The ‘pantry mistakes you might be making’ and how to prevent them

In the quest for an organised and efficient kitchen, many of us fall prey to common pantry pitfalls. But fear not, as home hack queen Anita Birges has come to the rescue with her expert advice on how to avoid these pantry blunders and reclaim control over your kitchen storage.

Birges, renowned for her ingenious organisational tips, has identified five key mistakes that could be wreaking havoc in your pantry:

1. Bulk Buying – Although this shopping method is a great way to save money on those things you use often, if you don’t have the space to create a good storage area for all of those spares, your pantry can quickly become chaotic and ‘unmanageable’. It’s more important to have a really good understanding of the number of things you can physically fit in your pantry.

2. Forgetting To Label – One of the most useful home organising tips I can give you is to use a label maker of some sort to keep tabs on what you have in containers and their expiration dates. In small pantries, it can often seem okay to leave labelling out and hope you remember what is what, but in reality, none of our minds are that dedicated to remembering the exact expiration for four different foods bought at different times.

3. Not Thinking About Vertical Space – One thing small spaces rarely lack is height. Given that they are often the same height as every other room, you can really benefit from taking your storage up vertically – like using the inside of your pantry doors. Not doing this is one of the most common small pantry organising mistakes you can make.

4. Neglecting To Take Regular Inventory – Just because you took inventory once doesn’t mean that your pantry is set for life. We aren’t always creatures of habit, and our food preferences can change frequently meaning our small pantries need to do the same. When organising a pantry checking what we have and what we use most should be done regularly, even up to once a month‼️

5. Failing to Categorise – Breaking an area down into small sections really helps when organising small spaces. Creating clear-cut categories ensures that every product has a ‘home’ that it can be returned to. Placing like items in bins and labelling them, or even adding labels to the edges of your shelves will keep even the smallest of spaces neatly organised.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Anita Birges | Home Organisation🇦🇺 (@mise_en_place_aus)

Birges’ sound advice resonated with her followers, who praised her practical wisdom for bringing joy and order into their homes.

“Great tips! I especially like the idea of using the inside of the pantry door for storage. That’s a great way to maximize space in a small pantry,” one wrote.

“Thank you for bringing so much joy.”

“Love this,” commented another.

But the quest for household harmony doesn’t end in the pantry. Enter stylist Sarah Teresinski, who has revolutionised linen storage with a budget-friendly hack that’s turning heads.

Teresinski’s genius solution? Magazine file holders. In a TikTok video that’s captured the imagination of thrifty homemakers everywhere, Teresinski demonstrates how these humble office accessories can transform a cluttered linen cupboard into a haven of organisation.

“They are something I see pretty much every time I go thrifting, you can score them for just a few bucks second hand and use them for organisation,” Teresinski revealed in her TikTok video.

“I see all kinds of interesting, expensive items that people are using to organise their sheets but you know what? These work great.

“I absolutely love it, you can do blankets, you can do pillowcases, you can do towels, you can do wash cloths, you can literally do your entire linen closet.”

@redeux_style Organization Upcycle! Cost-effective, functional hack to store your sheets! Everything has multiple uses ♻️thrift those file holders! #sheethack #sheetstorage #upcycle #upcycle #rework #diy #thriftflip #homedecor #upcycling #upcycle #diy #thriftflip #homedecor #upcycles #rework #upcycling #thriftflip #organize #reuse #recycle #secondhandstyle #transform #oldtonew #upcycleddesign #makers #upcyclersoftiktok #makersoftiktok #upcycling #storagehack #sustainableliving #sustainsblestyle ♬ beautiful jazz piano in Autumn, 7 minutes(871493) – ricca

As Birges and Teresinski prove, a little creativity and resourcefulness are all it takes to banish pantry chaos and linen cupboard mayhem for good. With their expert guidance, achieving household harmony has never been more attainable.