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Diana Rene: 0:06 

You're listening to The Decluttered Mom Podcast, a podcast built specifically for busy moms by a busy mom. I'm your host, Diana Rene, and in 2017, I had my second daughter and it felt like I was literally drowning in my home okay, not literally, but I felt like I couldn't breathe with all of the stuff surrounding me. Over the next 10 months, I got rid of approximately 70% of our household belongings and I have never looked back. I kind of feel like I hacked the mom system and I'm here to share all the tips, tricks and encouragement. Let's listen to today's show. Welcome to this episode of the Decluttered Mom podcast. Today, we are going to talk about decanting.

Diana Rene: 0:56 

This is something that most people are like what are you talking about? And once they figure out why I'm talking about it, they say why would you do that? Um, and so let's just start with what in the world is decanting? You've probably seen it done. You've probably even done it to some extent at some point in your life, um, but you just didn't know that this is what it was called. So, basically, decanting is taking anything from its current container that it came in and putting it into a new container. So you often see this in kitchens with food in the pantry and sometimes the fridge and freezer, and so decanting is something that I think can be very helpful in your home. It's not for everyone, it's not something that it's not like decluttering where I'm like. If helpful in your home, it's not for everyone, it's not something that it's not like decluttering where I'm like. If you want a home that doesn't drive you crazy, you must declutter Like I'm not, like you must decant in order for your life to be more functional. I do think there are pros, though, and there are some cons, so let's just get into it. Are pros, though, Um, and there are some cons, so let's just get into it. Why would you decant? I?

Diana Rene: 2:14 

When I really sit down and think about it, there are basically four reasons why someone would decant. The first one is aesthetics, um, and what I mean by that is it just looks better. It looks better, it looks prettier, it looks more cohesive, and when you have all of your food in in, like you know, pretty organized containers, it's just visually going to look better, and so for some people, that is enough reason right there. For other people, who are much more driven by function, which hi, you can't see me, but I'm raising my hand. That reason isn't very important to me. So you may be on either side of that fence, and either side of the fence is totally okay, but that is a reason why so many people do choose to decant is because they just like the way it looks. But another reason that people will decant, or why I will decant, is space, and so that's the second reason space.

Diana Rene: 3:12 

Here's the thing we all know, and I swear it's getting worse in the last couple of years. I think someone, I saw someone refer to it as shrinkflation. We all know that when we buy a container of food at the store, it's not going to be filled with that food, right? So, like we've all had that experience at some point where we've opened up a box or a bag, like a bag of chips, right, and we open it up and we're like why is there like only a third of this bag filled? Like it's so frustrating, and I swear it's gotten worse. I've even noticed like granola bars are like smaller, or there's one or two less in a box than there used to be, even a couple of years ago, which that's another whole discussion for another time, but it's just something that I've noticed. So the bag of chips might be a poor example for this, because once you open a bag of chips, at least you could kind of roll it up and close it and it doesn't take up as much space. Right, but new chips definitely would.

Diana Rene: 4:16 

But let's talk about, you know, their cereal pasta. Pasta is a big one, so I have this pasta container for when I decant pasta. My we, okay, we have gone through it trying to find pasta, gluten-free pasta that both girls like. It has been a journey, not a journey that has been fun. It's had many issues along the way, but we finally found a pasta that both girls love. There's no like sad faces when I say that's what we're having for lunch. And it's hard with gluten-free, because most gluten-free pasta is not good.

Diana Rene: 4:57 

All of a side note, it is called Ranzoni gluten-free it's the yellow box. You cannot find it at most stores. Called Ranzoni gluten-free it's the yellow box. You cannot find it at most stores. I have only been able to find it at King Soopers in our area, which is, if you're not, in the Colorado area, that is a Kroger brand grocery store and they like the elbows. So that is the pasta. Once I see it I will stock up on it.

Diana Rene: 5:20 

But the problem is, when you open the pasta box, there's not, there's like less than half of the actual pasta, and so it's frustrating because it takes up so much space, right? And so if I'm like stocking up, because it's pasta that I can't find very often, then I'm taking up a lot of space in my pantry to store it. So I got this, uh, this container. It's a clear container, it's airtight, um, and I put the pasta in that container. It's pretty big. But when you stack the pasta boxes.

Diana Rene: 5:53 

So I did an experiment with this because I was like I'm very curious to see. Um, this is not scientific at all, but I basically just took the container, put it on the counter and then I took two of the pasta boxes and stacked them on top of each other and they were the same size. So basically it would take the same amount of pantry space for this very large pasta container that I bought compared to two of the boxes. So if I'm stocking up and I buy six of the boxes, that's three of these pasta containers, right? So then I noticed that, and then I emptied the boxes into the container and I was able to fit five, and I probably could have fit another half box, but I didn't want to open it for half a box. I didn't want to open it for half a box. I was able to fit five pasta boxes in this one container when it only took up the same amount of space as two pots actual store bought pasta boxes.

Diana Rene: 6:54 

Hopefully that makes sense. I sometimes I love the podcast, but sometimes I really want to be able to show you a visual and I can't do that. But I hope that makes sense. So it's an it can. It can be an incredible space saver, um, and that goes across so many different I mean I could give you so many different examples of that. The other thing with space is that you can. You can maneuver things a little bit more right. So if you buy containers that are able to stack well on each other, then that's going to probably fit in your pantry space a little bit better than just random shaped boxes from the store that you have no say over what shape or size, that it comes in into your home, and so that has been something that has been a really big benefit to me as a very functional, focused person. As I said before, it's not the aesthetics that really like get me excited about something. It's like the function, and if I know that if I can work this space better, then it's going to help me stay organized.

Diana Rene: 8:05 

Okay, so number three would be food waste, and there's kind of two reasons that decanting helps with food waste. Number two decanting typically helps you just have a better visual gauge of what food you already have. So if you just you know you're going to run to the grocery store and you open your pantry and you look in it, you're more likely to miss, like, how much you have left of something if it's in its original container that you can't see through, versus a see-through container that shows you oh shoot, we only have like a cup left of rice, I need to get more rice versus a rice box in the pantry that you can't see how much is left. And unless you're like actually opening up each individual box as you're going through the pantry, then you're not going to notice that Right. And so if you are like a very detail oriented person who is sitting here listening to me like why wouldn't you check every box, then this wouldn't be a reason for you. That is not me, that is not me in my ADHD brain and I don't think that's most really busy people who they just get distracted. They're trying to get the grocery list done, they're trying to get the groceries into the house, and so they're not thinking to check every single box, but if they see it it's a reminder and so they're able to just they're able to figure out what's remaining in their pantry better and they're not buying extras of things that end up being wasted down the road because you buy any containers for decanting. I highly recommend you buy airtight containers because it's going to preserve your food longer, like you're going to be able to eat your crackers longer Obviously don't eat them past the expiration date but you're going to be able to keep your crackers not stale for longer than just in the cracker box that it comes in right, and so that helps food waste because we're able to just make our food last a little bit longer than it may if it's in the chip bag that doesn't really get closed very well and so the next time you go to grab them they don't taste very good.

Diana Rene: 10:37 

Another reason that decanting is important to me and I don't even like talking about this is pests. I like even just thinking. Saying the word just makes me like you know, like when you see a spider and then you're like, you just like feel like a spider is crawling on you Just anytime I say pests, I'm like, ugh, I don't like it. But the reality is there are pests in the world and there are bugs and there are rodents that want our food, and so when things are not kept in airtight containers, there's just a higher likelihood that pests can be an issue. Does that mean that if you don't have every single food item in your home in an airtight container, that you're automatically going to get pests? No, it just means that you are less likely, right? And so this is something that's important to me, because we have dealt with this in the past in the house that we had just bought and moved into, and I just never want to deal with it again. So we we decant most of our food into airtight containers that can take care of that issue or prevent that issue. So that is another reason that many people will decant.

Diana Rene: 11:57 

Now, when you're getting started with decanting, it can be really easy to see a TikTok or see a Pinterest post or an Instagram post and see this beautiful, like color-coded, decanted pantry and go to the container store or go to Walmart and just buy all of the things, right, and I really, really discourage you from doing that because you have to make sure that you, number one, can manage it and number two even like doing it, because for some people, just the idea of having to add an extra step when they're home from grocery shopping and decanting the food, it just feels like too much or they just know they're not going to do it, and so, like you don't want to waste your money and your time and energy on all of this new product that you're not going to end up using. So I always recommend with just trying it with one or two things and pick the things that you go through a lot of. So for us, like if I were to just be starting decanting, we go through a lot of rice and so I would start with rice. I would probably also start with pasta, because we go through a lot of that, as I talked about. But just pick one or two food items that you'd like to give this a try with and just start with those. See how it works, see if it's an issue, see if you like it, see if opening the pantry to seeing that is like something that makes you feel better. Just try it out and do that for, I would say, at least a couple of weeks to see if it's something that you feel like you can sustain and, if it is, then look into investing in more containers for more food, and that's. The other thing is that you don't have to do it for all of your food. You can just do it for some things. You don't have to do it for everything. So find what feels best for you, works best for you.

Diana Rene: 13:50 

I will say this is something kids love helping with. They think it's so fun, like isn't it funny how kids just find like the most random household things fun, and I sometimes, well oftentimes, admire that and I wish I had that same like zest for just normal everyday routine. But this is something that kids really enjoy because they think it's fun to open the package and pour it in and shut it and they get to help with the. You can do labels Like there's just so many things that they just think is fun. So you can give this to your kids as a task too. Obviously, you probably don't want to give your three-year-old the task of decanting the flower, because it's going to be everywhere and you're not going to have any flower left to put in the container. But use your best judgment. See how old your kids are. How are their motor skills to be able to make sure the items actually end up in the container? Are they going to be more helpful? Are they going to be causing more work for you? But this can be a really great thing. Both of my kids like this is one of their tasks. After I bring in the groceries, like they go through and they will decant things, but they're seven and 10. And so just maybe something to consider.

Diana Rene: 15:05 

There are a few things that people will commonly ask me when I'm talking about decanting just things that like come up where they're like, but I'd like to try this, but what about this? And so one of those things is like what if? What if there's something that you need instructions for? So an example would be like what if you buy boxed pancake mix and you need the instructions because you never remember how to make the actual pancakes? Or like, is it one egg or two? And I get that.

Diana Rene: 15:36 

So what you could do is a couple of things. You could either write on the back of the container with like a dry erase marker, depending on the material. I would always test it first in a tiny little spot and make sure that it will wipe off. But you could write on it in a dry erase marker the directions or just you know like. If it's just you want to make sure you remember what goes in it, then you could just write on the back of it One egg, one cup water, whatever it is. You could also just cut the instructions part off of the box and tape that to the back or the bottom. That's what I would usually do is just tape it to the bottom so you don't see it, and then after, if it's something that you're using a lot, obviously you just remember at that point and so you don't have to keep doing that. But that's something that I would recommend. I had a client once that she just kept like an envelope in her kitchen and so she would cut the back off and just put them in there, and so she would just grab the envelope if she needed it for something that she didn't use very often.

Diana Rene: 16:38 

Another one is what about expiration dates? So I would just make sure to use the dry erase again. You can just put that on the back of it with the expiration date if it's something that you're concerned about not using in time. For us, most of the things that we decant are things that we typically get through pretty quickly. We still have months left on the expiration date, so I don't really worry about that. But if it is something like you buy something, you get home and you're like oh shoot, I didn't realize that this expires in a month and you want to still decant it, then just write the expiration on the back with a dry erase and you'll be good to go.

Diana Rene: 17:19 

Another thing and this isn't a question that people ask, but I just want to make sure to mention it is that when you are decanting, if you have leftover food in the container so say, you are decanting cereal, you got a new cereal box, you want to put it in the container with the cereal that's already there the old cereal. That's still good. What I always do is I pour that out into a bowl, I put the new cereal in and then I take the old cereal and put it back on top. That way you're just kind of. You're not like just continuously buying new cereal and putting it on top and letting the old cereal sit at the bottom and get bad. If it's something where you're close to expiration, then use it or toss it, but that's what I like to do is just put it on top instead of the bottom so that you're able to like work through the product in a manner of making sure that you're not eating expired food. I hope this was helpful for you.

Diana Rene: 18:18 

This is something that, again, is not at all required to have a home that is functional and working for you. But there are many reasons why people will decant, and I go through seasons of it, like there are seasons where I'm decanting everything and it's working really well for me, and there are other seasons of life where I'm barely decanting because, for whatever reason, it just feels heavier, it doesn't feel like it's working as well, and I think that, honestly, my stress levels have a lot to do with it. Number one, but also number two like we go through seasons of like really liking specific foods, and so there are certain types of food that will decant more and different types of food will decant less, and so there's no like black or white with this. It's all gray, and if it's something that you want to try, give it a shot. But again, just start with one or two, and I'm always curious to hear what you think. So shoot me a DM and let me know if this is something that you do, if you're going to consider trying it, or if you have tried it how'd it go?

Diana Rene: 19:21 

Thanks for hanging out and listening to the Decluttered Mom podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, it would mean the world if you could write a review or share this episode with a friend or your Instagram stories. And if you're on Instagram, be sure to follow me at thedeclutteredmom and send me a DM to say hi. I'd love to hear what you thought about today's episode. I hope you'll come back next week and hang out with us again.