Metal shelves to maximize food storage space

I recently bought a few metal shelving units from Menards to give me more vertical space for an ever-increasing batch of canned goods, and let me tell you, having sturdy shelves is making a huge difference. The combined weight of myriad cases of canned goods was becoming a worry for my original storage shelves, but these metal units are up to the task and are a huge help for my pantry organization.

The first photo below is of some of the shelves I'd already had set up, and as you can see I've arranged them at right angles to each other to get the maximum amount of shelf space relative to the floor area available for the shelves. As an example, eight shelf units that are four feet long and one foot deep can be set up at right angles in a long row of connected units so that you could fit those eight units in a 5-by-16-foot area--bolt four shelves together side by side (which would span 16 feet in length) and then bolt each of the remaining shelves perpendicular to the left end of the shelves that are parallel to the wall. (The shelves that are parallel to the wall are a foot deep and the shelves that are perpendicular to those shelves are four feet wide, for a total depth of five feet, and the four 4-foot-long shelves are 16 feet long when bolted together.)

In the second photo, hopefully you can see the depth of the storage area to give you an idea of how much you can potentially stock up in what may look like a small area. Shelves are one of your best friends when it comes to creating space for food storage.

I hope this helps you expand your pantry no matter how small it looks!

Black Friday pandemonium--just wait until people fight over IMPORTANT stuff!

Working 70-hours a week (praise the Lord that I have a job!) has continued to hamper my efforts to write an article recently, but I thought that a recent column by Kellene Bishop on PreparednessPro.com was spot-on and deserves to be read. I'm not sure if she allows her posts to be copied on other sites, but here's a link to her article:

http://preparednesspro.com/the-thin-line-between-decency-and-desperation/

This sort of uncivil behavior by desperate crowds should be incentive enough for anyone to stock up on food and other necessary items yesterday, if not sooner. If...or maybe when...the desperation comes to your town, if you have what you need at home, you won't have to put yourself or your family at risk by going out in the chaos to get what you need--if it's still there when you get there. A word to the wise...