Many of us who live in apartments or small houses are pantry-less, which means all of those bags of rice and cans of tomatoes must find a home somewhere. We don't mind leaving small appliances on the counter, but boxes of crackers or canisters of baby munchies are another story. Here's how we stash it all in limited cabinet space.
Disclaimer: I currently have four boxes of crackers (left over from this gluten-free taste test), a box of Valentine's Day candy, and several containers of toddler snacks taking up precious counter space, so I plan to practice what I preach this afternoon.
Here are some tips that help me keep everything under control:
• 1. Lose the boxes. If something is packaged individually, then in a larger box (like instant oatmeal), take out the packets and put them in a plastic bag. Or just wrap a rubber band around them. If you use half a box of pasta, put the other half in a zip-top bag. It will take up less space and stay fresher, too.
• 2. Don't overbuy. Simple, but true. Don't buy what you don't need and don't have room to store. That means this is probably out of the question.
• 3. Look for unlikely storage places. Do you have a couch with a skirt? Store non-perishables under it. Or look for unused nooks in cabinets where you normally store pots and pans or your food processor. If you're afraid you'll forget where things are, make a master list.
• 4. Use your refrigerator. Canned goods don't need to go in the fridge, but they, ahem, can. If you aren't using all of your shelf space in the fridge, shove some non-perishables in the back.
• 5. Get a basket. You might already have a fruit basket, but a basket that holds small boxes or bags of grains, cereals, and pasta can also keep your counters looking neat.
• 6. Leave out the stuff you use often. Don't use precious cabinet space to store your olive oil if you use it every day (yes, it should be in a place that's cool and dark, but if it's a small bottle that you use up fairly quickly, and you can keep it in a dark corner on the counter, it should be fine). I am planning to put the big box of Diamond Crystal Kosher salt on my countertop because I am constantly refilling my salt bowl, it's taking up a lot of cabinet space, and honestly I think it's kind of cool-looking. I'll use that empty shelf space for things I use less often.
• 7. Toss the old stuff. You likely have things hiding in the back of your cabinets that are past their prime. It stinks to throw away food, but if you'll never use it, toss it. Make room.
• 8. Don't get frustrated trying to store tonight's dinner. What I mean is: If you come home from the grocery at noon and are making chili at 6 p.m., don't sweat stacking cans of tomatoes and beans in your cabinets. This sounds silly, but I've been there, thinking, "Argh! I can't even put my groceries away!" Only to realize three hours later that I'm using half of them.
And it goes without saying that the more organized your cabinets, the more you can fit in them. Stack neatly and use dividers, racks, and storage boxes to help.
What are your tips for storing pantry items when you don't have a pantry?
• See before & after pictures of the kitchen above: A Cellist's Beautiful Kitchen
Related: 10 Pantry Staples Not to Be Caught Without
(Image: Peter Murdoch)
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One thing that I love in a kitchen is using Ball canning jars for storage. They are very inexpensive and look great in any kitchen. I use mine to store grains, and other things that look nice in a glass jar (ie: pepper corns, cous cous, oats, nuts, etc). It frees up your cabinets for other things and looks pretty too!
www.handjobsforthehome.com
ajsimone26 I do the same things and came to say that, but there's no way I can visit your website on my work computer.
Also the 6 or 7 boxes of teeny grains I always have on hand (teeny tiny soup pasta, cous cous, orzo) that I dont have room to display in jars I put in sandwich bags - its amazing how they all fit nicely and they nestle together like bunnies in a tiny corner of one cabinet. Only uses the footprint of one box of pasta!
To clarify: I meant with a title like that I can't visit it, not because the site is down or anything :)
@Mimee25--It's totally safe for work, just has a quirky title. But I catch your drift ;)
And yes, Ball Jars are a great storage solution!
I have a beautiful antique armoire in my 'great room' that is used to double as a pantry, office & kitchen supplies center.
My refrigerator is full of many non-perishable items. Pasta, unopened jars of jam, vodka...
Never thought of the fridge idea, thanks! There are many accessories you can buy that make better use of your cabinet space, with multi levels so you can use your full height of the cabinet, not just depth and width. Also, consider using organizers for different purposes than they were originally designed for. I found a pan cover divider that I didn't use any more worked perfectly for paper plates & tupperware covers.
My family does the ziplock thing and it works (not very green though). We also do it in the fridge with leftovers.
You can also install organizers on the inside (you can make your own with some wood) of the doors of cabinets for spices, cutting boards. This will free up space in the cabinet for food. There are some great ideas along these lines on Martha Stewart's website and in storage carpentry mags at Home Depot/Lowes.
I also inherited a number of beautiful raku plates/bowls. When I moved to a 400 sq ft rental from a big house (divorce) I found I didn't have room to store them all. Rather then have them languish away in overcrowded cupboards, I decided to use them, one bowl stayed on top of the toaster oven to drop keys & bills in, a beautiful plate was placed in the pantry and held all my oils, vinegar and honey on top. Another plate was put on my nightstand for perfumes and glasses. Also took some to the office with me to organize there.
Minimize cleaning supplies, Method makes some great multipurpose items. I used to buy their concentrated laundry detergent, one itty bitty bottle lasted a really long time.
One last tip - Costco is not for small spaces, unless you have someone to split it with!
I like to keep my 5 lb bags of potatoes and onions inside my stockpots.
Also, I found what used to be the top half of a china hutch which fits like a glove behind the front door (yes, my front door opens into my kitchen, good incentive to keep it clean). I store extra food, pots, cake pans, and cookbooks there!
I keep my flours, grains and sugars in the freezer. A full freezer is also more energy efficient.
I keep a couple of vintage bread boxes on top of my refrigerator. One serves as a sort of appliance garage for small things like a spice grinder and a 3-cup food processor. The other is for small articles such as bags of dried fruit and candied ginger. Bread, flours, and nuts go in the freezer; teas go into a drawer.
I keep bread, biscuits, etc in the microwave.
I'm so glad keeping things in the refrigerator is on this list. I always see articles about things that don't need to go in the refrigerator. Yeah, I know! But my fridge, even after getting a smaller fridge, is usually only 40% full. Its the biggest storage in my kitchen. I cook almost every night but I also live within a mile of Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Shaw's so there is no need to stock up.
Is it ok to keep potatoes in the fridge?
Is it ok to put things in the fridge, i.e. canned fruit, then store them in the pantry again, than back to the fridge. Would there be a problem with constant temperature change?
In my tiny galley kitchen I corral like items in plastic bins that can be stacked. So all baking needs (baking soda, brown sugar, etc.) are in one bin and all spices in another, etc. When I'm cooking I pull out the bins I'll need. Kind of a cheater's mise en place, as well as more room in the cabinents. The previous owners built super-slim cabinets under the chair-height section of the counter...just perfect for storing canned goods and not quite deep enough to bang your knees.
I'm not putting my food under the couch. Nope.
i love how they put a pic of a kitchen with all kinds of counterspace for an article for those with no counterspace!!
way to rub it in!
Putting food under the couch as storage seems like a rather gross idea.
Why the hate on under-couch storage? Canned good + under couch = what problem exactly?
DylanLacey, I don't see the issue with the under-couch storage, either. Get an wheeled underbed box with a lid if the thought of a dust bunny on your can freaks you out.
I love the ideas about potatoes in the stock pot and bread bins over the fridge. I have one cupboard as a pantry and too much stuff to fit in it. I hung Ikea spice shelves above the doors to my kitchen and they each fit about 4 glass jars or cans. When I stock up on canned items they go under my bed - I don't see a difference with putting them under the couch.
I also store stuff in glass in the fridge esp chocolate chips and all purpose flour. If you keep flour in the fridge just bring to room temp before use. This also keeps bugs out! I love packets of red pepper flakes from the pizza parlor but they can go their own way if not careful. Those are in a bag hung in the Italian food cabinet. This can also work for other packets of spices if you use spices and seasonings that way. My powdered sugar and brown sugar are in bags in the cabinet but can easily go to the fridge if needed. I also don't have a lot of dishes and kitchen unitaskers taking up space. When I baked pies alot, I would just store the rolling pin in the freezer but now it has a different home!
My one bedroom apt doesn't have walls separating kitchen/ dining/ living so I am lucky I could "expand" my kitchen. It had about two square feet of counter space and 3 cupboards when I moved in. I brought in an industrial shelf (Gorilla, I think), tiled the top with materials from my folks' home reno, and now I store all my food in plain sight. I liked it so much I got a taller, wider one for the side wall for dishware, pots/ pans, staples in glass jars, and lesser appliances on the top. I know what I've got and I use it. Love.
I bought a wire office cart at the thrift store a few years ago. It was green and just too cute so I had to have it. After it failed to help me in my office and was too small to be a plant stand, i decided to use it as can storage. It is slender and I just tuck it between my oven and my basement entrance. It fits perfect, is discrete and since it's on wheels i can just pull it out when I need something. Hooray for re-purposed furniture!!
Mine is similar to this one from The Container Store:
http://www.containerstore.com/shop/kitchen/carts?productId=10000825&green=21070140913
It's not the world's *most* economical solution, but I just put in some pull-out drawers and door-mounted organizers in our revamped kitchen, and they make a HUGE difference. (You can see them here.)
Really like your collection of blogs...I have posted your a link to this onto Twitter and hope to use it on Facebook, too...I trust that is OK with you! Carol Posener, Get Organised
A 200sq' studio was home in Manhattan so furniture HAD to multitask. The space was bookended by 2 narrow armoires housing abundant shelving. There went the cans/plates/coffeemaker (as well as fashion excess). A plantation desk loaded w/cubbies held flatware as well as...pencils. Fresh f&v's were displayed on top of the desk in a silver basket & consumed in a timely manner. It was heavenly; no space=no stress! (And then I sold the furni to the next tenant when I moved back to Ohio).
so happy i finally know what to do with the skirted couch in my kitchen.
I moved from a home with a walk in pantry to a condo without one. I was determined not to clutter my counters.
I was blessed with a lot of cabinets, so from day one I dedicated a line of cabinets as a pantry. The top shelf was dedicated to those items I use the least, the middle shelf to boxes of cereal, tea, pancake mix, crackers, etc etc etc, and the bottom shelf I left empty. I figured it would fill up, and it did. All those things that normally would end up on the counter go on the bottom shelf. It is constantly changing. It now has a can of nuts, a tupperware of crackers, cat tin lids, little condiment bowls, and napkins, just to name a few. I clean it out periodically, just to keep it from becoming stuffed. The only thing on my counter after a year and a half is the coffee bar, so it's working for me.
@Sissy: Actually your refrigerator is most efficient if it's not completely full. There should be airflow around the items. Your reasoning is right on for freezers and the freezer compartment in your fridge. I fill up extra space in my freezer with plastic containers (which can't be recycled) filled with water, and take them out if I need the room. The ice is handy for the picnic cooler. :)
During cooler months, fruit and veggies that need a cool dry place go in my coat closet...potatoes, apples, that sort of thing. It gets cold in there so I use it.
Actually what has helped ALOT is that my husband and I don't go grocery shopping every week-we go every other week for the staples-has made a HUGE difference in grocery bill and pantry-we now have way more room. We realized we were buying just because not because we needed it. Of course, for fruit and veggies I go to our local veggie store.
I've also started using canning jars to store grains -- cheap, practical, attractive. Those floppy bags of rice/lentils/steel-cut oats are really challenging to store, but the jars look lovely.
I used to use a pretty cruet for my olive oil so it would look less cluttered on the counter top. Then I stopped caring. Olive oil bottles are often pretty enough on their own.
i got a tea bag organizer from the Container Store-- amazing how much space i saved once i could throw all those boxes away!
The other benefit to putting cans in the frig is that your refigerator will work more efficently the fuller it is :) Staceyann Dolenti
In Australia, our local deli or coffee shops often buy food items in large plastic or glass containers. When empty they make great containers for kitchen or bathroom items. For a polite enquiry, and a small price or even free, you can get containers that store easily and save landfill.
If you have storage containers your not using, use them to store other things. I turn canned goods sideways and stack them and write on the bottom what the can is. I like what others have said about using space twice (storing something in a large pot you don't use that much.
Never thought of the fridge idea, thanks! There are many accessories you can buy that make better use of your cabinet space, with multi levels so you can use your full height of the kitchen pantry cabinet, not just depth and width. Also, consider using organizers for different purposes than they were originally designed for. I found a pan cover divider that I didn't use any more worked perfectly for paper plates & tupperware covers.
In my tiny galley kitchen I corral like items in plastic bins that can be stacked. So all baking needs (baking soda, brown sugar, etc.) are in one bin and all spices in another, etc. When I'm cooking I pull out the bins I'll need. Kind of a cheater's mise en place, as well as more room in the pantry cabinet. The previous owners built super-slim cabinets under the chair-height section of the counter...just perfect for storing canned goods and not quite deep enough to bang your knees.