Kitchen storage solutions?

[whitneywalters]

My kitchen is decent sized but the storage options kinda stink. We are working on building up a large stock pile of non perishable foods but I do not have a ton of room for it. Right now I have a small pantry, a small 3 drawer shelf and three cabinets for food storage. One of the cabinets is full of spices/baking, the other is canned food and the third is crackers/cereal and what not. There are other cabinets but I need them for tupperware, pans and dishes.

We do have a basement but it is old and I hate going down there.

I would love to see other kitchens and hear about your storage solutions.

[3 ladybugs]

I would utilize your basement. You might be able to find a dehumidifier on freecycle (if your VERY quick) and that could help with some of the typical basement issues. I know it made our basement WAY better.

Our kitchen is small with NO storage. Seriously I don't know how people lived in the early 1960's! I guess they must have had nothing to cook with.

If you get the basement figured out though you can do a lot. We have all of our food storage down there including a VERY large (and growing) canned food section (home canned).

Good luck!

[EmilytheStrange]

I guess it depends on WHY you're building up a stockpile.

If it's something that you just want to do to buy in bulk or if you're just preparing for the offchance that DH will lose their job, a disaster will strike, etc.

In one setting, you would want the food at your fingertips - i.e., the kitchen would be ideal. In the other, you could rotate stock on a monthly basis or so and therefore, the basement would be more ideal. If that makes sense.

My kitchen stinks on storage. We just moved her 2 weeks ago and I can't fit anything in here like I could at our old place. They have a ton of stupid lazy susans in the cabinets and I therefore cannot use the corners, etc. I only get the space on the lazy susan and it's not enough. I could probably cut my tupperware/whatever cabinet in half or even less if I was realistic with how much of it I REALLY use. I mean, we have leftovers, but they get cleared out on a weekly basis or less - I don't need all the plastic and glassware that I have. That would get me half a cabinet back and a ton of space for canned goods.

I also have a hall closet that DH thinks I should use as a pantry, but I've been hesitant because it has appliances in it - breadmaker, rice maker, waffle maker, etc. But, I COULD reorganize that closet and end up with some shelves for canned goods too.

I don't know if this will help, but hope it does!

[shannychi]

My brother and SIL gave us a stainless steel shelf that is about 36 inches wide and about 5 feet tall. We put it together and keep all of our non-perishable food in the basement. Peanut butter, jams and jellies I've canned, juice. If its not something yo are using daily I would utilize that space. Get a cheap rug remnant or paint the floor with a color that you could get cheap - something from a paint store someone returned, etc.

[nohollyhomaker]

I don't have a lot of cabinet space in my kitchen so I use a laundry closet that is upstairs in the hall on the floor with the kitchen as a pantry. Everything that doesn't fit in there or the small kitchen pantry like the extra canned stuff goes in the garage. We will eventually try to add cabinet space or put a small island in the kitchen. It isn't a tiny kitchen but it is awkward in shape and size and has windows that limit the cabinet space.

[whitneywalters]

Originally Posted by 3 ladybugs I would utilize your basement. You might be able to find a dehumidifier on freecycle (if your VERY quick) and that could help with some of the typical basement issues. I know it made our basement WAY better. Our kitchen is small with NO storage. Seriously I don't know how people lived in the early 1960's! I guess they must have had nothing to cook with. If you get the basement figured out though you can do a lot. We have all of our food storage down there including a VERY large (and growing) canned food section (home canned). Good luck!

Our brother in law gave us an awesome dehumidifier, we use the basement for storage ( like totes of clothes and stuff ). I could easily convert the second room for food storage, just need to buy shelves. There is actually a canning room down there but the shelves are old, dirty and just plain icky. Our house is OLD, like it has a coal room old lol

[whitneywalters]

Originally Posted by EmilytheStrange I guess it depends on WHY you're building up a stockpile. If it's something that you just want to do to buy in bulk or if you're just preparing for the offchance that DH will lose their job, a disaster will strike, etc. In one setting, you would want the food at your fingertips - i.e., the kitchen would be ideal. In the other, you could rotate stock on a monthly basis or so and therefore, the basement would be more ideal. If that makes sense. My kitchen stinks on storage. We just moved her 2 weeks ago and I can't fit anything in here like I could at our old place. They have a ton of stupid lazy susans in the cabinets and I therefore cannot use the corners, etc. I only get the space on the lazy susan and it's not enough. I could probably cut my tupperware/whatever cabinet in half or even less if I was realistic with how much of it I REALLY use. I mean, we have leftovers, but they get cleared out on a weekly basis or less - I don't need all the plastic and glassware that I have. That would get me half a cabinet back and a ton of space for canned goods. I also have a hall closet that DH thinks I should use as a pantry, but I've been hesitant because it has appliances in it - breadmaker, rice maker, waffle maker, etc. But, I COULD reorganize that closet and end up with some shelves for canned goods too. I don't know if this will help, but hope it does!

We want to build it up just in case. My husband did lose a job in 2011, he is working again but I want to be prepared JIC.

The pantry I have was kind of a hall closet, it is in the back entry way by the basement steps. There is a lot of space but I can only reach four of the shelves lol, yes I am short. So the top three I need my husband to reach and get stuff.

[somo_chickenlady]

Do you have a coat closet? This house doesn't have much storage either, so when we moved in we took the high single shelf out of our coat closet and put in basic cheap shelves, and we now use it as a pantry, and we keep our coats either on a hook by the back door or in our bedroom closets when not in use.

[whitneywalters]

Originally Posted by shannychi My brother and SIL gave us a stainless steel shelf that is about 36 inches wide and about 5 feet tall. We put it together and keep all of our non-perishable food in the basement. Peanut butter, jams and jellies I've canned, juice. If its not something yo are using daily I would utilize that space. Get a cheap rug remnant or paint the floor with a color that you could get cheap - something from a paint store someone returned, etc.

We actually have paint down there already left over from a project. I should be able to paint the floor and the walls if wanted.

[whitneywalters]

Originally Posted by somo_chickenlady Do you have a coat closet? This house doesn't have much storage either, so when we moved in we took the high single shelf out of our coat closet and put in basic cheap shelves, and we now use it as a pantry, and we keep our coats either on a hook by the back door or in our bedroom closets when not in use.

No, we have a coat rack lol.

The only other closet was a tiny broom closet and we took the door off and it have the cat's litter box in it.