Saturday, January 14, 2012

Where do I put my food storage? Look Up


When you live in a small home finding a place for your food storage can be tricky.  It is especially tricky if you are without a basement or other area designed for food storage.  One of my favorite ways is to look up.  There is a lot of storage room in your home above things.   

This family had to get a little creative on where to put their food storage. 

Their laundry room is right next to their kitchen (I wish mine was too) and it is a great big room but the kitchen doesn't have a ton of cabinets or a pantry.

Space is limited and so they have 2 Harvests Rotating Shelves (not pictured) in the laundry room, and they have added shelves above the washer and dryer to hold food storage.    By utilizing the space above the washer and dryer they are able to drastically increase their storage space. 

It is generally recommended that you keep your food storage out of areas that have a lot of moisture in them.  The humidity can corrode cans or cause them to leek.  Humidity can also increase the speed that calories and vitamins will degrade over time.  But if the laundry room is the only place you have to store your food storage than it is the only place.

This room has a couple of things going for it.  First it is a very large room.  Second it is kept well ventilated.   These two things thing  work in their favor and make this a reasonable place to store long term food storage.

Tips on Storing your Food Storage in the Laundry Room:

Be sure to keep the area ventilated—Install exhausts fans and use them.
Regularly check your cans for any signs of rust.
Rotate foods more frequently.  The shelf life of foods stored outside the recommended conditions will be diminished.  So if you are storing foods in really hot (above 75 degrees) or moist conditions the shelf life will be diminished. 

If you look up can you find underutilized storage space in your home?