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The key to keeping a well-organized pantry is to never organize more than you have to, so the first step to an organized pantry is being ruthless in eliminating pantry clutter.

Toss out anything that has spoiled. This includes not only canned goods past their expiration dates, but also stale crackers and cookies.

Toss out anything that shows signs of pest infestation. Even the most well-kept pantry is not immune to the occasional pantry pest. Get rid of any boxes that show signs of rodent nibbles, and any grain products that show signs of Indian Meal Moth infestation. If you see one meal moth, check all of your grain products and any dried fruit carefully for the telltale bits of webbing, clumps of grain stuck together, or live larvae. Meal moth larvae can be especially hard to spot in brown rice.

Toss out anything that won't get eaten. Being honest, that can of beets or the rest of those nasty granola bars are just going to sit there, ignored, until they pass their expiration date. Get rid of them now. It is no more wasteful to keep something in the pantry unused than it is to get rid of it before it spoils.

While you are tossing, this is the perfect time to get rid of excessive junk food and switch the household over to snacking on more fruits and healthier fare, and fewer chips and foods of dubious nutritional value.

Once the pantry contents are pared down to what is still fresh and will get used, it is time to assess the arrangement of the shelves. The exact nature of an organizational scheme will depend on the dimensions of the pantry. A few principles transcend whatever organization

Keep the most often used items closest to eye level, where they are easiest to grab. Conversely, the topmost shelves should be reserved for seldom-used items. Depending on pantry dimensions, the uppermost shelf can be the perfect place for those infrequently used appliances like the ice cream maker and canning supplies.

Keep like with like. It is easier to tell if you need to buy more canned vegetables if all of the canned vegetables are together on the shelf. What constitutes "like" items can vary. It might mean keeping all grain products together, or keeping all items usually used for dinner preparation together. Let how you use your pantry dictate how it gets arranged, since it is easier to adjust organization to fit the reality of use than to try to get a family to change their ways to adhere to an arbitrary organization scheme.

Big containers in back, little containers up front. Little containers get lost, then, next time you clean out the pantry, there is a 2-year-gone can of mandarin orange segments behind the fruit cocktail.

Keep pest-attracting items off ground level. Use floor space for bulky items like empty canning jars and spare rolls of paper towels.

The pantry should be a FIFO zone: first in, first out. When replenishing supplies, shelve the new items behind the older ones, so that you grab the older can of tomato paste before the new one while cooking dinner.

Consider bins for keeping smaller items like individual packs of snacks corralled. These bins need not be fancy. Cardboard boxes will do the job just fine, and can be covered over in matching shelf paper if aesthetics are a concern. Dried beans and grains will store nicely in washed out pasta sauce jars, occupying a smaller shelf footprint than the bags or boxes.

No matter how well organized a pantry is, pantries have a tendency to descend quickly into chaos. Dedicate time every few months, or at least once a year, to a full-scale clean-out and reorganization of the pantry.

Learn more about this author, Janet Harriett.
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