Group the pantry by meal rather than ingredient type: a breakfast basket, a baking basket, a lunchbox basket. Then add the single most useful container in any kitchen — a shallow tray at the front labelled "use me first," for the half-packet of couscous and the jar of something opened last month. Once a week, cook from that tray before you cook from anything else. It is the least glamorous habit in this article and the one that saves the most money.
How do I organise kitchen cabinets in a rented flat where I can't change anything?
Everything here works without a drill. Tension rods turned sideways under a sink to hang spray bottles, stackable shelf risers to double a tall shelf, a shallow tiered rack for spices, and lidded baskets that act as pull-out drawers are all removable and travel with you to the next place. If your cabinets are awkwardly deep, the single best purchase is a set of long, narrow bins you can pull forward, because the problem with a deep shelf is never the space, it's the darkness at the back.
What's the fastest way to sort a pantry in one evening?
Set a timer for ninety minutes and work in one direction: pull everything out onto the table, wipe the shelves, then sort into four piles — daily, weekly, occasional, and honestly-never. The never pile goes to a food bank or the bin, depending on dates, and nothing goes back in without a decision. The trick is not to start at the messiest shelf but to clear a single empty shelf first, because one clear surface gives you somewhere to think.
