When I talk about decanting, I can’t help thinking about the times during my childhood I spent countless hours dumping sand and dirt in and out of buckets and a variety of containers! I used to put my containers in rows and admire my handy work. Now fast-forward to me as an adult, one of the things I love to do is…decanting. It is one of the simplest yet most effective ways to easily create more storage, flow and neatness in your pantry. So, where do you start?
- Empty your space. Get a box or two and start emptying your space. This is a good time to assess which things to keep. When there is nothing left on the shelves—do a thorough wipe down with a damp cloth.
- Strategise. Get your mobile phone or a pen and paper and start jotting down all the products you have. Measure the area and try to plan where every item should go (I recommend putting the most-used foods in the front.) Be sure to surf the web and get some ideas on what other people have done. Pinterest is an excellent social media platform to find quick, practical ideas you can consider.
- Finding Containers. Make a quick inventory of what you have before you buy any containers. You may be surprised how many different glass or plastic containers you have around your house that you can use for decanting. Although you may want to be uniform in your containers, simply for aesthetics. If you’re going to buy new ones, you have many options to suit your budget and needs. You can try online shopping and department stores. Sometimes, you can score some fantastic deals on second-hand containers on Facebook buying groups and even at garage sales. Be sure to pick the ones you like. Glass is the best material for most containers because it is very easy to wash and is very sanitary.
- Decanting. Choose which of your foods and goods will be stored in the containers you have acquired. Label them with products and dates. Remember to give yourself lots of space when decanting as you want to avoid any foods mixed with each other.
- Strategy for storage. Don’t put them away willy-nilly! Try putting the containers with the food you use upfront. Play around with the containers and see what can fit where. Liken it to Tetris and have fun with it!