Ah, Spring. The buzz of new life is everywhere and Mother Nature is ready to show off for April! I’m in the process of sprucing up my home to give it a refresh and breathe new life into the space. My usual routine is a house wide “let go” process. Making a quick swoop through the closets, bookshelves and nic-nacs. I even clean out the pantry and refrigerator of old and expired items. It takes less than 30 minutes and helps keep my home clear of items that are no longer serving me. I encourage you to do the same! You want to start Spring off fresh, clean and intentional. 

Speaking of intention, I want to share my thoughts on the highly popular food canisters. You know what I’m talking about. They’re pretty, and esthetically pleasing. You can put your pasta, rice, cereal, flour, etc. in them. I get it. They make your pantry look like something out of HGTV, but you won’t catch me buying them for my sessions. I used to think I loved them… until I started to use them.

Let’s take rice, for example. Usually, my rice would not all fit inside the canister, so I ended up with a half empty bag of rice tucked away. Not great for consolidation. When I buy new rice, I have to pour the old rice into a bowl, add the new rice into the canister, then put the old rice back on top (First In, First Out). So much time and effort. And again, left with backstock. Don’t forget you have to wash them every so often to keep them from collecting bacteria. 

Now, let me make a suggestion. Leave it in its packaging. (gasp) Yes. Don’t make life harder than it has to be. For some people, putting away their groceries is a task in itself. To ask yourself to add on extra time to pour everything into a pretty container is setting yourself up for disaster. Instead, opt for bigger clear bins where you can group your grains, pastas, chips, anything that you may have a lot of. These will slide into your pantry and create “homes” or sections. Making it easy for everyone to know where everything belongs. For cereal, leave it in the box until it gets below halfway. Place the bags into a “cereal bin” and don't forget to clip it! Bonus, label your clips for cereal you know you buy.