Food Storage Friday - Where to store it?

Photo Credit: Utahpreppers

I am sure that all of us could complain about having the space for food storage. I am raising my hands right now shouting "me, me, that's me!" When we first moved into our house 12 years aso, we had 1 child and almost no furniture. The 2,000 square feet seemed enormous and I never dreamed how I would fill up all those empty bedrooms :) Now, we are crammed together and I dream all day of more square footage! Speaking of square footage, did you see the article about this guy who lives in an apt. in NY that is 178 square feet??

Finding the space for food storage can be very difficult, here in the south we do not have basements and the weather prevents you from safely storing any items in the garage. Plus, many storage items have specific ways in wich they have to be stored to maximize their freshness. I gave up many years ago that the idea of a coat closet is for coats, mine is my pantry, or that the space under beds is for boxes of fabulous shoes, ours houses 72 hour kits and more food storage, and that children's closets were for hanging clothing, although they do have some clothes they also have stacks of #10 cans, boxes of MRE's and bottled water.

Taken from "Emergency Preparedness" this is a good guideline to remember.

COOL – Store food inside. Temperature affects shelf life the most. Canned goods store 2 to 3 times longer at 70oF than they do at 90oF. Most dry goods store indefinitely below 70oF but for less time at higher temperatures. Temperature affects nutrition, texture, appearance and taste.

DRY – Dry goods should be below 10% moisture and kept dry. The more a container is opened, the more moisture is introduced. The amount of humidity in the air during the time when you dry pack can also affect the storage life. Weevil cannot grow in grain with less than 10% moisture. Beans with less than 10% moisture won’t go hard as quickly. Non-fat dry milk should have no more than 2.8% moisture for the longest life.

DARK – Store in opaque containers or in dark cupboards. Light fades colors, destroys vitamins, and speeds the rancidity of fats.

AIRTIGHT – Containers should have airtight seams and lids. If in doubt, seal with duct tape. Plastic buckets with rubber gaskets are airtight if the gasket has not been damaged. Insects cannot grow and multiply without air.

So where to put it....


"Our garage was converted into a food storage area with shelving ect. (It looks like a Costco). We can't really hide anything because it would be difficult to rotate it when we use it. However, my neighbor's living room end tables and coffee table are all food storage in boxes covered with cloth.....works for them and they get to actually park in their garage!"


"I used to "hide" my food storage on the top of shelves..... (where you never put anything cause you can't reach it), stacked in closets (who needs closets for shoes anyway), or outside in a shed..... but right now all my food storage that I have left after moving is hiding at my daughters house."


"I am in the process of turning an enclosed front porch room into my food storage - because I only have very limited cupboard space in my kitchen."


"We have food storage under the stairs in the closet, under the beds, in the bedroom closets. Almost everywhere we can find space."


"I knew a woman that made furniture out of her food storage. She stacked it in the kitchen and covered it with a table cloth and they ate off of it. She had various end tables, nightstands, beds, etc. all made with food storage."

I personally use and love the Gorilla brand shelving units. I can usually find these at Sam's Club for about $60, they are the best I have found. Under the beds we use rolling "sweater" storage drawers to keep cans and our 72 hour kits.

My dream is to build out a room in my garage for my food storage. We got started last summer but didn't get it finished, I am hoping to have it done by the time the heat gets here in a few months. It has to have an air conditioner and flooring as you can not store items directly on concrete. My good friend Clara just build a beautiful room in her garge that I am hoping to get a picture of to post for you :) As we go along and get ours done I will post pictures and try and give you an idea of cost.

Where do you put your food storage?