Renters know from experience that most apartments have limited space for storing their belongings, especially if you rent a studio type apartment. Some of the areas in an apartment, like the kitchen, have many utensils and tools to organize and arrange, each in their proper place. Having limited storage space to work with, can make it difficult to find a place to put everything.

Even if your kitchen is small, there’s always a right way to properly store foods and avoid waste. With some creativity, you’ll find a place for everything, and your small kitchen can look well organized and clean. Listed below are some easy food storage tricks that any renter can practice no matter what size the kitchen of your apartment. You can use these food storage tips to avoid waste and shortage.

Cabinets in apartment kitchens are usually on the smaller side. With this limitation, you may not be able to stack many plates or bowls at a time, as smaller cabinets limit the number of pantry goods you can stock alongside with your dishes. 

You can avoid leaving clean dishes on the counter when you place a wire shelf rack in the cabinet. This rack can stand alone so that it won’t require any installation. You can get them in any color you like, and you can also use them in every cabinet to allow more room for vertical storage.

You can find celebrities and famous bloggers that have posted pictures of their pantries filled with clear plastic containers. It’s both a smart food storage trick and a stylish design touch – it’s the perfect solution for renters who want their small kitchens to be functional. These plastic containers are usually sleek and airtight, so they’re perfect for combining boxes of noodles, cereal, or bags of flour. Look for a few containers, in the right sizes for the foods you want to keep in your pantry.

Buying food in bulk is a good idea as it can help reduce grocery spending, especially if you are fully stocked. Unfortunately, if you have a small fridge, storage space can be limited. Check out these tricks for storing frozen foods.

When you have a large pack of chicken thighs or ground beef, you can make your purchases last longer when you freeze them. The problem is, plastic containers are bulky. Instead, take the meat out, place it into usable portions, and seal it in freezer bags - as some air space is removed, it condenses the volume.

If you like buying boxed goods, such as pizzas, ice cream bars, and burritos, take them out of their boxes and keep them in freezer bags instead. This will allow you to store smaller items with less air, getting rid of cardboard boxes that are just taking up space. If you’re worried about freezer burn, wrap these items in plastic wrap.

Command hooks are a great way to help people who need storage solutions without causing permanent damage to areas in their apartment. You can stick these hooks on the inside of your cabinet or pantry doors to hang your cooking utensils and bags of food. You can also store the rest for other hanging needs around the kitchen, in your closet, or anywhere else in the apartment.

Drawers in the kitchen can get messy, especially when you just toss in whatever item you find. When you keep everything in the drawer, it doesn’t have to appear dirty. You can use extra drawer dividers to help you organize everything, including silverware, knives, and measuring cups. You can use some of the dividers to sort pens, bread bag ties, and bag clips, which can often get lost under the piles of mail and instruction manuals.

Don’t forget that the space above your cabinets can also be used as storage. If your kitchen cabinets don’t extend to the ceiling, that area is an available space that you can use to store some overflow items. Small appliances and other kitchen supplies you don’t use very often can make a home up there. Just be aware that that space up there can collect more dust and require regular cleaning.

If you have a habit of storing leftovers but never eating them – or if you have no idea what’s in the back of your cabinets – labeling can help you organize food and give you a visual reminder of the leftovers you don’t want to go to waste. Using this food storage tip to avoid waste and shortage down the road, will help you feel more organized in your kitchen, and even can be used in other rooms in your apartment. It’s also a good idea to create labels with expiration dates so that you can toss out what’s expired instead of leaving it in your pantry or fridge.

When you organize your small kitchen, get rid of all the items that you don’t need anymore. Review and follow all of these food storing tips to avoid food waste and shortage.

At Thousand Hills Realty, we are here to help you find the right Branson apartment or home to meet your unique needs. Give us a call today! We’d love to earn your business! 417-337-8081