Welcome to week 29 of the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge. For the next couple of weeks, we’re going back to the place where we started in January—the kitchen—to wrap up a couple of areas we missed in the early weeks of the challenge. This week, we’re decluttering the pantry.
Are you ready for week 29? Let’s get decluttering!
This post was originally published in July 2021 and republished in July 2024.
What is the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge?
In this year-long journey, we’re tackling one task at a time with the goal of cleaning up and organizing our homes. If you’ve just joined us, no worries. You can jump right in with this week’s challenge. Just check out the first two posts in the series to download your free checklists.
You can get easy access to all previous weekly posts on the main Decluttering page.
Week 29 – Decluttering the pantry
I love our pantry. When we renovated our kitchen a few years ago, we replaced our smaller pantry with a larger one. We also installed a roll out spice rack cabinet beside the stove. It’s where I keep my tea collection. These two cabinets are some of my favourite things about our kitchen.
Here’s a photo of where I started this week.
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This week’s decluttering and organizing tips
Here’s what I learned in week 29.
- One of the reasons I love my pantry so much is the rollout shelves. When we emptied our pantry for our kitchen renovation, I found things lurking at the back that hadn’t seen the light of day for years. I also found many duplicate items where I had bought more of something because I had forgotten I already had some. Now, I know this isn’t something you can solve easily, but you can achieve the same thing with baskets. Baskets are also useful to keep smaller items organized.
- Expired food is another quick win. Considering how much I hate food waste, I was surprised and disappointed at how much of it I had. I had a package of Jello from 2017 and an unopened bottle of Nesquik from 2015. This is another reminder of the downside of buying multi-packs, or stocking up too much when things are on sale. From now on, I’ll definitely try harder to buy only what I’ll need in the near future.
- Organizing by shelf is a great way to make it easier to find things in the pantry. For example, I have designated shelves for snacks, baking supplies, and canned goods.
- If you find you have a lot of a specific item, plan a use-it-up challenge. I’ve been doing that with my tea this summer—using up my herbal teas to make iced tea before buying more.
What I got rid of
This week, I got rid of a total of 17 expired food items. Not too bad considering it had been a couple of years since I went through my pantry, but it’s definitely something I have to work on.
And here’s how things look now. A little better organized and some more open space.
2024 Update
It has been three years so I’m rebooting the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge to see how much I can get rid of in 2024.
Although I’ve been doing a good job of not overbuying food items, I still found a few duplicate items to use up. And I identified 12 things that were stale and no longer edible. This was a good reminder of the importance of checking the pantry when making my shopping list to ensure I don’t buy things I already have.
So that’s week 29 done. Next week, we finish up the kitchen decluttering by cleaning out our fridge and freezer.
If you have friends or family members who could benefit from a little less clutter in their lives, please share this post and spread the word!
How did you make out with decluttering the pantry? Do you have any organizing tips to share? Tell us your tips below.
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Thank you Michelle! Perfect timing! I have all of the cabinet doors removed from the tin food and dry goods cupboard shelves. Painting renovations is a great time to sort expired products to dispose of. Looks amazing!
Cheers!
Yes, renovations are a great time to clear out. I think that’s the last time I had done mine and that was about 6 years ago. 😂 I definitely need to make a point of doing it once a year or so.
We’ve got a deep clean planned for our house next month as it’ll be a year since we moved in and I’m dreading cleaning out the food cupboard! While I did my best to have a clear-out before we moved everything went so fast it ended up being a case of throw it all in now and we’ll deal with it later 😂
Good luck. I’ve definitely learned that I need to stay on top of it in the future!
I like how you have put things in jar – beans, pasta, etc. – and other similar containers. It looks so organized. Now I need to go clean my pantry.
Thank you. I buy a lot of those dry goods at the bulk store to cut down on packaging waste.
That’s awesome, Michelle! I took note of your comment about buying in bulk. I am guilty of having multiple jars of spices that I rarely use (past the expiry date) hiding in the back of the cupboard. Like everyone else is saying, the rollout shelves must be such a kitchen game-changer!
It is hard to resist buying in bulk, but I’m learning that the best deal isn’t a deal if you end up throwing half of it away.
So sorry it has taken me such a long time comment back, Michelle! Yes, and that is exactly what happens to me! LOL You are so right! Cher xoxoxo
Love that you have rollout shelves! I organize my spice cabinet by what I use most often, but little things like cream of tartar and allspice sometimes get pushed to the far back and not discovered until much later.
Thanks for sharing your pantry decluttering tips; I adore a tidy kitchen. 🙂
Thanks Jaya. The rollout shelves have been a game changer to keep my kitchen organized. I don’t know what I would do without them.
What a great idea to have rollout drawers! 😀
I love them. They make staying organized so much easier.
For the past year, we have been living with a half-complete kitchen. This included not having a pantry which made food storage difficult. We started using the closet that is meant for access to the attic. With just one shelf to put food on, it was difficult to see what we had, even though it wasn’t much. Luckily, my dad is very handy, so he made us a nice shelf in there so now I have a mini pantry.🙂
I love the “use it up” challenge idea. I do that all the time with food. It is fun and I have discovered new recipes that I love. Also, if I buy an ingredient for a special recipe that I don’t normally use, I will make a batch big enough to use up all of the ingredient so that I don’t have any leftover.
I can imagine it would be very difficult to manage without a pantry. I’m glad your dad was able to make you a shelf.
What a great idea to make a big enough batch to use up all of an ingredient! I wouldn’t have thought to do that.
I love the rollout drawers! I don’t have a lot in my pantry right now. I haven’t had a chance to stock up since we moved. But I’m definitely sending this to my mom because her pantry is completely full!
That’s the best part about moving. It forces you to clean up!