Have you seen pictures of perfectly organized pantries with food decanted into clear, matching containers and wondered why people take the time to do that? Well, I love to decant pantry items, and today I will share several reasons why!
Welcome back to our Winter Home Organization Challenge! We are tackling our pantry this week!
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Click here for details on the organization challenge!
Not much has changed in this space since last year, except how I’m decanting a few items.
So, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to tell you the pros and cons of decanting, so you can figure out if it’s right for you and your family!
You can get more details on how I organize our pantry here!
At the end of this post, I’ll show you the changes I made to our pantry this year!
Should everyone decant pantry items?
Is decanting right for everyone?
There’s no right or wrong answer.
It’s a personal choice, and like everything in life, it has good and bad points.
What works in one season of life may not work in the next!
If you’re new to organizing, you may not be familiar with this term.
So, let me take a minute to explain!
What does decant mean?
The dictionary definition of decant refers to liquids and means to pour a liquid (such as wine) from one vessel into another.
When talking about food, it means taking a grocery item out of its original packaging and storing it in a different container!
What are the pros of decanting pantry items?
Here are the reasons I love to decant pantry items!
Keeps Food Fresh
Food stays fresher longer in airtight containers.
Saves Space
Take up less space by discarding the bulky outside box.
Many items have two layers.
For instance, a bag inside a box or items individually packaged inside a box.
Containers can be easily stacked if needed.
Can Quickly make a shopping list
You can see exactly how many items you have when they are outside the original container.
Cereal is a great example. You can see if you need to buy more if it’s in a clear container rather than a box.
It takes less time to make a grocery list when you can visually see exactly what you need.
Visually appealing
When you remove all the boxes that don’t match, you reduce the visual clutter!
A pantry with matching containers is pretty.
What are the cons of decanting pantry items?
Budget constraints
New containers cost money that you may not have in your budget.
I highly recommend the Oxo containers I use but they are not cheap!!
It took me years to collect the ones I have!
If your family likes pickles, consider buying large jars of them. After you eat them, clean the jar, remove the label, and use those as canisters!
Time Constraints
It takes a bit more extra time when putting groceries away.
I think that time is well spent and worth it, but you may not!
Package instructions and expiration dates
So how do you know how to prepare a food item or when it expires if you throw away the original package?
I use my label maker and add the expiration to the back of the canister.
Cut the instructions off the package, and store it inside the canister or tape it to the outside, as I did!
Item Might not fit container perfectly
What if all the food won’t fit in your container?
Sometimes I have this issue with cereal.
I know what size box fits my container.
If I buy a larger box because it’s on sale, I know it won’t fit.
So, I fill the canister and then clip the cereal bag closed.
Then, I place the bag in front of the canister. Our family knows to use the cereal in the bag first!
How to decant pantry items in six steps
1) Decide what items you want to decant
Make a list of the items you want to store in a different container and note the size or amount.
2) Determine the best storage solution for that item
Will you use airtight containers, baskets, or boxes?
Are you going to purchase storage containers or make them?
Make sure your item will fit into the container before you purchase it.
Do you want to see all of the items in each container? If so, purchase clear storage containers.
3) Label your container
Since you are taking the item out of its original container, you need to label it, so your family knows exactly what’s inside!
This is important if you have similar items like baking soda and baking powder!
I love to use chalkboard labels!
4) Fill your containers
Now comes the fun! It’s time to fill your containers!
If you decant ground coffee into a canister, I suggest using a funnel! The same goes if you decide to buy matching spice jars! Funnels make decanting easy!
5) Decide how to handle cooking instructions and expiration dates
We discussed this earlier, and I have another idea for you. If you don’t have a label maker, put a piece of tape on the back of the canister and write on it!
6) Organize your containers in your pantry
You’re almost done! Now take your containers and organize them in your pantry or cabinets!
Problems I was having in my pantry
Here is the before picture of our pantry.
It’s not too bad, but we are having a few problems that I want to tweak!
1) Items on the floor
I don’t like to store items on the floor because it’s harder to clean.
I make an exception with water bottles. Since we live in Florida, we have to keep bottled water during hurricane season. The water would take up too much space on my shelves, so it will stay on the floor!
However, all of the items on the floor on the right side need to find a home!
2) Canisters I no longer use
I have sensitivities to several types of food and have to eat gluten and dairy free. One son is allergic to dairy, tree nuts, and strawberries, and another has celiac disease!
Needless to say, cooking is interesting at our house!
I had to make all of my baked goods from scratch until I found mixes from King Arthur. Now, I can remove some of the canisters I used for baking.
I will no longer store regular pasta in the tall canisters!
3) Snack foods
I did not have a bin for snack foods and these items were sitting in front of my canned goods, so I need to find a new home for them!
Most of them will go into the canisters after removing the baking items I no longer use!
4) Items for making lunches
We have some individually packaged items that my son uses to make his lunches for work. The items were stored on the top shelf, but I want to make a special “lunch” section for them in the pantry!
How I solved our pantry problems
1) Items on the floor
It feels great to get all of those items cleared off the floor!
2) Canisters I no longer use
Wow! Can you believe I removed nine canisters from my shelves?
Don’t worry, I already have some ideas about where to use these elsewhere in my home!
Want to see the canisters that I left in the pantry?
Here’s the scaled-back version with fewer canisters!
3) Snack foods
Look, no more bags of snack food in the way of my canned goods!
I decided to decant them!
4) Items for making lunches
I made a “lunch” prep area in this corner and I’m using three empty canisters I had left over.
More pantry items I love to decant
Here are some more pantry items I love to decant!
Items for baking
I have a few products for baking I still decant! King Arthur pancake mix, 1 to 1 baking flour, monk fruit sugar, brown sugar, and chocolate chips.
Breakfast foods
Cereal containers are one of my favorite organizers, they do a great job keeping cereal fresh!
These plastic baskets came from Target.
They are the perfect size to hold oatmeal and granola bars!
popcorn
They’re the perfect size for popcorn too!
Spices
I don’t store my spices in the pantry, but this is one of my favorite organization items, and I decant spices into matching jars!
What I Don’t decant
Pasta
I no longer buy pasta in bulk, so I see no reason to decant it!
Chips
I buy large bags of chips that are too bulky to decant.
Instead, we have two fabric bins that hold bags of chips.
The tag with an “I” is for sealed bags, and the tag with “0” is for open bags!
Baking items
Boxed baking items are stored together in this container, along with icing.
My organized pantry
Here is the pantry after tweaking it a bit!
Now, do you see why I love to decant pantry items?
Where do you stand on this issue?
Do you decant or not?
Let me know in the comments below!
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Blessings, Donna and Rich
Pin It For Later
More Inspiration
- Clever Ways to Organize Your Pantry 2022
- Organize Your Kitchen Pantry 2021
- How to Organize the Pantry (my old KY home) 2019
- The Best Storage Solutions for Your Kitchen
- Easy Ideas to Organize Your Refrigerator and Freezer
Get The Look
Chalkboard Labels for Jars * OXO Cereal Containers * OXO Variety of Containers Set
DYMO Label Maker * Plastic Storage Baskets * Collapsible Fabric Storage Cubes
Wood Mini Chalkboards with Clip * Spice Rack Organizer * SHARPIE Chalk Marker
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. We appreciate your support. (disclosure policy)
Your pantry is amazing, Donna! I just went through ours this week too. We decant most things but not all. These tips are definitely helpful especially where baking items and nuts are concerned. I was hoping we could get rid of our snack and chip containers basket too but so far no luck. I’m willing to pick my battles though. Thanks so much for all your organizing help. It makes a big difference, CoCo
I guess great minds think alike since you were organizing your pantry at the same time, lol!! I love decanting but I definitely go through different seasons of what I’m willing to decant! That’s one of the reasons I love to organize my house each year because our needs are always changing! Hugs, Donna
Wow, your pantry is spectacularly well organized! (Mine is like Grocery Jenga, haha.) Great tips in this post.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the post! Sounds like your pantry could be a bit dangerous, lol! Thanks so much!
Thank you for sharing with Whimsy Home Wednesday Donna. I went through and organized a pantry cupboard we have last year, and can I tell you how much money I have saved this last year? I had so many almond flours and since they are about $10 a bag, I wondered what in the world was wrong with me? I kept buying them bc I thought I was out, but when I organized it all I found I had way more than I needed! Thank you again for sharing. We could all use help in the organizing department. 🙂
Having an organized pantry can save you money, and your story is a perfect example of that! Thanks for sharing! I’m glad my post was helpful to you!
Hi Donna- I always love your posts on organizing. I find them so inspiring and helpful. My pantry definitely does NOT look like yours. I am inspired to try decanting items into storage containers for the reasons you shared above. The biggest benefit for me would be being able to easily see if I am running out of a certain item or ingredient. The other challenge that we have – our pantry is really small. Nonetheless, I am inspired to implement some of your suggestions.
Thank you, Anna, I’m so glad to know that this post was helpful to you! Good luck organizing your pantry!