Cleaning Tips

PANTRY ORGANIZATION

Once considered a basic part of a home’s layout, the pantry fell out of favor for decades as construction prices rose, square footage came at a premium, and convenience food and dining out began to replace labor-intensive cooking. Now, in response to a challenging economy, more families are eating in and buying in bulk; plus, there’s a “cocooning” trend in full force. Homes and gardens are receiving an increasingly greater portion of a family’s time, attention and disposable income.

Pantries, with their sentimental aura of hearth and homemade cookies, along with their many practical benefits, fit this trend perfectly, and are making a comeback. Homeowners are carving space for pantries out of new floor plans and existing footprints alike. Even a small closet can be converted to a highly functional pantry space.

Whether it’s a column of narrow shelves hung on the back of a door or a walk-in room in and of itself, choose shelving materials based on practicality and aesthetics. Remember, the pantry is not designed to be a showcase. Go for sturdiness, clean lines and FUNCTIONALITY above all.

A good choice is coated wire shelving hung on metal mounting strips, a system that’s economical, practical and flexible. The shelves can be repositioned to different heights and depths as needs change.

Some tips to keep in mind as you position the shelves:

• Go through your home and make a list of all the items you’d like to store in the pantry, and in what quantities. This will give you a better idea of how to allocate space when you plan your shelving.
  
  
• Allow at least one shelf for large, bulky items (Paper towels and pasta cookers, for example) and some shelves that allow two or three average sized canned goods stacked one atop the other.
  
  
• Be conscious of relative weight as you determine where you will stack what and where; for example, better to have two closely spaced shelves for canned goods than pile them six or seven high.
  
  
• Use highest shelves for least-reached-for items—things you use only once or twice a year—but avoid putting very heavy or highly breakable items on shelves that require someone getting on a stool or stepladder to reach.
  -Include a spot for a small footstool or sturdy, fold-up stepstool.
  
  
• Allow some space on the floor below your lowest shelf to accommodate large, bulky items you don’t want to have to lift onto a shelf. Big bags of pet food are a prime example. A heavy tool box might be another. You might even want to slide a small dresser or cabinet with drawers under the lowest shelf to hold small items like wrapping paper, ribbon, scotch tape and scissors; good napkins and silverware; small decorative items used at holidays; candles and candleholders.
  
  
• Use bins or buckets to hold cleaning supplies—one of everything you use—which can then be easily transported from room to room on cleaning days.
  
  
• If possible, allow a bit of empty wall space for vertically stored items: brooms, Swiffers, mops, and the like. A pantry is an excellent place to store a vacuum cleaner or the hose of a central vacuum system and its accessories, which can be hung conveniently on a unit designed specifically for this purpose.

Other good candidates for the pantry as space permits:

• Cookbooks
  
  
• Ingredients and utensils infrequently used—the turkey roaster and oversized Thanksgiving platter, for example, or cookie tins used only around major holidays, when baking is more frequent.
  
  
• Grilling supplies during the winter in cold-weather climates.
  
  
• Appliances that don’t get used daily: blenders, say, or bread-making machines, or that funky yogurt maker that your cousin thought you’d love. People who prefer the look of uncluttered countertops appreciate having a place to stash these items where they can be easily retrieved when needed, as opposed to the dark recesses of a kitchen cupboard.
  
  
• Canning supplies
  
  
• Extra supplies of toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning products, toiletries.
  
  
• A basket of rags
  
  
• Sewing kit
  
  
• First aid supplies, sunscreen and insect repellant