Free Pantry Storage Ideas.

 Have you always wanted your pantry to be more organised but don't have the money for new storage solutions ?  If your answering " yes " then I'm hearing you.  Lots of people post photos of their pantries on social media and you just know the look they have has cost a small fortune.   Don't get me wrong,  I love to see how others organise their kitchens but not everyone has spare money for functionality.

Here are some free organising solutions that won't cost you a cent.  Some of these ideas I've used in the past,  others I continue to use even today.  Not only are they free,  you can recycle what you already have and use in your home.

*  Ice cream containers.  When I was a young mum I didn't have spare money for more pantry storage solutions.  Icecream containers I had in abundance.  I just can't bring myself to throw them out.  I used the containers for baking ( biscuit / cake ) storage,  lolly / broken Easter egg storage,  dried bread crumbs, and packet mixes.

*  Glass coffee jars of all sizes.  This is a fairly new storage solution I've been using.  I had a few of these jars stored in my garden shed waiting for a use.  I'd purchased them from an op shop for $2 each.  When I started to get rid of the plastic in my pantry,  I advertised on my local Buy Swap Sell Facebook group asking for Moccona coffee jars. Lots of people were happy to give them to me.  In return I gave my handmade greeting cards as a swap.  I even had return ' customers'. The coffee jars come in 4 sizes and offer a great airtight seal. I use them to store sugars,  milk powder,  nuts,  bread making ingredients and snacks.

*  Jam jars or pasta sauce jars.  I use glass jam jars for storing all my herbs and spices.  The pasta sauce jars are slightly bigger and great for storing homemade mixes like gravy powder mix,  french onion soup mix and taco seasoning mix.  I have a couple of friends who gave me jam jars and a some were purchased for 25 cents each from op shops.

*  Oblong plastic icecream containers.  These are the ones icecream shops use in their display cabinets.  If you can get your hands on these they make great storage for packet mixes.  I've also used them in the fridge for storing fruit when the veggie crisper was full.

*  Biscuit tins.  Just about everyone gets a biscuit tin full of shortbread biscuits at Christmas.  Wash,  dry and reuse for many different things.  I use them for storing plastic cutlery ( the few bits we still have ),  storing birthday candles and decorations,  lollies and chocolates.

Here are examples of how I've transformed my pantry for free.

Jam jar uses

Moccona coffee jar uses

More Moccona coffee jars

Oblong icecream containers

Packet mixes organised

Baking and herbs organised.

Pasta sauce and jam jar uses.

Have you found ways to organise your pantry for free ?

Finding Room To Stockpile

Quite often people ask me where I find the room to stockpile.  The answer is simple - I make the room.  I'm not a hoarder by any stretch of the imagination.  Infact,  I love order and neatness and this helps me to make the most of the room I have.  My home is 15.23 squares or 141.57m2.  For my American readers that equates to 1523.8 square feet.  With four of us living here that doesn't allow for large amounts of storage.

Our kitchen is quite small and classified as a hostess kitchen which I think is a polite term for a small kitchen that does the job.  Our kitchen builder tells me that my pantry is quite a good size compared to others he sees. My pantry is 88cm wide x 57cm deep x 2.06 metres high. Not large at all but I can fit so much in there.  At the Adelaide workshop Cath and I held last year I showed a photo of my very tidy pantry. There were a few giggles about how neat it is. how many containers I have and how everything is in neat rows with ALL labels facing the front. A bit OCD ? Maybe, but when everything is neat and well stacked I'm making the most of the space.

I mentioned at the workshop that I only use my pantry to store food in. There are no empty containers, no extra rolls of paper towel, no toilet paper, no appliances, no cleaning products, no boxes of tissues, no canning jars and no cat food. These items are either stored in my garden shed or in the appropriate room ( cleaning products in the laundry etc ). 

 I also use everything in my kitchen on a regular basis and all my casserole dishes, chopping boards,  dinner sets etc are stacked neatly and efficiently.  This gives me the extra space to store supermarket specials  Before I had children, I worked in retail ( mostly toy shops ) and my specialty was merchandising shelves to fit more stock in when there was no space. I've just continued this at home and especially in my kitchen. I'm always sorting and rearranging my kitchen cupboards.

For those of you who think they can't find any more space to stockpile, just take a few moments to look at what you are storing.

*  Do you use it all the time ?
*  Are you keeping things you really shouldn't ?
*  Do you have too much of the wrong type of foods in your pantry ? This  question is targeted more towards junk food or food with too much packaging. Think about those packets of chips that are full of air or the individual serves of popcorn, chips etc etc. A jar of corn kernels takes up a fraction of the space compared to a packet of individual serves.
*  Could you store items in your linen cupboard ,  under your bed,  in the top of your wardrobe ?
*  Could you fill up all your containers to get rid of half empty packets taking up space ?

 By doing a little reorganising and decluttering,  you might be suprised at the space you can find.

Does your pantry and kitchen need a tidy up ?
Where do you store your extra stockpiling items ?

What's Taking Up Space In Your Pantry ?

During the Cheapskates workshop in Adelaide last year, I mentioned that I removed a few non food items from my pantry that were taking up space. Since then I've received a few messages and emails from participants who found this to be a light bulb moment.

So this week's topic is " What's taking up space in your pantry ? " My pantry is 88cm wide X 57cm deep X 2.06 metres high. Not large by any stretch of the imagination but I can fit a lot in there. At the workshop I showed a photo of my very neat pantry. There were a few giggles about how neat it is. how many containers I have and how everything is in neat rows with ALL labels facing the front. A bit OCD ? Maybe, but when everything is neat and well stacked I can fit so much in.

I mentioned at the workshop that I only use my pantry to store food in. There are no empty containers, no extra rolls of paper towel, no toilet paper, no appliances, no cleaning products, no boxes of tissues, no canning jars and no cat food. These items are either stored in my garden shed or in the appropriate room ( cleaning products in the laundry etc ).

Once non food items are removed from the pantry, you might be suprised at how much space you have. For me, space means stockpiling and stockpiling means peace of mind.

This week I'd like to challenge you with two questions -

* Do you have non food items taking up valuable space in my pantry ?

* Can you relocate the non food items and start a healthy stockpile ?

Do you think I have enough tea bags ?

I like nice neat rows.