I shared a couple of weeks ago that I feel maxed out when it comes to my stuff threshold.  (You can read that post HERE.)  Given that we have an enormous basement and this house has ample storage, we still have plenty of room to accumulate more, but I find that I want even more empty space and fewer things that we don’t really need or use.  I’ve already started pulling pieces from some of my collections to sell, but it is hard to let go of things collected with such intention over a couple of decades!  I love what one reader said about stuff in reply to my post.  She likes to envision the way she manages her stuff as a river.  There is water flowing in and water flowing out.  If the outflow slows or stops, the water can become stagnant.  I’ve been pretty good at getting rid of things over the years, particularly when I sold in retailer spaces and when we moved, but I’ve still held onto way more than I actually use, need, or even appreciate.  It’s felt a little stagnant, just as that reader suggested, and I know it will feel good to have a healthy outflow again.

Instead of starting where it’s hard, like with beloved collections or even clothes, I decided to start where it is super easy – the pantry.  I still have a tendency to acquire too much when it comes to groceries (I mean, I don’t want to run out), but I spent about an hour thoroughly going through each box and bag, throwing away anything that was expired and donating things that were still good but we weren’t likely to use.  I always wonder how that stuff ends up in our pantry, but it’s usually when one of us picks something out on a whim, usually while on a trip, and it ends up languishing as we cycle through our routine meals.

I have sorted the pantry since we finished the kitchen renovation, but I haven’t gone through it thoroughly, rethinking how things were arranged.  It’s not a glamorous project, but it was so satisfying!  I vacuumed and wiped down each pull-out shelf and storage basket to make sure everything was nice and clean.  I dumped things out of containers that had gone forgotten and uneaten, washed them out, and replaced them with things we use a lot, like brown and Jasmine rice, quinoa, and grits.

The top of the pantry used to be filled with overflow, and now it’s mostly empty and has just a few boxes of things the boys like that we can move down to the baskets when they need to be refilled.  I have that entire upper shelf to use for serving pieces and other bulky items.  I also cleaned out the “pet drawers” so I could move the dog and cat food, which was wedged in by the microwave, in with their treats and toys.

It felt good to have only the things we eat regularly in the pantry instead of a bunch of random things that we might use some day but usually don’t,  I actually told Jeff after I finished and gave him a tour of the pantry and pet drawers, “Let’s not buy stupid things for the pantry any longer.  Let’s just buy what we actually eat regularly unless it’s something we’re going to use right away.”

Doesn’t it seem like this should be a given?  It’s just common sense!  But we still somehow come home with a jar of olive spread from HomeGoods or a box of specialty crackers that sound interesting, or some newfangled snack the boys throw in the cart.

Over the years, I’ve weeded most packaged food out of my diet with just a few exceptions.  The boys are the ones who like the boxed pastas and the majority of the snacks in our pantry, but I have never wanted to give up Cheez-its!  They are my boxed-food Achilles’ heel.  Marshall also insists on having the 90-second rice bags.  I prefer making a big batch of rice in the Instant Pot and heating that up through the week, but to each his/her own.

So, cleaning out the pantry led me to clean out the two pet drawers and one of the drawers that held a few miscellaneous pieces like the salad spinner and that large green Tupperware bowl.

When it comes to organizing, I believe momentum begets momentum.  Get some small, easy projects under your belt, and they will propel you into larger, more difficult projects.

If you need more organizing inspiration, you can find posts on that subject HERE.