# Canned Good Storage Shelf



## TacticalTrout (Jan 7, 2010)

Debated on whether this should go in homestead construction or in preserving the harvest, but considering that this shelf has really no other purpose other than to store home canned goods, my wife and I think this is the best place.

So...our problem seems to be that most shelving units bought at a big box or home improvement center do not utilize enough of the vertical space, do not feature the appropriate shelving, or do not quite fit in the space that we are looking to fill. Proper storage techniques of home canned goods requires that you do not stack them on top of one another. I considered making some wooden crates, but it is certainly nice to be able to see what you have or, in some cases, admire your work 

I like to can, but I haven't done much for a few reasons...one of which has been lack of storage. I did make a mess of apple butter this year and, just a few days ago, pressure canned some pinto beans and great northern beans for convenience sake. This was the tipping point for me, I absolutely HAD to come up with a better storage solution. Covering up the dining room table just doesn't do the trick...








We have a storage room in our house and have been working on turning it in to more of a pantry extension. We have some shelf units in this storage room, but for some of the reasons listed above it just doesn't fit the bill for home canned goods. There was a simple, home built shelf behind the door of the storage room that we have been using for some canned goods and some other miscellaneous stuff. The space available here dictates rather odd dimensions, but I envisioned the area housing hundreds of half pints, pints and quarts of food. The original shelf was scabbed together with some plywood and anchored to the wall.








The usable depth behind the door is about 10". We have 12' ceilings in this part of the house (an old school house built in the 1920s), but we decided that stopping at 7' would be the best bet as this unit may move with us and serve as a template for additional units. I had about a 3' 6" width to work with, but for simplicity I went with 36" inside width (a 10' board cut down to 7' leaves a 3' shelf...less waste from new wood). I wanted to use what I think is called "shelf standards" or "bookcase standards" with support clips to allow for height adjustment to accommodate various heights of jars.








I decided to use a wood router to make channels for the standards to fit in. I didn't take a ton of pics while building this thing, but here are a few.
Routed the channels








Laid down to begin assembly








Stood back up, middle stationary shelf installed and the standards mounted in the routed channels








Original unit out of the way, the new unit is put in place








Will add more shelves to the top tomorrow and then will have to work hard on filling this thing up!









The most affordable 1 X 10 stock available at my closest home improvement store was whitewood. I am not a fan of working with it, but this unit is more function than aesthetics. It feels solid and the shelves feel as if they will not sag on me under the load. Adding more shelves (and I expect to put at least 4 more in the top tomorrow) is as simple as cutting some 1 X 10 at 35-3/4". The more or less infinite adjustability of shelf height is really great to accommodate different sizes of jars. I bought everything new to make this and have right at $100 wrapped up in it. I could have scavenged for wood and saved some dollars, but I really wanted to get this project wrapped up. I had all the tools needed, mostly basic stuff, but this is not by any means furniture quality. The routing, even, was certainly an option that could have been skipped.

This unit should house around 380 jars of various sizes, the majority of which will be pints.

Thanks for reading,
TacticalTrout


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

Very nice! We have 1 jar depth strange shelves built into a under the stairs closet and then cupboards in the garage, I envy your space, it's difficult to organize ours.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

Very useful and sturdy looking.


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## Wendy (May 10, 2002)

Awesome job!! We enclosed our back porch several years ago & I built the shelves for my stuff.

View attachment 20192


I have since added a few more. Mine will hold 4 quarts deep & 5 pints deep. You did an awesome job utilizing the space that you had. I like the way you can adjust your shelf heights.


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## TacticalTrout (Jan 7, 2010)

Wendy said:


> Awesome job!! We enclosed our back porch several years ago & I built the shelves for my stuff.
> 
> I have since added a few more. Mine will hold 4 quarts deep & 5 pints deep. You did an awesome job utilizing the space that you had. I like the way you can adjust your shelf heights.


That is some nice work, Wendy. My wife and I really look forward to having more space to work with. Deeper shelves surely help make a wider variety of products more visible.


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

I like to use 2x12 or 2x10s for building shelves to store canned goods as you can see in Wendys pic there can be a lot of weight to hold up I remember seeing 1 inch thick shelves sagging in an aunts cellar when loaded with full jars and wondering why they never had a big crash . when I built shevlves for inside the house I added a 1x3 to the front of the shelf as it seemed important( just in case )to keep jars from vibrateing off .but none ever moved so I eliminated this step when building them in the root cellar


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## Homesteader (Jul 13, 2002)

Very nice! Now, go here if you want, and post in this thread too. I know lots of people add to this thread, and re-visit!

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/ge...ntryside-families/499478-pantry-pictures.html


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## TacticalTrout (Jan 7, 2010)

arnie said:


> I like to use 2x12 or 2x10s for building shelves to store canned goods as you can see in Wendys pic there can be a lot of weight to hold up I remember seeing 1 inch thick shelves sagging in an aunts cellar when loaded with full jars and wondering why they never had a big crash


I considered 2 Xs and would have went that route had the span been wider than 36" or if the shelf wasn't going to be in a conditioned part of the house (humidity). With this design, I can easily add in some 2xs for quart storage if I see the need, but the 1xs should be adequate for 1/2 pints and pints at the very least. The bottom shelf is sitting on a 1X3 base, so it's plenty solid for quarts.


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## TacticalTrout (Jan 7, 2010)

Homesteader said:


> Very nice! Now, go here if you want, and post in this thread too. I know lots of people add to this thread, and re-visit!
> 
> http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/ge...ntryside-families/499478-pantry-pictures.html


Hmmm...I think I'll get the rest tidied up and photographed and do just that. Thanks, Homesteader!


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## Jan in CO (May 10, 2002)

Great job and wonderful use of dead space behind the door! Thanks for posting, you might have inspired a few of us to do the same!


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

1x nominal lumber or 3/4" plywood less than a foot deep and 3 feet wide won't sag under 100 lbs per foot, which is more than a single layer of jars.

If you're building shelving for canned goods, books, or heavy items check out this calculator to find out whether your designed shelves will sag under the weight:

http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator.htm

Another space efficiency thing with adjustable canning shelves is to keep quarts on one shelf and pints on another since pints are about 2" shorter than quarts. Keeping like with like gave me a whole additional shelf in our pantry!


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

Jan in CO said:


> Great job and wonderful use of dead space behind the door!


Deadspace behind doors (and between studs) is a great place for jar and can storage; but I learned the hard way to make sure you put a bumper stop on the shelving so that the door (especially the knob) can't slam into them and cause breakage. :facepalm:


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## wolfym14 (Apr 2, 2013)

I've recruited my dad to help me build a shelf for my canned goods/equipment. I am in desperate need of ideas for design, however. 

I live in a 600sf condo that has no closets (other than one in my bedroom). So the shelf will be in full view in my living space (ie, I don't want it to look horrible). I'm currently using two deep ikea shelves pushed together as my pantry and tv stand, with some fabric across the front to hide the contents. But I'm completely out of space. 

My dad salvaged a massive pine shipping crate from his work that we're going to build this shelf with. It's all 1x6-ish pine in about 5-7 ft lengths. I think I'll either end up with a tall and narrow shelf or a shorter 'cupboard'. If I go with something deeper, I'd love to have space to put my pots and things. I think some stain will help with the visual appeal. 

I'm just curious if anyone has come across a shelf with some character, something rather 'rustic chic' that wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb in my space.


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## netskyblue (Jul 25, 2012)

You could always paint it. My favorite thing right now is the Annie Sloan chalk paint in Emperor's Silk finished with dark wax. Here's some google images: https://www.google.com/search?q=emp...WwygHF2oDQCQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1446&bih=728


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## pistolsmom (Mar 19, 2005)

Sweet!!


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## sdnapier (Aug 13, 2010)

That pantry is a thing of beauty!!!


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## AnchorageJim (May 5, 2013)

Did you set one of the shelves so the door knob would bump up against the shelf instead of the jars?


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

wolfym14 said:


> I've recruited my dad to help me build a shelf for my canned goods/equipment. I am in desperate need of ideas for design, however.
> 
> I live in a 600sf condo that has no closets (other than one in my bedroom). So the shelf will be in full view in my living space (ie, I don't want it to look horrible). I'm currently using two deep ikea shelves pushed together as my pantry and tv stand, with some fabric across the front to hide the contents. But I'm completely out of space.
> 
> ...


Do you own your condo or are you renting/sub-letting?

If you own, you might be able to build some pretty decent canning shelves in the space between the studs in interior walls that don't have plumbing/electrical running through them. I did this for my spices and it freed up a ton of cabinet space. (pardon the ugly pic, haven't gotten finish molding on yet)










Most walls are 16" on-center, which means you have about 14" of shelf between them and the stud is normally 3.5" deep... should let you put four or five 15oz cans or pint jars per shelf and you can go floor to ceiling if you want (about 10 shelves, 8" between). Add a little face molding and a hinged piece of plywood as a door and you can completely hide your pantry. If you use heavy-duty hinges and 3/4" ply, you would even build an additional case on the face of the door for double storage... like those hidden bookcase doors. Or mount a mirror, chalkboard/whiteboard, or artwork to the "door".


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## TacticalTrout (Jan 7, 2010)

AnchorageJim said:


> Did you set one of the shelves so the door knob would bump up against the shelf instead of the jars?


I did not, but that would certainly work. Adjustable hinge pin door stops work well.


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## blooba (Feb 9, 2010)

TacticalTrout said:


> I did not, but that would certainly work. Adjustable hinge pin door stops work well.


I will warn you, that looks like a hollow core door. If you have kids or the like, if the door stop hits the hollow section and not the solid frame it will bust a hole in the door and hit your jars.


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

blooba said:


> I will warn you, that looks like a hollow core door. If you have kids or the like, if the door stop hits the hollow section and not the solid frame it will bust a hole in the door and hit your jars.


Yep - BTDT! I always make sure that the knob will always hit a bumper that's attached to a solid part of the case now. I now make all my behind-door storage to have a fixed shelf at knob height just to be extra certain.


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## TacticalTrout (Jan 7, 2010)

blooba said:


> I will warn you, that looks like a hollow core door. If you have kids or the like, if the door stop hits the hollow section and not the solid frame it will bust a hole in the door and hit your jars.


It is indeed a hollow core door...and I am certainly aware of how the hinge pin stops can do damage as you described. Where this particular door is in the house, though, I should never have to worry about this issue. Rarely used door, mostly off limits area to the kids and near the master bedroom end of the hall that doesn't get much traffic. Had the location been elsewhere I would certainly take added precautions.


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## wolfym14 (Apr 2, 2013)

Lots of great ideas! PlicketyCat, the hidden pantry idea is especially intriguing. Brings me back to dreams of a house with secret passages and nooks  I might have to have a chat with my carpenter (aka: dad) about constructing this one!


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

Under-cabinet drawers built into the wasted toe-kick space also make good storage for smaller cans/jars and flat bags of food and other preps.

Similar to between-stud storage, a moderately-skilled handyman can install small cased shelf cabinet in the wasted space between joists/rafters and have them swing down from the ceiling. Go simple with a barrel or swivel hinge, latch and stop; or go fancy with actuted locking hinges. If you put a dowel across the front of the shelves, your stuff won't fall out when the cabinet swings down. I have a few 3-shelf ceiling cabinets in my workshop to store jars of hardware... more than 3 shelves gets a bit heavy unless you have swingdown hinges to help with the weight.


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