Why I Love to 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

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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

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