hey it's abby and i'm getting ready to do a little
organizational refresh in my pantry so i thought i'd take you along for the ride
i especially wanted to answer some frequently asked questions that i get
about decanting so if you're not sure what that is or how to do it be sure to stick around
okay so what is decanting when it comes to the pantry decanting is just sort of a fancy word
that refers to taking items out of their original packaging and putting it in containers instead
usually clear containers and most of the time they match so why would someone want to decant their
items well i like to decant because it gets rid of a lot of excess packaging and gives our pantry a
more streamlined look everything looks neater it's also easier to tell how much i have left
of certain items because i can see right into the clear containers and tell rather than say
opening a box when i'm ready to cook and realizing that i'm nearly out of an ingredient that i need
when i'm planning my grocery shopping trip i can take a really quick look at my pantry
and immediately see what i need to grab more of when we use airtight containers
our food can even stay fresh longer than it does in the original packaging
decanting is an extra step though so it does take some time and also the containers can
get pricey so i like to strike a balance right in the middle between not decanting anything
and decanting every single thing in the pantry so what should i decant what should i not decant
there's a lot of personal preference that goes into that question i like to decant baking items
like flour and sugar because they typically stay in my pantry for a decent amount of time
on the flip side of that i do not decant cereal and snack foods into clear containers because
we tend to go through them more quickly and i feel like i would constantly be shuffling
food through containers another category that i like to decant is pasta so that i can get rid of
all of the bulky packaging it saves me some space and it just sits more neatly in the pantry as well
finally i decant my spices mostly because i like how they look when all of the containers match
again this is totally a personal preference thing there is no one-size-fits-all right and wrong
answer here let me know in the comments what you like to decant and what you like to leave in its
original packaging okay so how do we go through the actual decanting process i like to start the
way i start many of my organizing projects by making a list i went to my pantry and wrote down
everything i wanted to put into a clear container and i also made a note of how that item is usually
packaged for example flour typically comes in five pound bags sugar usually comes in four pound bags
etc if you're not sure how an item is usually packaged most grocery stores have a website where
you can look up items to see what size packages they come in after i have my list of items
and package sizes then it's time to match them up with the correct bins this is important make
sure i know my sizes first and then buy the bins i know buying cute bins is the fun part but we'll
save ourselves a lot of time and frustration if we do all of our measuring first i decided to
use the oxo pop containers because they're high quality and airtight so they'll keep my food
items fresh they actually have a handy guide on their site that can help people figure out
what items would fit best in which containers so i will link to that in the description below
i ended up getting a good deal on oxo's 20-piece set so i started with that because
it was going to be cheaper than buying all of the containers individually i ended up only
buying two individual containers in sizes that i needed that weren't included in the 20 piece set
once i figured out what items would go in which containers i marked them all with post-it notes
so it was easy to keep track of what goes where then i set out to make some labels with my cricut
cutting machine and adhesive vinyl i like the vinyl labels because they stay put for a long
time and i can get the exact color and font i want i have a video that walks through the process of
making vinyl labels with a silhouette cutting machine and a blog post that talks about how
to make them with a cricut cutting machine so i will link both of those in the description below
once all of my containers were labeled it was time to fill them up these containers were big
enough that i didn't need any type of funnel or anything i just dumped the items right in
another nice feature that can be added to the oxo containers is a half cup scoop that attaches right
to the lid so i did end up using those where it made sense for items like flour and sugar
one of the questions i get asked most often is but what of all the food in the package doesn't
fit into the container that i have for it well i try to be proactive about that problem by choosing
containers that will hold the entire amount of what usually comes in a standard size package but
no matter how much i plan there will inevitably be times where i end up with some excess i keep
a bin on the floor of our pantry just for that purpose i call it the back stock bin and if i have
excess of something i will put it in there and then try to use it up first to get it out of the
bin as soon as possible another question i hear frequently is if i'm getting rid of the packaging
how do i know expiration dates or directions for things there are a bunch of different ways we
could go about this but this time i decided to grab some clear adhesive business card holders
and stick them on the backs of my bins the sleeve can easily hold any instructions that are needed
as well as the expiration dates of my items so i can quickly check and get the information i
need time to put all of the containers in the pantry and add the final touches
and here's how the final pantry ended up the decanted items including spices are front and
center and in easy reach our kids school snacks are down at their level so they can reach them
themselves we do individual servings for those per their school's request so they can see a label
for allergy reasons we have bins for sauces and seasonings on the shelf as well cans have their
own bin as do baking items i find that when i keep the items corralled by category it makes
them easier to find as i mentioned earlier we have a big back stock bin on the floor along
with a bin for snack foods and other bigger items that we keep in their original packaging
that's it i hope this video answered a lot of your questions about decanting pantry items
if you haven't yet be sure to subscribe because we're planning on putting out more videos this
year thank you so much for following along with our project happy organizing
you