Most of the country is enveloped in cold weather, and many are blanketed in snow and ice. It’s a great time to clean out cabinets and organize your pantry! Put something in the slow cooker so that dinner in ready without much effort and use the time you save to get started on organizing your kitchen.

The best way to get organized is to actually take out EVERYTHING from all of your cabinets! While this makes it seem like things are getting worse, it’s really the only way to do this effectively. Start by looking for items that are expired or stale. If you have duplicates of items, this is a great time to combine them. Next clump all of your “like items” together. There are five categories we suggest that you use:
Baking Center: This includes your not only staples like flour and sugar, but things like cupcake papers and decorations.
Pasta &Beans Center: This includes not only different noodles, but items like croutons, rice and lentils.
Beverage Center: Products like coffee, teas, sweeteners, drink mixes.
Snack Center: Cookies, chips, and other snacks
Breakfast Center: Cereals, Oatmeal, Pop-Tarts…anything to do with breakfast

Now choose a cabinet that makes “sense” to house your centers. For example, the cabinet closest to the largest counter space is probably where you would stand to make a batch of cookies or mix a cake. That is where you should locate your “Baking Center”. Your coffeemaker requires water…so it’s probably close to a sink. The cabinet above this is the best location for the “Beverage Center”. The pasta needs to be cooked, so locating this near the stove is the most practical spot. This organization will help you locate items quicker and eliminates duplicates to an extent.

While this is a great beginning, the stack-ability and airtight seals of the Tupperware Modular Mates® will really complete this process. You’ll use every inch of space up to the next shelf, which will give you 30% more shelf space in your kitchen. And the airtight seals will keep food fresh, eliminate bug issues and keep your cabinets clean.

Check out the Modular Mates® Storage System at www.tinaoscar.com