# Pantry Pictures



## TJN66 (Aug 29, 2004)

Seeing some of the pantry pictures in other posts has gotten me to thinking. Dangerous I know! 

I would love to see other pictures of pantry set ups, canning jars and the like. I have a basement that I could convert part of to a huge pantry. I would love to see some more ideas. 

So please...post some pictures for me to get (steal) ideas from! :bouncy:


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## JulieBaby (Jul 27, 2010)

Ooh, yeah! I loved looking at the pictures, too.


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

I always enjoy looking at everyones pictures.


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## coalroadcabin (Jun 16, 2004)

My storage is in the basement so the lighting isn't the best for pictures - 

Here is my storage area. 










Here is a close up of one of the shelves.


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## coalroadcabin (Jun 16, 2004)

some more pics of my shelves.


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## Kmac15 (May 19, 2007)

Very nice Pics


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## TJN66 (Aug 29, 2004)

Oh wow! that is amazing!


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## JulieBaby (Jul 27, 2010)

What's in the two beige jars between the blueberry-cherry fruit spread and the pears?


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## oberhaslikid (May 13, 2002)




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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

*nice!*


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

Beautiful pictures!!


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## coalroadcabin (Jun 16, 2004)

JulieBaby said:


> What's in the two beige jars between the blueberry-cherry fruit spread and the pears?


It's Ginger Garlic Mustard. The recipe is in the Ball book. It's really good and was very easy to make. 

Oh, and those aren't pears. I used the recipe for Spirited Peaches in the Ball book and used white peaches, honey syrup and Capt Morgans spiced rum. It's also really good and very easy to make. 

I've been experimenting with recipes for holiday hostess gifts.


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## coalroadcabin (Jun 16, 2004)

wow Oberhaslikid, you've been busy! Looks good!


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## NEfarmgirl (Jan 27, 2009)

I don't have any pics of our area but we use the electrical room(4'x7') for storing most of our canned goods. This year has been good so we are going to put some shelves under the basement stairs to store the rest. Both areas are very dark and stay cool. Also, we don't lose any living space to our food. The previous owners left a couple of old water bed frames so we used those to make heavy duty shelves that hold a lot. I store some dehydrated food in totes under the shelves and so far that set up works for us.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Great Pics. I was also gonna ask about the Ginger garlic.


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## TJN66 (Aug 29, 2004)

I wish I had all that canned! Im working on it but you are all way ahead of me =)


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## jmtinmi (Feb 25, 2009)

Lateral Filing Cabinets are great. You can pull out the shelves for rotation. They have a safety mechanism so only one drawer can be pulled out at once. And if all the drawer's shut, very good rodent control! This is my 'store bought' storage. Mostly Aldi's that I like to keep on hand.









This picture shows a drawer that is pulled out. When I am going to make a trip to Aldi's to stock up, I just count how many cans are missing and purchase that amount. When I bring them home, I move all the older cans forward and put the new stock in the back.









Here's a tip that I've not seen anyone use before. I take my empty canning jar boxes and put them in the floor joists of the basement. I use insulation batting wires to hold them in place. This really frees up the flat surface area in my pantry space.









Lateral File cabinet that is closed. Notice that the handles are on the lower part of the drawer. These open toward the ceiling and then push into the drawer. There is also a pull out shelf for putting things on. 









These shelves are in my 'home canned' pantry. I have four file cabinets like this one. When fully stocked I dedicate entire shelves to one item (i.e. beans or potatoes) Each drawer can hold 32 quarts. Pints can be stacked and I always make sure there is cardboard between layers.









This cabinet is a lateral file, but the drawer fronts do not close up into the unit. I use this type for wheat, sugar, flours, coffee/tea, etc. I prefer to use this type because it is really tight and I feel it is an added protection against rodents. No safety feature with this file, so I must be sure to open carefully!

These cabinets were all purchased cheaper than we could have purchased new metal shelving. They are also great in a garage for paint can storage, chain saws, & power tools. Keep an eye out for them!


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## coalroadcabin (Jun 16, 2004)

jmtinmi,
GREAT idea!!! We use lateral file cabinets here at work for our files.....I look at them everyday and never once thought to store food in them. I'm going to keep an eye out for used ones.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

You have some great storage ideas, jmtinmi!


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## tailwagging (Jan 6, 2005)

ohhhh sooo pretty!!!!!


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

Here are two older pictures of ours.


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## farmerpat (Jan 1, 2008)

jmtimni: THANKS SO MUCH! I have 2 lateral files that we didn't have room for in our home office, and they're just sitting in storage. They will be GREAT in the pantry! And the tip about rodent control is SOOOOO needed - with the wet weather they've been coming in like crazy!


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## farmerpat (Jan 1, 2008)

I just LOVE all the pictures! Thanks so much everyone!


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## Becka03 (Mar 29, 2009)

Ughhh- I needed these pics!!! thank you!!! I posted a thread in CF- and not any pics were posted! I need the motivation!


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## hardworkingwoman (Jun 4, 2009)

love these pictures!!!


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## kenworth (Feb 12, 2011)

What beautiful pics. All I have are planks and cinderblocks.  Not very creative I'm afraid.


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## PATRICE IN IL (Mar 25, 2003)

You all have some great looking pantry setups. Oberhaslikid, you may have not noticed but you have a shelf on the righthand side of your photo toward the bottom that is beginning to bow. You might want to remove some of those jars before you lose them to shelf fatigue.


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## Terri in WV (May 10, 2002)

Love the pantry pics. I miss my pantry at my old house and I don't think you all would like to see pics of my under the bed storage system.


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## happygardener (May 26, 2011)

Love all the pic's will post mine after I get some much needed sleep. It's been a canning night...but I have this great site to look at while everything was jigglin. Thanks!


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## Becka03 (Mar 29, 2009)

Here is what we accomplished this weekend- it is a start!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5925715155/in/photostream/#/photos/[email protected]/5925715155/in/photostream/lightbox/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5926273626/in/photostream/#/photos/[email protected]/5926273626/in/photostream/lightbox/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5926273652/in/photostream/#/photos/[email protected]/5926273652/in/photostream/lightbox/
the orange buckets have all my lids and rings in them..the garage is a work in progress- but this was a start!

I added my pics from flickr why wont they show up?


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## laughaha (Mar 4, 2008)

These pics are from last fall, after harvest was mostly over.

Pretty and Yummy Pumkins









Paquebot's Roma Tomato plant that I overwintered (it's now outside still producing)









Pantry

















































Unfortunately, it doesn't look this full anymore....can't wait to start canning again!! Trying to figure out how to fit all this in the kitchen since the pantry has to go back to being a bedroom for the baby....... Not so sure how this is gonna work out.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

tryed to fix it for you beca, I'm unsure whats wrong.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

[/url][/IMG] I'm sure some have seen my pantry. I want to asssure you all that the L brackets one can buy anywhere, hold up all of this weight. The are so simple to use and move if you need to . I use screws, and also screw the boards to the brackets. I've even found these brackets at garage sales.


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## Becka03 (Mar 29, 2009)

7thswan said:


> tryed to fix it for you beca, I'm unsure whats wrong.


Were you able to click on them to see them? it links to the pics on flickr


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Becka03 said:


> Were you able to click on them to see them? it links to the pics on flickr


No, but are you useing the bbc code, that's what I had to do.


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## laughaha (Mar 4, 2008)

All I ever do is copy the image code then paste in this box, easy peasy..... Mine comes from my photobucket account though- not sure if Flicker would be different


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

7thSwan - now that's what I call a pantry!! Floor to ceiling, and minimal wasted space or stacking due to ill-adjusted shelving. Just beautiful! I'd love to use L-brackets or the adjustable wall standards & brackets, but I don't conventional stud walls 

For those of you who use the industrial freestanding metal shelving units -- can you order more shelves for the unit and can the unit take the weight of additional shelves? 

Since I live in a seismic zone, I _really_ don't like stacking jars & cans or using makeshift add-ons to most efficiently use too-tall shelves, I'd rather just add more shelves. But most of the adjustable manufactured freestanding units only come with 4-6 shelves so there is always wasted space  Constructing my own would probably be the best solution, but is very time consuming, and not that inexpensive if I want to make them adjustable.


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## Vickie44 (Jul 27, 2010)

7thswan. Very inspiring , that is beautiful. Pantry envy!


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## Osiris (Jun 9, 2010)

Nice! True wealth!


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## Cashs Cowgirl (Jan 26, 2006)

I really only have one large shelf unit in my laundry room. The rest of my stuff is strategically placed throughout my home, closets, under the beds, etc. We have a small home so we used space efficiently I do have a good sized kitchen pantry, but it's used for the everyday items and storage of some larger items in the bottom. It doesn't have a dedicated air vent though so I don't store much long term stuff in there. The rooms stay cooler so they are a better option.


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## PixieLou (May 1, 2010)

Here is my canning storage. Two shelving units in my basement. The basement stays in the upper 50s all winter and in the upper 60s all summer. No direct light in this location. 










These are the metal shelving units from Home Dept. Each shelf is designed to hold 600 lbs. I keep my full quarts on the bottom shelves, then full pints, and keep empties on the top shelves. I use post it notes to label the boxes.

The empty space on the upper left shelf is where my BWB and PC go. They were in the kitchen being cleaned when I took the photos.

*plickity cat* These are the shelving from Home Depot. $90 each - give or take. I've looked into it - and no, you cannot purchase additional shelves. When one of my shelf clips was broken (freight damage) - I jumped through many hoops to get replacement shelf clips - they ended up being shipped to me from Korea. The units come with 6 shelves. I have 7 shelves on my right hand unit - since I pilfered a shelf from a different storage unit. I have 4 shelving units this size, and 3 units in the shorter size all in my basement. To be honest, I really think they are the best value in terms of dollar per weight capacity. If I wanted additional shelves, I would probably just buy an extra unit and pilfer the shelves. You could always find a creative use for the poles somewhere else.

~pixie


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## kudzuvine (Aug 11, 2011)

love the pictures - one suggestion. I'm in North Mississippi. Basically on top of New Madrid and tornadoes all the time. Take some wood strips, like screen or window molding and nail about 2" up from shelf to keep jars from falling off shelf. It would be a shame to loose all your hard work broken on the floor. This might be the only food you have for quite some time during a natural disaster.


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

It's odd that they don't let you buy additional shelves for these units, as the standards easily accommodate more weight & shelves... and side-by-side units could share the center standards which would leave you with two extra standards.

I was looking through my nifty Northern Tool catalog and they had (ugly) heavy-duty warehouse shelving that you can buy in a full kit, or just extra shelves and standards as add-ons. At first look, they appear more expensive, but when I costed them out completely for my pantry against buying multiples of the Home Depot ones, it turned out to be $100 less (including shipping) and I wasn't stuck with 6 extra standards that I didn't need. Although, I could probably repurpose those extra standards in the loft instead of buying as much plywood for the built-ins.

Decisions, decisions! It would all be so much simpler if I didn't live in a seismic zone and loathe stacking on too-high shelves and didn't mind too deep shelves either. I bring this on myself being so darned picky LOL


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

I have various types of shelving. Dh bought the supports and used boards we had on-hand to build some of the shelving. Space is just right for storage buckets. We have some free shelving from a grocery store that is wooden and square that holds a lot of jars. Also, salvaged metal shelving from a TSC store where dh used to be manager. Some cheap metal shelves that are screwed to the wall and used for lighter items. A couple of dressers from the nursing home (also free). Two rolling kitchen carts used for empty jars. Another set of shelving dh built out of odds and ends of wood which is deep enough to hold cases of jars. All together it adds up to a lot of shelf space but none of it is pretty! We also have unheated storage for potatoes which are stored in plastic bins. Onions are hung from the rafters and sweet potatoes are stored on newspaper covered shelves. All of this is in the basement. I have an old cupboard salvaged from the home we lost in a tornado that I use mostly for pint jars as it holds 6 jars deep which is upstairs in the laundry room. I also use this area to store small appliances & extra baking pans so I don't have them in the kitchen.


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## MacaReenie (Mar 1, 2008)

wow..talk about some great inspiration! Thanks for sharing the pics. Love everyone's pantries!!


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## Cindy in NY (May 10, 2002)

I have shown these before. Can't see much of the home canned goods as I put them back in their boxes.


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## Tommyice (Dec 5, 2010)

PlicketyCat and Pixielou--try looking in a restaurant supply store. The shelving is usually called "Metro Shelving" and you can buy additional shelves too.


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## blynn (Oct 16, 2006)

coalroadcabin said:


> It's Ginger Garlic Mustard. The recipe is in the Ball book. It's really good and was very easy to make.
> QUOTE]
> 
> Oh, that's funny! I was eyeballing that recipe yesterday and thinking of making some. I have a good clump of ginger root in the freezer.


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

I stumbled across this site the other day. Good to know I'm not the only one obsessed with pantries and organized food storage  Some really great inspiration and ideas on there. http://www.theperfectpantry.com/other_peoples_pantries/

And here's pics of our "pantry" in the wall tent (click for bigger):








Those plastic utility shelves from Home Depot aren't quite strong enough for a whole bunch of food like this, they're bowed; but at least they haven't broken -- yet. I can't wait until we get into the cabin and I can build (or buy) properly sized & spaced shelves in a real walk-in pantry. Then I'll retire these shelves to the shed to hold lighter storage tubs of seasonal clothes, and reclaim my book cases!

And it will be so nice to have more of a kitchen than this


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

Oh yeah, and I found out that The Container Store sells the Metro(R) Commercial shelving as kits AND individual components  800 lbs per shelf, 18" deep, 24-60" wide

And they also sell the clear acrylic liners so stuff doesn't fall through or tip over on the wire shelving (I hate that!).

AND they're having a *25% off SALE* right now!


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## windblown (Apr 18, 2011)

coalroadcabin said:


> some more pics of my shelves.



I only have one problem the soaps and chemicels need to be stored in a seperate room or at least on the bottom shelf away from food stuff


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

I didn't see any soaps or chemicals (other than edible ClearJel) on CoalroadCabin's upper shelves... it's all edible vinegars and hot sauces. Did I miss a pic?

(ETA: Never mind, it was in the first post, that shows the shelf to the right of the one in the pics that were quoted. Looks like dish & laundry soap on an upper shelf over the food. Probably not the best place for them in the long run. But I have a bottle of lamp oil on top my pantry shelves because it's the only spot warm enough - sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do  )

I'm more worried about Cindy's firewood right next to all the food in cardboard boxes and paper bags. Ants and all other manner of beasty would be in our food in seconds if we stored it unprotected next to our wood pile like that!


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## Cindy in NY (May 10, 2002)

PlicketyCat said:


> I'm more worried about Cindy's firewood right next to all the food in cardboard boxes and paper bags. Ants and all other manner of beasty would be in our food in seconds if we stored it unprotected next to our wood pile like that!


No (knock on wood!!) we've never had a bug problem or a water problem in the basement. That's just a small stack of emergency wood in case there's no way to get to the other wood without a lot of shoveling. I don't think you can see it in the pic but there's about 3' between the wood and that shelving unit.


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

We're pretty blessed to be mostly bug free here in AK, but there is always something in the wood we bring in. The only things we've really had any huge trouble with are the carpenter ants, and they don't eat much people food unless we happen to drop some sugar on the floor. The cat mostly takes care of the spiders, beetles and moths that hitch a ride in on the wood; but I always try to keep the food as far from the wood as possible (even in our tiny tent & cabin) just in case. I so don't want any crunchy oatmeal if you know what I mean


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