A tidy larder can give us a tiny sense of order and calm throughout the day and is the backbone of a functional kitchen set-up.
And according to leading interior design house Neptune, it helps with future planning too — no more repeat purchases of dried soya beans when two packs are rapidly reaching their use-by date at the back of a cupboard.
But how best to arrange a larder so that it looks good and works practically? Here, Neptune suggest some simple, sensible solutions.
Before you can organise your cupboards, you need to do a big clear-out. Remove any out-of-date foods and stale spices, and pull out any foods you know you realistically will not use.
Rather like sorting out your wardrobe, be honest with yourself and question whether you will use the tinned fruit you bought for a recipe you now cannot find.
Consider at this point donation or sharing options for any food that is still good to use, such as a food bank or community sharing apps such as OLIO.
Now that you have the foodstuffs and equipment that you want to store, organise them into categories — dried pulses, jars, boxes of cereals, snacks.
Within the categories, organise the foods by use-by dates — with the longest at the back of the shelf, rather like a supermarket would do.
By organising the shelves like a shop front, you will soon realise what you are over-buying.
Cool, dark larder cupboards can be useful for storing items that would otherwise need to go into a fridge.
Using a bottom shelf with a marble base, such as the larder from Neptune’s Suffolk kitchen collection, for storing vegetables such as onions, garlic and potatoes in wire baskets, will naturally keep the produce cool.
Tomatoes will taste infinitely better straight from the larder as opposed to the fridge, as will avocados, apples and oranges.
Glass jars work well for things that you want to keep air-tight (like coffees, teas and dried goods ), whereas wire baskets work better for fruit or veg, where you don’t restrict the airflow.
You need to be able to see foods to know what you are running low on and also to inspire you to use them.
The easiest way to label the foods that you are decanting is to cut out the product label and use-by information, slip it into the top of the jar and stick it on the underside of the lid.
Alternatively, use a white chalk pen on the jar, or for the seriously committed, a label maker.
Finally, decant what you want into glass jars or Tupperware, but resist getting carried away with swapping packaging in order to create a photogenic Insta-moment — keep it logical.
Ultimately, larders are working cupboards, and a good organisation habit will make them look good while creating an orderly and streamlined system in your kitchen.
