I will share my tips of storage for small spaces. But there are some ingredients that you just cant really store in a small space. Like the 25 pounds of all purpose flour I use a 5 gallon bucket with a lid that I use my hands to pound it down around the top to make sure it is sealed all the way around. I like to get the square 1 gallon plastic screw top containers from Walmart Mainstay brand for smaller amounts of the flours that I use for baking. I am still in the long process and never ending process of searching for storage ideas for my small kitchen. But that is actually a never ending issue with wanting and doing more and more made from scratch type of cooking.
While you are searching for more storage look at any appliances that you don’t use or haven’t use in a very long time, 6 months or longer. If you have some think of storing them in a tote in a garage or shed till you can have a yard sale or post each item on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist or what ever platform you tend to use. Not only do I have my baking supplies to find spots to store them in the kitchen I also have my canning and cast iron skillets to store between uses.
Look at your kitchen cabinets and cupboards and ask yourself do I have wasted space that I could add another shelf or get an expandable shelf. Is there shelf holder holes in the cabinet and cupboard to add another shelf or two for more shelves. Most cupboards are 10” to 11” wide. You can go to your local lumber store and look for unfinished shelf board in the width that you need. If cupboard is 36” wide then a 4’ long board is what you will need.
Since I only have two cupboards in my kitchen I really needed to maximize my storage space as much I could. When I did this myself I couldn’t find anything shorter in length. So I cut what I needed in length and about a half inch off the width of the shelf board to fit my cupboards. Because I had roughly 5” wasted space between the top of the stack of bowls and the bottom of the shelf above. With this added shelf I was able to place glasses and cups that we use the most and less used above on the original shelf that came with the cupboard. So I was able to double my storage space in just this one cupboard for just the cost of $8 for the one board. Then I looked at my second cupboard and saw the same issue. Off to Lowe’s again for a second self board and doing the same cuts as the first. So for the total cost of $16 I was able to double storage space in the two cupboards that I have.
There has been a cabinet that we had called a pantry that was just very small in width and very deep and in a very tight spot between our stove and the wall. There was a massive amount of wasted space with this pantry. We had discussed what we should do about all of this wasted space. When I had an ah ha moment and discussed with my significant other about taking it out and putting a portable cart in that spot and finding a smaller hutch, bookcase, or another cart. We decided to go to a small business that does estate clean out and sells furniture, appliances large and small, decorations, etc to see what they had for a small bookcase or hutch that would fit our needs. We found a secretary desk hutch. Now this is usually not used in a kitchen. For our needs it will also eliminate the need to get a bread bin to store homemade bread that I make. Can also place any pies and cookies in this section.
None of these things just happen very quickly have to stop and look at your layout of your kitchen. Plan out what you can modify with a little bit of money if at all. Look at things that would have a different use than what you are needing.
Also look at your storage containers. Are they round or square. I would recommend using square or rectangular containers for small kitchens. If you are lucky enough to have a separate pantry then round canisters would be OK to use. But if you do a lot of canning from your garden or from the store your jars will be round and can be very carefully stacked two high if your shelves are far enough apart. The pantry for home canned foods does need to be stored at cooler temps than a house but warmer than a refrigerator. So in the pantry you could use a mix of round and square containers large and small pending on what your family prefers to eat the most of.
Next week I shall go over some of the more popular ideas for storing pots and pans. Hang around while we delve into that.
TIP: When I bought the bucket it was brand new never had anything in it from Walmart or a hardware store.
TIP: Lowe’s will do 1 cut for free if you ask them.
TIP: Think out of the box if need to bring into your kitchen that would be used elsewhere in a house.
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