Let’s Organize the Pantry!

In keeping with the current decluttering project I’ve embarked on, the pantry is coming up as one of the areas of the house that is in great need of decluttering and re-organizing! As you can see in these posts, “Organization and Simplicity Add Peace“, “Decluttering, An Affair of the Heart” and “Creating Your Home Recycling System“, I am now deep into this project.

We drew up our own house plans and built our own house 18 years ago. In those plans we included a rather large pantry to accommodate our 6 children and ourselves so it is easy to just keep putting things into it and not actually get around to cleaning it out. Now that the last of our 6 have “flown the coupe” so to speak, it’s high time we did some reorganizing.

I have always done a lot of canning to feed this tribe and still can quite a bit of food in case we need it at some point. We do end up needing it every time the kids spend time with us, since it is part of their childhood memories and they love to grab a jar of fruit from the shelf. Since that part of my pantry isn’t going away I have started the organization process by slowing down my bargain hunting and beginning to actually use up some of the past bargains that I have in the pantry.

I find that one needed part of the process of reorganizing is to stand back and look at an area and imagine what I want it to look like in it’s finished state and then look for things that can be eliminated. I have kettles, buckets and various baskets of nuts that I’ve gathered spread around on the floor of the pantry and I’d like them to end up on shelves. I’d like to have the floor clean and empty if possible, so I’m starting to sort through the items on the shelves with the idea of giving them to the children, who are still young and poor, donating the items to the local food bank if they are still good, throwing out any items that are too old and keeping to use the items my husband and I might actually like to eat.

Another part of the process is evaluating my storage containers. Some of my storage containers are plastic and over thirty years old. I find that when I open them the food smells like plastic and I don’t want to use the food any more. Those containers need updated. I love to use glass jars to store things in and I have an abundance of those. I

especially like the old gallon glass jars. Another option is some of the updated plastic containers that are available from Amazon. (Note: There are links in this post and as an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) I really like that they are available in sizes and shapes that are space saving. I also like that they are clear and I am able to see the contents right away without opening them. These new containers are also sealed better than my thirty year old containers which keeps any bugs that are searching for an entry, from getting into my stored food.

My pantry also has things like potatoes, sweet potatoes and onions in bags on the floor. Organizing these was an easy process when I found these baskets that can either hang on the wall or stack on the floor under the shelves to consolidate the items that I would like to continue to have on hand and easy to grab. They also make the pantry look more esthetically pleasing.

Organizing things like pop can can be as easy as taking them out of the box they come in and lining them up on the shelves. Another idea, however, is to use containers like these to lay them in. This serves to break up the look of having everything lined up along the shelves but also adds space for a few more items and saves space for them when it is time to restock your favorite canned beverages.

I have been creating more space with these ideas that allows for me to put like items together such as cereals all in one place, boxes of crackers or cans of food items. It is so much easier to evaluate what is needed when I do head to the grocery store if my food items aren’t spread throughout the pantry but are kept in groupings of like items.

This project has actually been a fun and rewarding part of the decluttering process! I am super excited to have a less stressful and cluttered pantry that is easier for myself and also any family members who are looking for something there to eat.

Stay tuned for more of the decluttering saga!

Creating Your Home Recycling System

Recycling has been a topic of interest for me as you can see if you peruse some of my previous posts such as “Recycling Fun“, “More on Upcycling/Recycling“, “Recycling Craft Ideas” and “To Grandma, Recycling Was An Everyday Activity“. In these posts I discuss some of the ways I’ve discovered to recycle and reuse items right at home in crafts and other useful items. This post is more about the items you are unable to repurpose at home. As I continue in the decluttering mode I’ve gotten into, I have decided to re-evaluate my home recycling system along with the other areas of my home.

Here are some of the things I’ll be considering as I evaluate my recycling and some of the products that I’ve found to help me make this area of home more efficiently manageable. (Note: There are links in this post and as an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Space: The first thing to decide is what space I’ll allocate to this area of my family life. Should this be something I put on the front porch, in the garage or will I keep it small and have it in my pantry or office? Keeping the recycling on the front porch can be handy but may not be the first thing you would like guests to see when they come to your home. The garage could be good for keeping these items out of sight but may be far enough away from the area the items are being used at that the family will not make the trek to deposit them there. The pantry or the office may not have enough space for as many things as you’d like to recycle. You could consider separating your recycling into areas of use. For example having a paper recycling space in the office and having the aluminum, tin and plastic recycling near the kitchen. Since we have a fairly large family that, while grown and independent, still gathers for most holidays at our home. We will likely need to keep our recycling bins large enough to accommodate this which will preclude the pantry and the office for an all inclusive recycling system.

Size: I will need to know the size of the space where I will set up my recycling. I’ll measure the space and compare it to the measurements of the receptacles I’d like to use for this project.

Research your local recycling facility: Find out what types of items your local recycling facility will accept and how they want the items prepared for them. For example: our local recycling facility does not accept glass and will only accept certain types of plastics. They also want the larger aluminum items separated from the aluminum cans and aluminum foil.

Determine the types of items your family uses: Do you need bins for aluminum, glass, some types of plastic, paper or cardboard? Also, consider that often tin cans can be recycled with other scrap metals. This is not always at the same place as the other household recycling. I also recommend recycling household batteries if you have a receiving area for them. There are some stores that will allow them to be brought in to them. Our local landfill has a household hazardous waste receiving area that accepts these batteries.

Shop for recycling bins: It’s always fun to shop so enjoy researching what kinds of bins are available and will fit your space and your family’s needs. I’ve included a few ideas that I like.

Label the bins: I find this mostly helpful when you are training your family to recycle with you or when you have guests. It also helps it all to look neat and professional.

When your project is complete you can enjoy a neat and clean recycling area as well as the feeling of making your environment a better one to live in at home and in your community!

Decluttering, An Affair of the Heart

So, as I said in my recent post, “Organization and Simplicity Add Peace“, I’m in the process of trying to simplify my life. With that in mind I am thinking of some simple ways to declutter and organize and I thought I’d share them with you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Simple Ways to Declutter Your Spaces

1. Start by removing trash. This may seem obvious but sometimes when you look at a messy room it is just too overwhelming to know where to start.

2. Next, choose one small area to organize — like a drawer or a closet. It may not seem like much but you’ll be surprised at how good it feels to get started and if you do a small area each day you’ll have the entire job done before you know it without getting so overwhelmed.

3. Sort items into three piles: Keep, donate and toss. This part can be hard if you have sentimental attachment to your belongings as I do. This is another reason not to tackle the entire job at once. It gives me time to say good-bye to some items that I love but really don’t have use for any more.

Need Boxes for sorting into? Click on this photo.

4. Find a specific home for everything you intend to keep — for example, a hook for your keys. I love this part! It feels so good to have everything put away neatly! Also, if everything has a home it makes cleaning so much easier later because you don’t have to figure out where to put things you just have to take each item to it’s home.

5. Group similar items together, instead of storing them in multiple places, so you always know where to find them. This is a good idea because not only can you find the items easier, you can also see if you have 10 pairs of scissors or some other item and that makes it easier to decide to donate some of the extras.

6. If you buy something new, pledge to get rid of something else to limit items in your home. This is always a good practice. It’s easy to forget at first but make this a habit and it will help to keep things neat and orderly.

7. If you’re holding on to items to pass to the next generation, ask your heirs if they want the items. Be prepared for them to say no, and be gracious. Here again, I know some of these things that we hang on to we’ve grown to love. Maybe some of them were passed down to us from our parents and grandparents. If the item is something you really love and your children don’t want it, keep it and enjoy it yourself. If you don’t want it either then take a picture of it and donate it. You can have the satisfaction of know that someone is getting use out of it and you can still reminisce with your picture in hand.

8. Don’t try to do everything all at once. Schedule limited amounts of time to work on decluttering and organizing on a regular basis. This is a theme that has been in some of the other tips but bears repeating. This job can be overwhelming but breaking it into small bites makes it much more palatable. In the end you will have a clean, organized and comfortable environment to spend your time in.

Stay tuned for more ideas as I continue on this path to freedom from clutter!

Organization and Simplicity Add Peace

Summer is the time of year that all my projects start to feel a bit overwhelming. In the spring I’m inspired and feel a bit invincible because everything is starting fresh after what seems like a long winter. Now things are dry and it seems everything needs watered, weeded, mowed and generally tended to. It’s time to clean out the barn and, since we live on a farm, there’s a ton of dust that needs to be cleaned up in the house.

Recently my husband and I went away for a few days. It seemed innocent enough, we just needed a little break. Coming back, however, has proven to be more of a chore than we had bargained for! Some of my plants were dying after just a few day of inattention. There is dust everywhere and just the packing and unpacking process seemed overwhelming. The yard is needing mowed and we just want to turn around and go back to “vacation”, where ever that is.

So this whole process has me thinking about getting things more organized and self sufficient so that we can take a break once in a while without being so overwhelmed. This year our final child flew the coop, so to speak, and now we have more time to head off into parts unknown with the motorhome or the four wheeling rig so it’s time to get home settled into a more organized routine. A routine anyone can step into for a few days and keep running. With this in mind I am searching Amazon for a few organizing helps and I’ve made a list of some of the things that are interesting me. I’m also in the mood to minimize some of my belongings and am starting a pile of “to be donated” items as well.

I’ll be going through my closets, office, kitchen and even the yard and garden to minimize and organize. When I’m out on a little excursion I realize that I’m able to live with a lot less “stuff” so I’ll be donating some of what I have and I’ve found these bins that will help me to organize some of what is left after I purge. If you’d like to take a look at these click on the image and it will take you to their Amazon listing. (As an Amazon Associate I do earn a small amount from qualifying orders.). I really like the fact that these handy bins open from the front or the top so you can so easily access their contents.

I will be working on this project for a while so I will let you know if I find other items that are useful in this search for a more simple useable and less stressful lifestyle.

Stay tuned!!