A motorhome's pantry has two enemies: little space and movement while driving. A badly organised pantry ends up as a chaos of half-opened packets, forgotten food going off and jars rolling across the floor at the first bend. With a handful of tricks, you can keep food tidy, accessible and without any nasty surprises. Let's look at them.
Clear jars and containers
The best trick: move pasta, rice, pulses, coffee or cereal out of their packets into clear airtight jars. You gain space, see at a glance what you have and how much is left, avoid pests and, above all, nothing rattles around while driving. It's the single change that tidies up a camper pantry the most.
Nothing moves
While driving, anything not secured ends up on the floor. Solutions:
- Boxes or baskets that group products and fit inside the cupboards.
- Tension bars or elastics on shelves so jars don't fall.
- Non-slip liners on shelves.
- Heavy items low down and firmly wedged in.
Organise by how often you use it
Keep everyday items (breakfast, coffee, snacks) within easy reach, and reserve or less frequent items in the deeper spaces. Having "zones" (breakfast, meals, seasonings) means you find everything without emptying the cupboard.
Buy sensibly
In a camper, buying too much is buying trouble: it takes up space, adds weight and goes off. Buy for a few days at a time, make the most of local markets and keep a couple of tins in reserve for days without a shop nearby. Less waste, more space. We look at this in keeping food.
The anti-smell, anti-pest trick
Airtight jars also stop the pantry picking up odours and bugs appearing (typical with flour and cereal left in an open packet). A clean, sealed pantry keeps far better.
In short
Organising the camper pantry means moving basics into clear jars, securing everything for the road, organising by frequency of use and buying for a few days at a time without stockpiling. The step you can take today: buy a few airtight jars and decant your basics (pasta, rice, coffee); it's the change that tidies up the pantry the most and stops chaos on the road. More ideas in how to make the most of storage.
