Posts have been somewhat lacking this week as my real life is demanding more of my time and I have barely been online.  Please bear with me as this will continue for the next couple of weeks.

I have spent a couple of days putting my decluttering skills to good use as I sorted and tidied the pantry in my mother’s unit.  Although it is a one bedroom unit in a retirement village there is a small but functional kitchen with a walk-in pantry.

I did not have my camera with me to show you some before and after photos but I will try to explain a little of what I did.

There was some great organisation already in place.  All of the small jars of herbs and spices live in a shoebox to keep them together.

The first step was to check for duplicates of items – there were a couple and then I decanted items that were in packets into appropriately sized containers.  There was no shortage of storage jars and canisters.  I then gathered like things together.  The baking ingredients – flour, raising agents, coconut etc are all on one shelf.  Dried fruit and nuts are together as are breakfast provisions.

One of the important lessons I discovered from this exercise is that we have to constantly adapt to changing circumstances.  My mother no longer prepares her own evening meal so many of the things that I keep in my pantry are simply not applicable to her situation.  I am aware that some of the ingredients that she has will probably not be replaced when they are depleted.

The other consideration is the size of the containers.  The above photo is my pantry but the large red-lidded jars came from from Mum.  I have now acquired another 4 as Mum no longer needs them.  She simply does not keep that much of anything and the jars are quite heavy and difficult to handle.

I can see another bit of re-arranging of my own pantry coming up as I consider what other ingredients I will keep in the large jars and work out a way to fit them in.

Circumstances are constantly evolving as we welcome children into our homes, they grow and then finally leave home.  Later there may be the addition of grandchildren or the death of a spouse.  All of these things require us to adapt what we have and how we use it.  It is easy for the essentials of one phase of our lives to become the clutter of the future so it is wise to review our needs regularly.

I would love to hear your thoughts on changing circumstances and clutter.