that I can label.
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Becky Parker
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I have a two pantries. A small one in the kitchen and a large one in the basement. The kitchen has two cupboards - one tall, one short. The tall one has 4 shelves. On the top shelf goes all the baking supplies - flours, sugars, nuts, etc. The second shelf has all the snacks. I bought some beautiful large jars that I transfer things like pretzels and tortilla chips to because I don't like the way all those bags tear and my kids are terrible about clipping them closed. The third shelf contains what I just call "dry goods". I have jars on this shelf too. They contain pasta, rice, cereal, etc. Finally, on the fourth shelf I keep extra grocery bags in a box, potatoes and onions. In the small kitchen cupboard go all the cans. The basement has shelves on which I store extra cans and jars of foods that don't fit upstairs. This is also where I keep a lot of the foods that I can myself and some of our produce from the garden like winter squash (it's the coolest room in the house). We buy a lot of our food from a coop (organic) so I tend to have a lot of bulk that I need to store. Right now on our basement shelves you will find 12 bags of blue tortilla Chips, 12 jars of raspberry fruit spread, 12 jars of salsa and a bunch of other stuff! People who see it think I must have 12 children instead of just 4!
Becky
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amiefriedl
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Becky,
Small pantry-world!! I have the exact same set up. Almost word for word, how funny! My husband built shelves in our basement utility room for all my bulk storage.
The only difference is that in my upstair pantry I have one shelf for my small appliances because i was sick of the crowding on my counters.
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Blessed with an awesome hubby and Mom of ds10, dd7, dd3 and dd 10months.
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guitarnan
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Organize?????????? Bwha-ha-ha.
I have cereals and cans on one shelf, spices on two big shelves, baking things on another, bottles on the top shelf...somehow there is never, ever enough space. Tupperware keeps my flours nice (we bake), but the shelves in my pantry cupboards aren't adjustable, so the cans and boxes are just a mess. Has anyone found a good way to handle shelves that have too much space between them?
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MEBarrett
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Erin, who is six, put away the groceries for me the last time I did a big shop. She hauled the bags downstairs to the big pantry and filled the lower two shelves haphazardly with everything. The top two shelves she can't reach so they remain largely empty.  She was so proud of being a helper  I did not have the heart to change it. Since she "organized"  it she is the person I go to find stuff for me. Helps build up the reading skills too.
So I guess my answer is there is no formal organization but a lot of love went into the process.
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Willa
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guitarnan wrote:
Organize?????????? Bwha-ha-ha.
I have cereals and cans on one shelf, spices on two big shelves, baking things on another, bottles on the top shelf...somehow there is never, ever enough space. Tupperware keeps my flours nice (we bake), but the shelves in my pantry cupboards aren't adjustable, so the cans and boxes are just a mess. Has anyone found a good way to handle shelves that have too much space between them? |
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Nan, my husband ordered some between-shelf wire racks once a long time ago. Unfortunately he doesn't remember where he got them or what they were called. I can't find anything that looks like them in a brief Google search.
But anyway, they are set on little legs so they are about five inches high, and their length is adjustable. They have enough room underneath for a normal-size can, and on our shelves there is room for cans on top of the rack as well.
Clear as mud, huh? Thanks everyone for the inspiration and the look into your pantry designs -- it's really interesting!
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Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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Cay Gibson
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Does anyone have or know of a home organizational sheet just for pantries?
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Tami
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Thanks, Cay, for finding this. I was having the same thoughts from the food budget thread...
So, Jodie, can you tell us how you start a pantry system?
I'm eager to learn. 
Thanks!
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Tami
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JodieLyn
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I started a new topic..
http://4real.thenetsmith.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=10227&PN=1& TPN=1
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Kitchen Pantry?
