Storage, pantry shelving

[Toddy]

I suppose I really should join a prepper or smallholder's site and ask this, but, tbh, I'm a housewife not someone hoarding for jicoteotwawki, or feeding the 5,000 from half an acre.

My pantry contents are at present filling my kitchen I need to better organise the shelving, but it needs to be robust since it holds everything from this years jam and pickle making to the usual staples (which in my house means duplicates since I don't eat gluten but the rest of the household does, so two of the assorted kinds of pasta, flours, cereals, etc.,) and me and Son2 are vegetarian while HWMBLT is an omnivore.
Basically it's a 2m x 1m x 2.6m high cupboard, but the assortment of shelves that have grown up over the years is a real guddle.
The pantry is also the coldest corner of the house, so metal shelving isn't a good idea since it just attracts condensation to an already cold corner. It's not damp, but that's more because it's kept closed and I don't open it up when I'm boiling something or drying washing indoors. It could very easily become damp, iimmc.
I used to use large glass jars for storing everything, but the weight pulled shelves off the walls Now I use the click and lock storage boxes for dry stuffs and tidying up the dozens of little bottles/packs of baking bits and pieces. I'm still struggling for space and the lifting boxes out to get at stuff behind them is getting tedious.
There has to be a better way than this.

HWMBLT says just to compost it uhuh not happening Dear

How do the rest of you manage store cupboards and pantries ?

cheers,
M

 

[Man of Tanith]

badly
we have very little storage space in our rented two bed cottage
not just an issue for food stuffs but also for clothing, toys for jake and shannon, my toys, and pretty much everything
next time we move i want a pantry and various other cupboards

not much help i admit

 

[British Red]

I use garage racking - dirt cheap (about £35 a set) - any width (mine are 60cm deep shelves) - wooden shelves on metal uprights and frames. It holds 150Kg per shelf. Can be secured to the wall or freestanding. Not pretty, but strong, deep, and cheap. Nice thing is you can adjust the shelf spacing as much as you want.

ETA

This sort of stuff. I have five bays of it in one barn - a bay for bottles and demijohns, a bay for canning jars and equipment, and so on.

http://www.shelfsave.com/?gclid=CNH6udaSz7ICFaXJtAodzBUAmA

 

[Mesquite]

I use a couple of these for the small stuff Mary

 

[santaman2000]

You've got loads of space compared to mine. I have a half of a single shelf above the washing machine in the utility room (plus some space in the kitchen cupboards)

If I had the space, I rather like the idea of pull out drawers such as these: www.askthebuilder.com/pantry-organizers or your own plans for something like that would fit your space.

Another option might be to build shelving in the space similar to the shelves in an old country store. Plenty sturd enough to hold heavy weights of goods.

 

[Toddy]

I use the green Ikea toy storage trays,
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/categories/departments/childrens_ikea/18706/
for stacking with jars in them, but they're heavy when full, and much though I'd like to use the storage racks that match them I don't know if they'd take the weight. Might ask Ikea about that though.
I don't like their own pantry shelving solutions but I might have to think again about the wooden racks and just use the green trays in them. Makes it very awkward in such a small space to get to the corners though.

I can recommend the trays; they slide easily, they're robust, easily cleaned, and they're under a couple of pounds each

cheers,
M

 

[Wild Thing]

Hi Mary

If you can't use metal storage shelves, may I humbly suggest plastic shelving, something like This http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=110&storeId=10151&partNumber=350330&c_2=2%7Ccat_16849245%7CStorage+and+Shelving%7C14417975&c_1=1%7Ccategory_root%7CFurniture%7C16849245&c_3=3%7Ccat_14417975%7CShelves+and+Shelving+Units%7C14417978&_$ja=kw:homebase+shelves%7Ccgn:Generics%7C%7CHomebase%7C%7CShelving%7Ccgid:1856285028%7Ctsid:22010%7Ccn:Brand%7C%7CHome+World%7C%7CShelving%7C%7CShelving%7C%7CGenerics%7Ccid:52941348%7Clid:20016932268%7Cmt:Exact%7Cnw:search%7Ccrid:11397910668&_$ja=tsid:18771%7Ccc:%7Cprd:350330%7Ccat:Furniture+%3E+Storage+And+Shelving+%3E+Shelves+And+Shelving+Units These particular ones can support 100kg, but there are all sorts of sizes out there, and some of them are reasonably priced.

Regards
Phill

 

[santaman2000]

...I don't like their own pantry shelving solutions but I might have to think again about the wooden racks and just use the green trays in them. Makes it very awkward in such a small space to get to the corners though.....

That's why I like the idea of the pull out drawers. Unfortunately I cain't speak from experience with them though.

 

[Toddy]

Phil, I never gave plastic racks a thought I didn't realise they would support so much weight
100kg is a lot of storage

The corners thing is a pain. The cupboard door opens about 30cms from one end, so I have a rack of shelves built into one side but the other side the shelves would be too deep to access easily to make best use of the space. I shelved the facing wall (the one the shelf pulled off) but while they hold the click boxes, the supports take up a lot of space and make it awkward to stack boxes neatly.
Every time he opens the door HWMBLT reminds me that he did tell me *not* to put much weight on those shelves
He says I can't nag, that I give up and don't bother well he fair can about those blooming shelves

It doesn't help that at this time of year I'm in full 'squirrel mode'

I'm going to have a look at those plastic shelf units and the Ikea racks tomorrow, and see how they look.

Thanks for the help

Sam, how about raising the kids beds on stilts ? College students in America apparantly do it all the time to get more storage space in their dorm rooms.
Might not do so well for the youngest but I suppose cabin beds are the nearest thing here ?

atb,
M

 

[santaman2000]

....Sam, how about raising the kids beds on stilts ? College students in America apparantly do it all the time to get more storage space in their dorm rooms.
Might not do so well for the youngest but I suppose cabin beds are the nearest thing here ?

atb,
M

Are these what you're calling cabin beds Mary? www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=platform+beds+storage They're not just for college dorms.

I'm thinking of something like this (although I might make my own from wood) for my Godson's room www.platformbedsonline.com/go-mod-desk-loft-bed.html There are also versions of this one with storage underneath rather than a desk. Here's a link with more selections (better selections I think) www.collegebedlofts.com

Buying and shipping any of these would be cost prohibitive I'm sure. But there might be a selection available there. At any rate if you are (or somebody you know is) handy with woodwork you can probably build something like.

 

[Toddy]

Sort of like the collegebedlofts.
http://www.tesco.com/direct/julian-bowen-leo-cabin-bed-sleeper/161-1958.prd?

I'm pretty sure I've seen them cheaper in the DIY chain stores though.

cheers,
M

 

[santaman2000]

I like that one Mary. I just loaded the first links I could find with good pix to illustrate the idea and see if that was indeed what you meant. I suspect someone with a bit of imagination and woodworking skills could build their own custom ideal quite a bit more cheaply.

 

[British Red]

Mary,

Looking at those Ikea Storage racks, they are just routed board. I'm sure your husband could knock up something more attractive in short order with even a basic router (or a bit of 1x1 to make a drawer runner arrangement). I would watch how brittle those plastic tubs get though - I have had similar tubs from B&Q and Tesco break on me (they were hard plastic though rather than the bendy type)

Red

 

[Toddy]

I had another go at sorting it out this morning
I have got to accept that I am no longer feeding permanently hungry teenagers and I no longer have big family & friends suppers every week either.

I know the trays you mean BR and yes, I reckon they'd be brittle. The toy storage ones seem to be proving remarkably robust
The grooved boards were why I really wasn't so keen on the storage racks for them though. At present they just stack quite tidily as it is, but lifting two to get to the bottom one's a bit of a annoyance.

Next question
Uses for old jam. I have 30 jars left from previous years. This year I quartered the number I usually make, so I'm pretty sure between used ourselves and gifts/barters, that will get used up in timely fashion.
There's nothing wrong with the older stuff though, just again, I'm not feeding hungry children again, and we're getting older and don't eat as much ourselves either.

Raspberry, blackcurrant, gooseberry, strawberry, rhubarb and ginger, rowan and apple......

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Ogri the trog]

Watching this with great interest as I'm hoping a miracle solution will present itself soon.

Our pantry has been maxed out with shelves (narrower than most already mentioned admittedly) but we still have the concrete slab that would originally been of slate at one end of the room - about 3 feet deep it takes a lot of room and doesn't make for easy access to things stored at the back of the shelf - it is probably about time I took this out and replaced it with more accessible shelving in the space it takes up.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[bilmo-p5]

Uses for old jam. I have 30 jars left from previous years. This year I quartered the number I usually make, so I'm pretty sure between used ourselves and gifts/barters, that will get used up in timely fashion.
There's nothing wrong with the older stuff though, just again, I'm not feeding hungry children again, and we're getting older and don't eat as much ourselves either.

Raspberry, blackcurrant, gooseberry, strawberry, rhubarb and ginger, rowan and apple......

Wine-making kit in a jar?

 

[John Fenna]

My pantry was originally the bathroom of the house and is about 7'x7'.
In there we keep the fridge freezer and washing machine as well as our "ready to use" foods plus a bit of long term storage.
The shelving has grown organically but is based on wooded planks supported on brick pillars.
It was difficult to photograph anything realy...
Behind the door is a veg rack and pot rack, a hanging set of shelves and a high mounted 2 shelf unit for jams and jamjars.
Opposite the door are the main shelves with wine and sloe gin crates below. Alongside the fridge is the coolbox and empty jar storage.

Above the door is shelving for ratpack (MOD plus home made in MOD boxes) and camping food bits and 1st Aid spares.

On top of the washing machine is my dehydrator and some more camping food bits.

The windowsill is for bottles that will not fit in crates or the rack under the hanging shelves. Fabric "bins" hanging on spare wall space hold empty storage pots.
On top of the fridge are more ratpacks and spare icecream tub,sweety tin storage tubs.
I am not sure that I am qualified to advise folk on how to set up a pantry.....

 

[British Red]

Uses for old jam.

Bake cakes. Lots and lots of jammy cakes. Then send me the cakes. Simple

 

[Toddy]

........I'll take photos John
Bottle banks and Jar bins are outside beside the recycling bins at the back gate, things like dehydrator and breadmaker, etc., are kept elsewhere.
Mind the vegetarian bit ? well ours long pre-dates the advent of soya everything. I still mix pulses and grains and nuts to sort out protein. So I have about ten boxes just of different nuts, the same again of different pulses, though some of those are flours, three kinds of oatmeal, four kinds of cornflour, three kinds of baking flour, four different bread flours, and then four gluten free flours......then there are the simple baking standards, like the sugars; icing, caster, vanilla'd caster, soft brown, unbleached granulated, brown gran, white for sweetie making, cubes, barbados.
Pasta ? spaghetti, macaroni, lasagne, canneloni, shaped stuff, wee shapes for soup..........then double that for gluten free, 'cos the others will only eat mine if they have to. Same with soba noodles, rice ribbons and beancurd sheets.
Flat breads (thank heavens tacos and rice are gluten free ) rice wrappers, tacos, corn tortillas, chapattis, sesame crackers, etc., and this is before I start on the seasonings, herbs, spices, and baking stuffs (I decorate cakes), let alone cans and jars or packets of stuff like oatcakes, breakfast cereals, biscuits and chocolate. Camping foods are in a couple of big boxes with lids and get used to stack other trays on top of them.

I've always had a pantry, can't imagine not working with one, but I need to start buying small small sizes (totally not economically sound though). HWMBLT says it's daft though, we've two supermarkets not ten minutes walk away from us and even when we had three feet of snow we managed to walk there.
Funny how the rest of the world ground to a halt but the supermarkets not only got their access routes and carparks cleared, but fresh supplies of milk and bread and basic vegetables too
Moral of story, if the world goes to hell in a handbasket, kick out the politicians and employ supermarket managers instead

British Red if you lived closer I'd happily bake cake I'm using up jam in baking but there's a lot of it.

Wine kit in a jar ? Neat idea cooked fruit though

cheers,
Mary

 

[British Red]

..

British Red if you lived closer I'd happily bake cake I'm using up jam in baking but there's a lot of it.

Wine kit wouldn't be good - jam is loaded with pectin, you would need a boat load of pectolase to break it down or it would be cloudy as hell

As for "lots of cake"....you say that like its a bad thing?


mmmmmm cakes.........

My darling wife and daughter both make me cake....but more is good!