If you’ve spent any time on Instagram or Pinterest you’ve undoubtedly seen a stunning pantry or set of clear glass jars sitting in a bathroom that has made you question whether or not you should do the same.

But the reality is decanting all the items in your pantry, your laundry detergents + specialty cleaning products or your bathroom necessities is A LOT of work to maintain. And the moment you play the comparison game between your home + Pinterest the sense of overwhelm, stress + unhappiness sets in.

And yet, even though it’s added home maintenance to keep up — for many of our clients — it’s a necessary step in a calming, more intentional + beautifully organized home.

So, as your organizing BFF… let’s take a look at what decanting is, what makes the cut for practical decanting methods + why you should + should not consider decanting.

What Is Decanting

That pal of ours Mr. Webster, defines decanting as “…pouring liquid from one container into another.” But this is no science class boo! So, let’s break it down as it relates to your home.

At Elegant Simplicity, we define decanting (at home) as the process of removing items from their original packaging + setting (or pouring) them into functional jars, containers and/or baskets.

Here’s a couple of examples you may already “...decant” without even knowing it around your home:

Pour bulk spices into glass jars
Take dryer sheets out the box + place them into a specific container
Empty olive oil into a glass canister + place it on the kitchen counter

There is a TON of decanting opportunities around your home but a question we ask ourselves at Elegant Simplicity is — what’s the purpose or intention behind the action? If we can’t justify the why around a particular function then it’s not something we’d recommend to our clients.

5 Major Benefits Of Decanting

And that leads us to the benefits of decanting.

Decanting Keeps Food Fresh

Bags of chips need clips, bags of cereal (inside of boxes) need clips, bags of pastas need clips, kids snacks need clips — heck just about everything that isn’t named a canned good — needs a clip in the kitchen. And that means you’ve got lots of clips to store + to keep track of…Or lots of stale food *wink*

While some products come with resealable capabilities, an air-tight container keeps your food fresh longer as it reduces the food's ability to oxidize.

Shelf life isn’t the only reason for decanting some of your food though because air-tight containers also are a deterrent for pests, odd food odors mixing together + are excellent at keeping moisture in the air out.

Decanting Helps Remove Physical Clutter

There’s no question that part of the beauty in decanting is the uniformity but not just aesthetically speaking.

Decanting items increases your ability to maximize the space you have. Even if space as a whole isn’t a challenge in your home, you’re often still limited to a cabinet, a shelf, an area of the countertop to utilize for what you need.

So, if + when it makes sense to decant laundry detergent or specialty cleaning products do so.

By ridding your home of the original packing you not only gain back space but reduce the physical clutter.

Gives You Insight Into What To Buy

Almost all of us have at one point in our lives reached for something in the pantry, under the bath vanity or in the cleaning closet only to realize that it was nearly empty or completely empty.

An added benefit of decanting the right way is whether it’s hand soap, olive oil, your kitchen spices or bath salts by removing the packaging it comes in you can at a glance identify what you need to buy more of so you’re never too low (or completely out of) laundry detergent boo.

Frictionless Usability

Huh? Yeah, that’s right — decanting can make life at home feel frictionless. Imagine this, it’s Christmas time + around these parts, we’re suckers for a good Christmas cookie. No seriously, you never leave a cookie out if John’s around LOL!

Alright, enough digressing…you’re cooking + the recipe calls for 15 cups of flour, a tablespoon of baking soda + several scoops of chocolate chips. The only problem is the flour bag is going to get torn by the little tyke when they’re grabbing it off the baking shelf + poof there goes half the bag of flour, the baking soda jar has too small of an opening so you can’t get the tablespoon inside of it + the chocolate chips are half crushed because the bag was under all the other baking ingredients.

Decanting those items into jars + containers that stack but are specifically sized for how much you need of each makes this experience enjoyable, not frustrating. Easy to clean up, not a disaster. And you spend more time kissing, laughing + loving on your people than worrying about the things causing you stress.

Decanting Can Be Beautiful

Certainly not the most important but one added benefit of decanting is that it looks good.

And if that didn’t matter to you, then you wouldn’t be reading this *wink*. You take pride in your home + this is another instance of self care. From organized drawers + cabinets to small vignettes of canisters on countertops, decanting adds an element of luxury to your home.

Regardless of the benefits of decanting, functionality should always precede aesthetic so if something specific about decanting doesn’t make sense for you — you shouldn’t do it.

Seattle, Washington professional organizing firm, Elegant Simplicity decanting a bathroom.

Decanting Should Not Be A Burden

Decanting, without question, takes time. And it takes an investment to get started.

But it also takes a little bit each time you come home from shopping or you receive an order from online.

And this adds up so you shouldn’t emphasize decanting for every aspect of your home, if you don’t want to commit to the effort it takes to maintain it.

Nothing about home is static. It’s ever-evolving. It’s continuous. Sometimes that’s an influx of clutter + other times that’s an influx of popcorn kernels to take out of the bag + put into an air-tight clear container *wink*.

P.S. we’re here to help + our organizing membership is exactly that, an accountability partnership for organizing your home.

Practical Decanting That Makes Functional Sense

Decanting every last item may absolutely be for you but if it’s not that’s ok too.

Everything about your home should be custom tailored to the way you live. And the organizing systems we set up with our clients are truly built around their routines, their habits + their way of living.

Like organizing, decanting isn’t a one size fits all mentality. Here’s a few tips that make decanting practical + functional.

Decant What Seems Manageable

Whether that’s decanting snack sized bags into a basket or laundry pods into a glass jar — you should focus on containerizing + decanting — anything that makes your routines easier or more enjoyable.

A huge factor in building + maintaining your organizing systems is that they are enjoyable + to borrow a word from earlier, frictionless.

Remove Outer Packaging

When there are things like fruit snacks, granola or protein bars and anything else that’s inside of bigger packages — remove them by placing them inside of baskets or bins.

Again the insight you gain from doing this is not only how many you have left (i.e. priming your environment for the next day) but also in knowing what to buy the next time you’re at the store or placing an order.

While this remains true for bulk foods like flour, sugar, grains, or pastas… this isn’t limited to pantry or food items. This is also anything you use often in your laundry room (dryer sheets, fragrance additives) or bathroom (such as cue-tips, cotton balls, bath salts or bath bombs).

Use Baskets or Bins For Efficiency

If you’re worried that taking pasta’s out of cardboard boxes or bags of chips to place into clear canisters just doesn’t seem functional to you — then it’s not! And you should trust your intuition.

Instead however, consider using bins or baskets to create continuity + better categorize the things that are already open.

These could be grab-and-go’s — like a snack basket for the kiddos or a cleaning kit for in between the days the cleaners aren’t coming.

Decanting seasonings in a kitchen pantry organized by Bellevue, Washington luxury professional organizing firm, Elegant Simplicity.

Decant To The Proper Size

What’s the proper size mean? Well, that’s going to be specific to how you live.

For some of our clients, a large clear canister to hold a 1 lb bag of popcorn because they like it every now + again is plenty. However, for those clients who eat popcorn on the regular, like Sherri does every night, well then a large canister that can handle the 2 lb bag makes complete functional sense *wink*

What we want to avoid is sacrificing any, and we mean any functionality, just to decant. Unless it makes sense for the way you cook, clean, or use your home — we don’t want to have a little bit of this over here in this canister + the rest of it over there.

In other words boo, you’re decanting container should match the size of what you’d typically buy for.

Use Clear Jars + Canisters

Clear jars + canisters make things easy for many of the reasons we’ve already discussed, they give you insight into how much is left, they keep things fresh longer, and they remove the physical clutter of the original packaging.

But they can also be used as styling accessories that are easily accessible on your kitchen countertops, on the open shelving in your bathroom or anywhere in your laundry room.

Labeling

Labeling is paramount to maintaining the organizing systems we set up together. If others don’t know where things go + they’re just guessing, how can they help maintain things? They can’t.

Whatever your labeling system is — it must be easy to change. Home is continuous remember + over time, what’s stored in that container may change which is why you want as much flexibility as possible.

Now, there are some staple things that might not change + that’s fine but the visual aesthetic of the labels is for communicating what it is + where it goes :)

Elegant Simplicity is all about making things easy for you + helping you create a home with everything you need + nothing more.™

If you’ve given decanting a try + your like “this is all just too much… I need help really getting decluttered, organized or designing my home ” –– friend, we’re here for you.

Don’t hesitate reaching out to our team + ask for help. In fact, you can get started with a FREE Clarity Call (a 30-minute consultation that’s all about you!)

And if you absolutely loved this article about Bathroom Remodel Cost then trust me boo, you’re going to really enjoy a FREE video course: 4 Days To A More Beautiful + Functional Home.

A Professional Organizers Guide To Practical Decanting Methods