Have you had to store things differently during the coronavirus pandemic? We’re going on week seven of our stay at home orders here in Massachusetts. Since we have been trying to limit our shopping trips, I found myself stocking up on hard-to-find items when they were available. This has led to some organizing issues I never expected, like how to store 25 pounds of flour (and judging by my friends’ social media posts, I’m not alone in this issue!).

My storage tips for life right now (buying in bulk):

Make room!
- We cleared out some junk and found extra space on shelves in the basement for paper goods. The shelves are right near the bottom of the basement stairs so they are easy to use. We often keep paper goods there, but we had a larger amount than usual.
- We’ve had to make more room in the freezer for food from our larger-than-normal grocery runs. Bonus: tips for organizing your freezer.
Use the right containers. Some we had, some we had to buy. Two examples:
- I purchased two food-safe storage bins online for holding the 25 pounds of flour, instead of the original bag. We had to clear more shelf space to store the bins! Flour was really hard to find around here at first, so everyone has been buying it in bulk, Another friend suggested this container on wheels.
- We saved the empty yeast container and decanted from the new 1-pound bag into it. The remaining yeast went into a clean mason jar with a new lid. (My daughter loves to bake desserts and my husband makes bread, so I know we’ll be going through these supplies.)
Plan. We’ve had to plan even more than usual: what do we need to eat up from the freezer, what ingredients go in the recipe, how we’re going to get groceries.

Have you come up with creative storage solutions? Let me know!

Organizing Tips

Pandemic Storage