Have you ever “containerised”? It’s a common condition, according to Amy Revell and Kristina Duke, two decluttering experts who’ve worked as professional
organisers for more than a decade.

“When clients ring, I say, ‘What have you done prior to calling me? What have you tried?’ ” says Revell, “and almost always it’s, ‘Oh I went and bought a whole lot of containers.’ People are much more likely to go and ‘containerise’ as their first attempt at getting it back under control. That’s easier. And it’s more fun. And it looks prettier.”

To containerise is to avoid “the work” of decluttering, says Revell, who owns The Art of Decluttering in Melbourne (and a podcast of the same name), while Duke helms Decluttering Diva in Sydney.

Their clients are from all walks of life and are “basically people who don’t have the capacity to declutter without some help,” says Revell.

So where to start? Here are Revell and Duke’s tips for decluttering and organising your pantry like a pro.

Where to start

To begin decluttering a pantry, pull everything out, if possible. “It’s about getting rid of all the off food,” says Revell. “Clients are often mortified by how much food wastage there is. Sometimes they’re horrified because we’re finding packets of things that are 10 years overdue or there are pantry moths in all of the rice.”

Hot tip: Once a week, cook meals using only what you have. “You’ve probably got $1000 worth of food in your pantry, fridge or freezer,” says Revell.

Declutter with compassion

To achieve an organised pantry, declutter first, then organise. “When we feel overwhelmed, we automatically go to organise before we go to declutter,” says Revell.

Duke says there are three main types of clutter: sentimental clutter, “I might need it one day” clutter, and aspirational clutter. “I think sometimes we get a new cookbook, and [buy ingredients as if] we’re going to be the next MasterChef. But the reality is, we’re not, and it’s OK. Don’t let that food sit there taunting you.”

Hot tip: Make the pantry work for you. “You don’t have to have a packet of biscuits for every occasion or every type of teabag,” says Revell.

Organise in categories

After binning any out-of-date or nibbled packets, and donating any unwanted, in-date food, group like with like. Put all the breakfast food together, group rice with pasta and noodles, and gather all the sauces and jars in one place. If that gets tricky, create broader categories, such as “flavourings”, which might include herbs, spices and stock. For meal kits, Revell says, “You don’t need to decant your meal kit,” but she does recommend grouping the packets so they’re easy to whip out and transform into dinner in a flash.

Hot tip: “There’s no one way to organise,” says Duke. “Just because you saw it on
Instagram, doesn’t mean it’s going to work for your pantry space.”

Containerise like a pro

Keep your food in clear, stackable containers so you can see what you have.
Revell suggests that to keep food fresh and reduce pantry interlopers, you opt for the same style of clear, modular, stackable and sealable containers in different sizes.

Hot tip: “If you have a deep pantry, use containers to make mini drawers so you can pull things from the back,” says Duke.

Practical trumps pretty

It’s OK to have a purely functional pantry; you don’t have max out the credit card to buy pretty containers.

“You see beautiful pantries with round glass jars and bamboo,” says Duke but, for
her, their impracticality outweighs their beauty – all she sees are fingerprints to clean, broken glass to sweep up, and round items not maximising the available space.

Hot tip: It’s impractical and expensive for most households to decant all food items into containers. “An open basket, and often just a clip, is enough,” says Duke.

Put a label on it

Revell loves labels but eschews the ready-made kind – you won’t find “Grandad’s grappa” or “heirloom tomato chutney from Jess” on a sheet of premade labels. Whichever style you choose, make sure it can be customised so you can write exactly what you need.

Hot tip: Make like a chef and use masking tape and a Sharpie for quick, ad-hoc
labelling.

Maintain eye-level contact

OK, so you’ve organised your goodies into containers, but what goes where? Take heed from supermarkets and store the most-used items at eye level, and least-used on the top and bottom shelves.

Hot tip: Revell suggests only buying in bulk if you cook in bulk, and only buying what you can comfortably store.

See what you have

Being able to “visualise” food makes it easier to create snacks, says Duke. Because fruit and vegies are used quickly, she keeps them in the fridge-door compartments. “I’ll pre-cut carrot sticks and put a container in the door,” says Duke. Condiments, on the other hand, are tucked away in the veg crisper.

Revell agrees. “You’re much more likely to open up the pantry and go, ‘I could throw some trail mix on a bowl of yoghurt’, rather than opening up a bag of chips, if you can see what you’ve got.”

Hot tip: “Lazy Susans are the most non-lazy thing in the pantry,” says Duke, who loves to use a rotating turntable for food storage.

Don’t forget the kids’ snacks

Kids’ snacks have changed in the past few years, say Duke and Revell, with more grab-and-go options available, such as solo-serve packets of popcorn, rice crackers and dried fruit, and individual yoghurt pouches. Revell recommends storing these snacks together in a drawer, potentially within kids’ reach, so they can help themselves.

Hot tip: Have a basket of savoury snacks and another of sweet snacks – like a lucky dip – so it’s interesting for kids to find, says Duke. Make it fun.