These Are the Items You Shouldn’t Be Decanting

You’ve likely seen perfectly organized pantries on social media. Everything is color-coded and decanted into storage containers. While they might look nice, decanting all those items might not be the most practice move.

Kathryn Lord, founder of More to Organising, explained that decanting everything in your pantry can actually be counterproductive depending on your goals. Specifically, Lord cited herbs, seasonings, spices, and sauces are items you should leave in their original packaging.

Lord said emptying these items into new containers—particularly plastic storage pieces—can take too much time, and you’ve likely bought more plastic just to create storage. Plus, items like seasonings and sauces often come in clear packaging that allows you to see an item and how much of it is left so you can already monitor when you need to repurchase.

But that doesn’t mean Lord is anti-decanting. She actually says that the method can work for dry goods, and she’s not alone. Emily Henderson, a professional organizer, also recommended decanting dry goods as they often have bulky packaging. The original boxes can take up quite a bit of room in your pantry and make the organization more difficult as a result. Plus, in the case of bulk buyers, opting for storage containers large enough to house two of a single item can save even more space.

If you love the look of a perfectly organized pantry, you can get it, but just be sure you’re doing so in a way that works for you and isn’t counterproductive.