I know…I’m a little late again with this week’s post. I’ll try and do better next week…but I can’t promise anything! This week we are tackling the pantry. This week is special because we are now 1/3 of the way through the challenge! How exciting is that!?!?!?!?

Now, you don’t have to have a specific room designated as pantry. This week is for any food items, household items, or appliances that you store elsewhere, including cupboards, etc. Some people have additional shelving in or off the kitchen they use. Some people have root cellars or even an additional “shed” space off the garage that could also be used as a “pantry”. You don’t need a designated pantry to participate in this week’s challenge!!

The Pantry

• Set up your piles – “keep”, “donate, “discard”, and “remove”.
• Remove everything from the pantry.
• Give the pantry a good cleaning.
• Check expiration dates and throw out expired items.
• Sort the rest of the food items, appliances, or household items into their proper piles.
• Categorize your items and determine what you might need for storage containers.
  • Some categories to consider include breakfast, pasta, baking, sauce, snacks, sides, international, coffee, and toppings, etc. Take into consideration your space and what food items you have. There really is no “right”way.
  • Don’t forget to categorize any other kitchen appliances, tools, or household items you also plan to keep in your pantry.
  • Quick tip: If you shop in bulk (ex. Sam’s Club, etc.), you may want to consider an alternative place in your home or at least a separate category for “overflow” items. The hubs and I tend to buy beans, corn, cereal, and some seasonings in bulk. However, I only keep one bag of cereal and a few cans of each within reach in the pantry. The “extra” I place I categorize on the top shelf as “overflow”. When I run out of anything in the pantry, I immediately check my “overflow” area before adding to the grocery list.
• Obtain any containers you might need to organize your categories and create zones.
  • The bottom shelf in my pantry closet is for breakfast items. Cereal, pancake mix, toppings (peanut butter, coconut, molasses, etc.), granola, and oatmeal live on that shelf. The next shelf up is for cooking. I have a category for international, beans, and general cooking spices. The top shelf is for “overflow” items. I have a corner cabinet in the kitchen I use for baking items that’s also near my Kitchenaid mixer.
  • While I love the idea of putting all food items into clear, see-through containers, I just couldn’t find the right sizes for my cereal and baking supplies. Instead, I opted to keep the original containers.
• Anything in the “remove” pile should be redistributed to the correct rooms or area.
• If you have items left over from last week’s “sell” pile that you ended up not selling, then it needs to go into the “discard” or “donate” pile. Dump the “discard” pile and take your donation pile to where you plan to donate them. You need to remove the pile from your home as soon as possible. 
• Consider donating unused food that isn’t expired to a local food pantry.
• Put everything back organized and label.
• If you put anything into storage during our first challenge, it’s now been one month and it’s time for re-evaluation! If you haven’t had to dig into the box you stored a month ago, it’s time to donate it!
  • If you haven’t needed to get into the box, now is not the time to double-check whether you “need” anything in the box before finally letting go. During the last month, if you needed it, you would have already removed it from the box when you needed it.

Tips

• Labeling containers is a great way to help family members identify the correct zones to put their items in, especially if the categories aren’t immediately apparent to them!
• We are 1/3 of the way through the challenge! That can be both exciting and daunting. If at any point you get overwhelmed and want to give up…walk away from the challenge and go do something fun and entertaining for awhile! If you have years of clutter then it might get overwhelming. That’s why each room is a week long! Just chip away at it a little bit at a time. It’s always good to step away and come back with fresh eyes and renewed energy!
  • Other tips to help with overwhelm include:
    • 1Not over-booking your schedule
    • Having simple meals or eating leftovers on the days you plan to work on the challenge
    • Limiting distractions and interruptions
    • Establish an accountability partner to get you through the tough times and to keep pushing you when you want to give up
    • Enlist the help of the entire household, as what you purge and the systems you implement will affect everyone
• Limited space is not an excuse for why you are not organized. If you think space is the issue, you have a clutter problem, not an organizing problem. You can always browse pinterest or instagram for small, space-saving organization ideas that you may not be able to envision for yourself. You always have more space than you realize!

The Sweep

Don’t forget that we aren’t exactly done with the challenge! The goal of this challenge is to create functional spaces and establish better habits and routines. So far you have completed the laundry room, the mudroom, drop zones, the office area, and the kitchen. Now you need to evaluate your systems and make regular cleanup a routine.

Before bed (or at the most convenient time for you) go to your refreshed rooms with a basket. Look around the room and throw anything that does not belong in the room in your basket. Take care of anything that is out of place. Then take your basket and go through the house putting the items that don’t belong in the laundry room in their proper place. This should be a quick pickup and should not take long. Clean anything that looks physically dirty. Remember your family is there to help you as well.

The nightly “sweep” will also be a good time to evaluate the effectiveness of your systems in real time as you may notice different trends occuring. Does it still look as good as it did when you completed the room? Are there things out of place or items that don’t belong? Do the systems you have put in place seem to be working? Determine what is and isn’t working and make adjustments to your system as you see fit and continue to evaluate changes each night as you go through the house.

Next week we are tackling electronic clutter!