Where Do You Put Your Food Storage?

How are you coming with your food storage plan? I know the idea of food storage is new to some of you.  If you don't have a basement, you might be thinking you have no place to put any additional food. This is the time to think creatively!  I don't have a basement either and I have a year's worth of food storage. 

So, I'd like to offer a bit of encouragement and show you a few of the places I put my food storage. I should note that this is the way my closets look.  No cleaning was involved here - I opened the door and snapped the picture.  (I think the statement about the lack of cleaning the closets will be obvious when you see the pictures of them for yourself!)

Now, just for clarification, this does not include the items I am currently using in my pantry.  While I do have some food storage in my pantry (most of it spices), the majority of my food storage is somewhere else in the house.  Let me show you some of the places I put it.

The majority of my stuff is here, under the stairs.

I have a door to the space under the stairs.  It has a concrete floor but I placed plywood over the concrete. What you see here is the food I have stored on the plywood. The boxes to the right hold Number 10 cans full of freeze dried vegetables, fruit and meat. There are five gallon buckets of varius types of wheat in the back with some food on top of them like mayonnaise and peanut butter.  Since all good food storage programs should also include water storage, on the left you can see some of my water boxes. It should be noted that it is not necessary to purchase containers for your water storage, you can use old soda bottles (two liter) that have been cleaned. I know a lot of people who store water this way.

Here are some additional five gallon buckets of wheat. This closet is where we store our winter coats during the summer.

Up on top of this closet is where we store our first aid supplies.

Another closet with some items purchased at the LDS Cannery. This is rice, instant potatoes. pinto beans and some hard white wheat. It is all stored in Number 10 cans. Notice the vinegar in front of the boxes! I got it at Sam's Club. The brown box on top contains some apple juice that I canned myself.

Unfortunately, I do not have any additional closet space that I can devote to food storage. So, I had to get creative.   I've found a handy spot most people don't consider for storage is the space under the bed. Here is what I have under one of our beds This space is reserved for food that I have canned myself from the garden. The boxes that house the jars were originally sent to me in the mail. The dust ruffle is tucked under the box springs for the purpose of the picture.

Here is another bed with some grocery items under it.

I also use my book shelves for storage of canned foods.  Here is one of my bookshelves with a close up of what is behind the books.

To keep it all straight, I have a food storage binder with everything listed in it.

Most of the time, I can find what I want when I need it. However, I must say that sometimes it is a workout removing all the boxes to get something out of storage when it is in the box on the bottom. Someday, I hope to have a room dedicated totally to food storage! 

Where are you putting your food storage? Let us know in the comments!