Giving the Pantry a Workout

Home pantries and the inside of cabinet spaces are in the spotlight on Instagram. There are pictures of focused creativity in kitchens across the nation that have made organizing the cereal, pasta, beans and other staples into a national pastime. And have you watched Kane Brown, the singer-songwriters’ celebrity pantry makeover on Netflix? The show is called “Get Organized with the Home Edit” which is a home-organizing reality show.

Most people selling a home believe that people will not open cabinets and drawers in a kitchen, but they do. Even if you aren’t planning to sell your home, you most likely will enjoy having your pantry areas and kitchen cupboard items available to you with greater accessibility.

So, if you want to create that feel-good moment as you open a cabinet or drawer, start by taking the following professional kitchen organizational advice I offer to those who are getting ready to list a home:

• Start with emptying out the cabinet or drawer. Toss anything expired or stale. Remove any items from the stack of things that should not go back inside.
• Categorize. Whether it’s a pantry or a cabinet, the best kitchens have zones. Zones include places for baking or breakfast or snacks. Before placing items that were in a cabinet back into the same cabinet, think about whether there is a smarter space to use.
• Remove packaging. Space is saved by using air-tight containers which stack neatly on top of each other or side by side. For those who have established households, I encourage you to see what you have around the house that could add order to the inside of the pantry or cabinet. Can you use some of those silver bowls that only get used on rare occasions to display snacks on a shelf? Or do you have old-time canning jars that can be filled with lids? Doing this removes those items from other areas in the home and works double-duty to organize space and provide storage.
• Label. One way to give a consistent appearance to any display of items within a cabinet, pantry or drawer is to tie everything together with labeling. Ribbons, fabric and paint pens give opportunities to add character while labeling.
• Shelving within shelves. I’ve used Lazy Susans to give a full-view of everything in a space and extension rods to separate spaces to slide cookie sheets together instead of stacking them on top of each other.

If you are lucky enough to have a pantry, you will want to apply the same tips to setting up that area. New homes with more than 3,500 square feet typically offer walk-in pantries as a standard feature. Even post-career families are organizing cabinets in the new homes they are building for grandchildren to grab their favorite treats. You might even place an old-time dish drying rack inside the cabinet to give a special space for the kids’ dishes and cups. This works whether your house is new or has been loved for years.

Pantries give space to conceal kitchen items and keep items out of site in the kitchen so that the kitchen can be used for entertainment space. Being able to close the pantry door makes opening up our homes easier as we are beginning to exit the pandemic.

With the idea that kitchen counters should be clear to give the kitchen the ability to become a place for guests to enjoy, having cabinets, cupboards and pantries ready for the occasion makes great sense. Having a clean counter even makes bringing in bags of groceries fun!

Space gives opportunity and inspiration to the important things in life.  It’s important to enjoy the ways we’ve created to live at home over the last year especially.  Call me at 360.635.1121 to come take a look at how you can best prepare to list your home. You can also email me at DianneMorrisHomes@gmail.com