Organization of cupboards

Honeythief

I love my label printer! It has enabled me to take a confusing pantry and turn it into a beautifully organised one where anybody can see what is in there and find what they need in seconds.

Another option is to get a roll of chalkboard vinyl - it comes like Contact in a roll with a backing sheet - and cut squares or circles out of that and stick them to your containers. Then you can just use chalk to write what's in them. Or get an alcohol-based marker or Sharpie and write directly on glass or plastic if you know the contents won't change often.

Tiglath

I have all my herbs and spices in unlabelled glass jars in racks on the wall. I can tell what they are by look and smell, but apparently I'm the only one. DH and stepdaughter cooked something resembling 'chilli' this evening, and I'm still trying to work out what they put in it!

The pantry (shelves in the cupboard under the stairs) holds booze bottles, tins and dried goods. Oils go in kitchen cupboard 1 along with the mugs. Baking stuff goes in cupboard 2 along with china/glass cooking/serving dishes; I have a large tupperware tub containing various flours in their packets. Cupboard 3 has misc food stuff in it (packets, salt) but needs a clearout. Cupboard 4 holds the kitchen scales, electric knife, food processor etc and tupperware. Metal baking trays go in the bottom of the 3 drawers that make up 'cupboard' 5. I must admit I struggled for space until I put up the shelves in the pantry.

reehsetin

Great ideas!

Love the idea of the label maker, would be so pretty I may have to invest in one when we redo our kitchen, until then, masking tape it is, may have to also use it to label 'homes' around the kitchen for all of our different bits

BitterAndTwisted

I don't have a label-printer and I'm too tight to buy one, so when I buy dry goods to go into storage-jars I cut out the item's name from the packet with scissors and sellotape it to the outside of the jar. It's not uniform and neat but at least I know which is in what.

Patchwork_Quilt

I would suggest jam jar labels from Lakeland if you want a pretty vintage feel.

I make sure all cleaning products are in a top cupboard in case of visiting children. Tea, coffee and mugs are above the kettle. Pans are under the sink as that is a taller cupboard. Baking is all together, tins are all together, pasta and dried stuff is together. We have a treats cupboard too and one that is empty for most of the year so that we have space for a Christmas stash of pud, cake and shortbreads as I make them. We have a pantry for preserves (really a cupboard in the hall) which also has my stash of snow shopping at the bottom. Fresh stuff goes in the fridge, except fruit, which is in a basket on the top. Overspill fresh stuff gets hung up in our unheated porch. Towels and cutlery are in a drawer each and the utensils are in the drawer next to the cooker. I put all gadgets away in a tall cupboard at the other end of the room, apart from the toaster, which is in daily use.

Hope it helps. I love setting up kitchens. I did five in one year once, for different people.

THIRZAH

I just write the contents on a piece of paper and sellotape it to the jar then write the use by date on another and stick that to the back of the jar.I use old coffee jars for dried fruit etc and they live at the back of the shelf as they are taller but I arrange them in alphabetic order so don't have to remove all the smaller jars in front to find what I want.

Spices are stored in a basket and I label them on the top of the lid.

katieowl_2

All my spices and herbs are in Bon Maman Jars and I write on the lid with permanent markers. I used to keep them in a dresser drawer, so the writing on the lids was useful. Now they are stacked in a cupboard.

My prefered storage for other stuff is in plastic boxes or crates.
I can group items together and I use a lot of big haribo type containers, for things like rice and grains, which were thrown out from a newsagents years back...my neighbour bagsed them for me as she worked there and I have a lifetimes supply, I write on those too with permanent markers. It's not aesthetic but it stacks, keeps it from leaking and is fairly organised. I'm very short of space in my galley kitchen!!!

Kate

lushlifesaver

meritaten wrote: »

I tend to organise my cupboards this way.
one cupboard holds all my basic baking stuffs - Flour, cornflour, caster/granulated sugar plus all the little jars of spices, herbs and baking powders bicarb etc. The next cupboard holds condiments etc.
next cupboard has Tinned foods and jar foods such as emergency casserole sauces (yes, I do mostly make from scratch but sometimes need a 'quick' fix).
next cupboard holds breakfast cereals and Dried foods. such as pastas, rices, cous cous etc.
It works for me!
You will work out what is best for you and the way you prepare/cook food! but I do find that putting things used most often on the lower shelf and seldom used items on the top works best for me as I am rather petite and hate having to climb on worktops to get things!

I try and work similarly to this ^ but now it's shelves rather than cupboards!
cupboard one, middle shelf: Baking supplies
(other two shelves have 'stuff' - top one is hard to reach and hold drums of milk powder and chocolate molds, bottom shelf has tupperware/lolly mold/individual oven to table dishes (for cottage pies etc)
cupboard two, top shelf: general food (Ragu, baked beans, cuppa soup, ryvita, easi-yo sachets,rice)
middle shelf: pasta in cereal dispenser, smash drum, salt/pepper, various gravies/ sauces etc
bottom shelf:hot chocolates, tea erm a few other bits.

The cereals are in the same cupboard as the crockery.

We only have 4 cupboards, and as I say above the crockery takes one up with the cereals(2 types) and a lock and lock of marshmallows :rotfl: the other cupboard is pots and pans and sports supplements!

Not ideal but it's ok for now. At my parents I used lock'n'locks for everything pretty much - I should take shares out with them!
The labels I made myself; basically just squares of a note paper I like (all the same corner from a small pad with Diddl on - slightly childish but I love him!) on which I've written everything I usually use (one for each e.g. 'plain flour', 'cous cous' and so on and so forth) then each is laminated. I stick them on with selotape then when I run out the label gets removed and stuck on the notice board and the box gets washed out and stored for new contents

Oh dear I sound uber obsessive now!

krlyr

How about making a little plastic sleeve you can stick on the jars? Like a plastic wallet, with an opening on the top or side. Then you can write/print out labels to slide in, and replace when you change the contents.

rachbc

I use ikea 365 containers as they fit my ikea cupboards perfectly. Most food is kept in 1 tall larder cupboard with drawers. I have 1 drawer of tins and jars and the rest is in containers. If I think I will forget whats in it or how to use it I snip the label/ instructions off the pack and pop it in the container - that way I can change what I use the jar for without having to remove labels etc. Drawers are vaguely organised - baking, staples/ grains/ pulses etc etc

Only jars permanently labelled are Plain and SR flour as I know I will refil those and don't want to get mixed up (again)

Condiments/ oils/ vinegars/ sauces are in a pull out rack next to the oven. Bulk stashes are kept in the cellar.