Clever Ways to Increase the Size of your Pantry
How to Increase Your Pantry Size without Adding On – 3 Easy Hacks
USE YOUR VERTICAL SPACE
Pantry organization means making the most of what you have. Using vertical space is just a fancy way of saying, “use your walls and the back of the pantry door.” Hang a shoe holder to corral your vacuum attachments, extension cords and chargers. Label each pocket to keep things organized. Or install a clear shoe holder and fill it with food items like drink mixes, seasoning packets, and bottles of oil.
Every pantry should have a tool hanger. These clever devices keep your brooms, mops and anything with a handle from falling over. I even been known to hang my son’s pull up bar in the tool hanger.
Installing a hanging coat rack is another great way to increase pantry size. Use it to hang up aprons, lunch bags, re-usable shopping bags, and even your purse. Mount a notepad above the rack for creating your grocery list. Then mount a plastic paper keeper to the wall with Velcro to hold your grocery ads and coupons. You’re ready to grab your grocery list, bags, coupons, and your purse when it’s time to shop.
ADD A SHELF
One of my big frustrations is that large walk-in pantries are built with 16 inch shelves—great for storing big pots and that fancy drink dispenser that I pull out for parties, but not so great when you need to store something small. It’s pretty easy to add a 2-inch fir strip against the wall, nailing it to the studs and insert a shelf in between. That gives you two 8-inch high shelves instantly doubling your storage space by making it usable.
STACK FOODS
One of my favorite ways to increase pantry size is to “stack” foods, AKA hide-a can. Here’s how: Place stack-able items on the back of the shelf. Then put another, bigger item in front. For my pantry I stacked cans on the back of the shelf and then put my containers that hold cereal and crackers in front of the cans. I can easily pull the cereal container, or canister or small storage box off the shelf and instantly see my cans. Naturally this technique works best if your container is lightweight.
