Kick In The Pantry

You can call it nesting, you can call it spring cleaning, but really, it's just that I reached a point of utter ridiculousness and it had to be dealt with.

The pantry.

...Although we started referring to it as The Abyss. Three-point-five-ish years ago when we moved into this house, stuff got packed willy-nilly into the kitchen pantry. I had plans to reorganize: Some more shelving, go through the crap that was thrown in bags and stuffed in, etc. But life happened instead. And that left us with hoping nothing would fall on our heads every time we opened the door.

Top and second shelf before. Avalanche warning.

Not ideal. So I set aside an evening and tackled it, pulling everything out, sorting by expiration date (result: yikes), and recycling up a storm.

Top and second shelf after.

Happen to have a similar problem? Here's how I broke it down, beginning at the top:
Top shelf: Light use: Grilling, empty growlers, seldom-used teapot, medications, dog supplies.
Second: Frequent use: Spices, baking goods, oils
Third: Canned goods and savory supplies (pasta, grains, etc.)
Fourth: Snacks and sweet supplies (canned fruit, etc)
Fifth: Clean! I left the foil and chia seeds resting there, but hoping this is where some baby supplies will land.
Bottom: Heavy stuff: Baking supply backstock, awkward seasonal dishes, reusable shopping bags.

Vast improvement. And less hardhat requirements.

At this point only about 1/4 of you who started this post are as nerdy as I am and still reading. Queue the Brian Adams.

But seriously, getting this done has changed more for me than having room for groceries. It's totally refreshing to know what we have: I've been coming up with dinner ideas more easily because I know what's stashed. We've also used up more things because I can see them and know they're there. Who would'a thunk... If you know you have it, you'll use it. It's all been a pretty delicious revelation.