Pantry got a makeover

1894 Views 38 Replies 15 Participants Last post by Trihonda, 4 mo ago

Trihonda

Discussion Starter · 5 mo ago

Our storage room was ok.. and we have this metal rack shelving that works really well, but during a recent trip to Menards, I discovered the shelving was a crazy cheap clearance price. Sooo. I snagged some more.

There was a lot involved with preparing for this project, as I have some heavy items (poker table) suspended from the ceiling (in a hand made storage rack) that needed to be relocated to the other side of the room, as this was where the new shelves would be going.

Here was the existing pantry…

Food Shelf Product Shelving Food storage

This was the existing floor space, which we, Recently added carpet tiles to…

Road surface Asphalt Wood Flooring Floor

Road surface Wood Asphalt Grey Floor

Here are the shelves we bought

Outdoor bench Wood Outdoor furniture Flooring Floor

in progress

Wood Gas Engineering Beam Machine

some pics of things “mostly“ done. I wound up rearranging a lot of the food items, and there was a lot of other things (preps) that needed to be organized and shelved.

Shelf Publication Shelving Retail Bottle

Building Shelf Shelving Publication Retail

Shelf Shelving Publication Retail Convenience store

Pretty happy with how things turned out. Total cost of the shelves was $320. That included two complete sheets of 3/4” OSB. These things are amazing, and we have them all over our house and BOL.

It seems like a lot of food, but it’s really not. very little of what you see if my long term food supply.

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Trihonda

Discussion Starter · #2 · 5 mo ago

One thing we considered (and was part of my reasoning for the carpet) is that one option in our bug in plan involves consolidation of our MAG into fewer houses. Our house is decent sized (5br), but if it came down to it, or if we needed to shelter in our basement (maybe an NBC event), we could place cots in the aisles for hot racking folks. Just an option, and it’s always good to have flexibility.

TBH, I just thought of the additional benefit of those shelves being a structural boost to our basement. Should we need a tornado or similar shelter, that room wI’ll now be my go to!

Reactions: 2

Kauboy

· #3 · 5 mo ago

Tell Erik that I can see the party shelf!!!
🥴

Reactions: 1

inceptor

· #4 · 5 mo ago

Outstanding job!

Reactions: 1

charito

· #5 · 5 mo ago

Trihonda said:
Our storage room was ok.. and we have this metal rack shelving that works really well, but during a recent trip to Menards, I discovered the shelving was a crazy cheap clearance price. Sooo. I snagged some more.

There was a lot involved with preparing for this project, as I have some heavy items (poker table) suspended from the ceiling (in a hand made storage rack) that needed to be relocated to the other side of the room, as this was where the new shelves would be going.

Here was the existing pantry…

View attachment 115192

This was the existing floor space, which we, Recently added carpet tiles to…

View attachment 115191

View attachment 115194

Here are the shelves we bought

View attachment 115189

in progress

View attachment 115188

some pics of things “mostly“ done. I wound up rearranging a lot of the food items, and there was a lot of other things (preps) that needed to be organized and shelved.

View attachment 115190

View attachment 115187

View attachment 115193

Pretty happy with how things turned out. Total cost of the shelves was $320. That included two complete sheets of 3/4” OSB. These things are amazing, and we have them all over our house and BOL.

It seems like a lot of food, but it’s really not. very little of what you see if my long term food supply.

WOW! Impressive!!

Reactions: 1

charito

· #6 · 5 mo ago

Trihonda said:
TBH, I just thought of the additional benefit of those shelves being a structural boost to our basement. Should we need a tornado or similar shelter, that room wI’ll now be my go to!

Great idea!

Reactions: 1

NMPRN

· #7 · 5 mo ago

Trihonda said:
if it came down to it, or if we needed to shelter in our basement (maybe an NBC event), we could place cots in the aisles for hot racking folks.

I call dibs on the booze aisle...

Reactions: 1

Chipper

· #8 · 5 mo ago

I know where I'm going.. Hot chocolate and Malibu.

Reactions: 1

trike lady

· #9 · 5 mo ago

Wow!
I have a small pantry in my apartment that is getting full from top to bottom. Plus a 50 gallon tote bin of ramen noodles and another that hold 96 rolls of toilet paper, and 5 gallon tote bins of various food items. Two cases of 30 year water behind the chair.

Reactions: 2

Trihonda

Discussion Starter · #10 · 5 mo ago

I have all my 5gal and LDS long term storage at one of my MAG member’s house. He’s the unmarried one with a secret cellar storage room.. oh wait, I lied.. I might have a small number of 5gal buckets (maybe 20) hidden in the void behind my HVAC system…. Ya gotta diversify storage locations

Reactions: 1

trike lady

· #11 · 5 mo ago

Its kind of hard in a one bedroom apartment. I have no one trust worthy to have hold anything.

Reactions: 1

NMPRN

· #12 · 5 mo ago

trike lady said:
one bedroom apartment

Walmart has those "under the bed storage tubs". You can fit 8 of them under a queen sized bed. You can also use a FoodSaver to shrink down some items to save room. You might have some empty space in the back of your cabinets or in the back of a closet.
...just throwing out some ideas

Reactions: 1

Back Pack Hack

· #13 · 4 mo ago

trike lady said:
Its kind of hard in a one bedroom apartment. I have no one trust worthy to have hold anything.

One of our MAG members live in a 1-br apt as well. His solution was to sell his larger dining room table and buy a smaller one to provide the room for three shelving units against the wall. To 'hide' it, I bent some short pieces of 1/2" EMT conduit into 90's, and those supported a second piece as a 'curtain rod'. He sourced some old long curtains and now at least has his preps out of sight from anyone walking by his windows.

It's kinda tricky to find people who are trustworthy enough to create a MAG. It's not something that happens quickly. But if you keep your eyes out and send out subtle hints, you might be surprised what you can reel in.

Reactions: 1

Spenser

· #14 · 4 mo ago

Trihonda said:
It seems like a lot of food, but it’s really not. very little of what you see if my long-term food supply.

Didn't seem like a lot of food at all, mostly drinks and snacks, sadly I could only partake of 7 items shown, including the water and ixnay on your choice of hoochie, least at my age.

Correct me if I am wrong, but that looks like Minute Rice in a box. That style of rice has no plastic inner lining, you just open the box and pour. I strongly suggest opening all of those boxes of Minute rice and store it in an airtight container with oxygen absorbers.

Is that a basement, asking as I didn't see a dehumidifier. Oh and nice find you got there, those shelves seem well built.

Trihonda

Discussion Starter · #15 · 4 mo ago

Spenser said:
Didn't seem like a lot of food at all, mostly drinks and snacks..

Well, just from memory…. there’s over 200 Kraft Mac and cheese boxes, 200 ramen noodles, 30lbs of canned chicken, 10+ jars of PB and Preserves, 75 cans of chili, 75 cans of tomatoes, 75 cans of baked beans, 200 cans of soup, 200 cans of corn, and 50 cans of green beans. There are 20 jars of pasta sauce, 30lbs of vacuum sealed spaghetti pasta, 100lbs of flour, and a several totes full of 1gal mylar bags filled with various rice/bean/grain combos. There’s also three cases of spam, several cases of canned mixed fruit, 8L of honey, 400 packets of instant oatmeal (vac sealed), 80 lbs of pancake mix, various cereals, and yes comfort snacks and such. Ps I know I am missing a ton…

Spenser said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but that looks like Minute Rice in a box.

yup, like 10 boxes. Your point? It doesn’t last that long. This is my rotation pantry. We go through rice faster than I can buy it. Teenage boy, and college aged girl, both love rice. No need to repackage it.

Spenser said:
Is that a basement, asking as I didn't see a dehumidifier.

I post a pic of my shelves, a small portion of my basement, and discuss the makeover of the space. Theres no expectation you will be able to see all my food or preps. Why would you expect to see a dehumidifier? lol.

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Spenser

· #16 · 4 mo ago

Trihonda said:
Well, just from memory…. there’s over 200 Kraft Mac and cheese boxes, 200 ramen noodles, 30lbs of canned chicken, 10+ jars of PB and Preserves, 75 cans of chili, 75 cans of tomatoes, 75 cans of baked beans, 200 cans of soup, 200 cans of corn, and 50 cans of green beans. There are 20 jars of pasta sauce, 30lbs of vacuum sealed spaghetti pasta, 100lbs of flour, and a several totes full of 1gal mylar bags filled with various rice/bean/grain combos. There’s also three cases of spam, several cases of canned mixed fruit, 8L of honey, 400 packets of instant oatmeal (vac sealed), 80 lbs of pancake mix, various cereals, and yes comfort snacks and such. Ps I know I am missing a ton…

Apparently then the inventory you mention are not in the photos, but I still think your numbers are off, less the products are out of view or not in photos or in bins, as in photos least at the angle taken there seems to be only 13 boxes of Kraft Mac and cheese, 48 cans of chili, I don't think Ramen makes cases of 100, and numbers for them are usually like 24 ct, 48 ct, 96ct, but as you mentioned there are bins of food as well, which since they cannot be identified, the quantity of food looks less.

No matter how you look at it, or even using your numbers as if written in stone, I stand by my original comment, that doesn't look like a lot of food you have there. My uncle, father, and stepfather have about 5 times if not more than what I can see, and technically they are not even preppers. Curious though, you yourself mention that it wasn't that much food, and now that someone agrees with you, you seem to be back stepping on your initial response.

The answer to the dehumidifier, all temperature. moisture regulated food storage areas that I have seen in basements all had a dehumidifier running in the room.

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Lucilu

· #17 · 4 mo ago

Trihonda said:
Our storage room was ok.. and we have this metal rack shelving that works really well, but during a recent trip to Menards, I discovered the shelving was a crazy cheap clearance price. Sooo. I snagged some more.

There was a lot involved with preparing for this project, as I have some heavy items (poker table) suspended from the ceiling (in a hand made storage rack) that needed to be relocated to the other side of the room, as this was where the new shelves would be going.

Here was the existing pantry…

View attachment 115192

This was the existing floor space, which we, Recently added carpet tiles to…

View attachment 115191

View attachment 115194

Here are the shelves we bought

View attachment 115189

in progress

View attachment 115188

some pics of things “mostly“ done. I wound up rearranging a lot of the food items, and there was a lot of other things (preps) that needed to be organized and shelved.

View attachment 115190

View attachment 115187

View attachment 115193

Pretty happy with how things turned out. Total cost of the shelves was $320. That included two complete sheets of 3/4” OSB. These things are amazing, and we have them all over our house and BOL.

It seems like a lot of food, but it’s really not. very little of what you see if my long term food supply.

Trihonda said:
Our storage room was ok.. and we have this metal rack shelving that works really well, but during a recent trip to Menards, I discovered the shelving was a crazy cheap clearance price. Sooo. I snagged some more.

There was a lot involved with preparing for this project, as I have some heavy items (poker table) suspended from the ceiling (in a hand made storage rack) that needed to be relocated to the other side of the room, as this was where the new shelves would be going.

Here was the existing pantry…

View attachment 115192

This was the existing floor space, which we, Recently added carpet tiles to…

View attachment 115191

View attachment 115194

Here are the shelves we bought

View attachment 115189

in progress

View attachment 115188

some pics of things “mostly“ done. I wound up rearranging a lot of the food items, and there was a lot of other things (preps) that needed to be organized and shelved.

View attachment 115190

View attachment 115187

View attachment 115193

Pretty happy with how things turned out. Total cost of the shelves was $320. That included two complete sheets of 3/4” OSB. These things are amazing, and we have them all over our house and BOL.

It seems like a lot of food, but it’s really not. very little of what you see if my long term food supply.

I wish mine was half that organized.😊

Reactions: 1

Spenser

· #18 · 4 mo ago

okay i am curious now what are those colored blocks in that transparent bin

Trihonda

Discussion Starter · #19 · 4 mo ago

Spenser said:
Apparently then the inventory you mention are not in the photos, but I still think your numbers are off, less the products are out of view or not in photos or in bins, as in photos least at the angle taken there seems to be only 13 boxes of Kraft Mac and cheese, 48 cans of chili, I don't think Ramen makes cases of 100, and numbers for them are usually like 24 ct, 48 ct, 96ct, but as you mentioned there are bins of food as well, which since they cannot be identified, the quantity of food looks less.

No matter how you look at it, or even using your numbers as if written in stone, I stand by my original comment, that doesn't look like a lot of food you have there. My uncle, father, and stepfather have about 5 times if not more than what I can see, and technically they are not even preppers. Curious though, you yourself mention that it wasn't that much food, and now that someone agrees with you, you seem to be back stepping on your initial response.

The answer to the dehumidifier, all temperature. moisture regulated food storage areas that I have seen in basements all had a dehumidifier running in the room.

The point of my post is that you seem to jump into my threads with a judgmental or critical vibe, nitpicking little or irrelevant things?

For starters, yes there is absolutely more food that you can actually see, and I still don’t think it’s a ton of food compared to some pantries. You say there’s only X number of Mac and cheeses…? The shelves are like 2 feet deep? and you would only see the first row…. There are multiple rows/stacks of most everything. And i actually have far more than 200 ramen, but didn’t quote you exact numbers.. because it’s irrelevant, but you’re calling out the validity of my post because the amounts I mentioned don’t fall into 24ct Multiples? The exact amount of food I have isn’t the point of my original post, it was the makeover.

You’re nitpicking weird stuff, like the fact you don’t see a dehumidifier …. Do you see a furnace or other hvac equipment? Not that I was staging the space to be all pretty for photos, but if I was, i wouldn’t even think to make sure my dehumidifier was in the picture.

And you might think you were agreeing with me, but it seemed somewhat condescending and judgey… and you made a lot of incorrect assumptions. You’ve done this to me in previous threads as well, so maybe I’m a tad over sensitive to it?

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NMPRN

· #20 · 4 mo ago

...yeah, and one of your boxes of elbow macaroni is upside down, you better get with the program Trihonda!

Reactions: 2

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