How to Build a Food Storage Room
Building food storage is one of the best ways to prepare for financial emergencies or natural disasters. As the food storage grows, you may find that building a food storage room is necessary. Knowing how to build this type of room will save money and allow you to personalize the room to you and your family's needs.
How to build a food storage room is a question that comes up after food storage becomes too large to keep in a small closet or pantry. Building a food storage room is not that complicated and can be done with a few items and a preexisting room or climate controlled storage shed located on your property. The cost of building a storage room using a preexisting room or shelter ranges from $100-$600, depending on the amount of food and storage methods being used. This guide is for a basic storage room that can be added to and renovated over time.
To build a food storage room you will need:
- Self standing shelving units
- Wall mounting brackets
- Clear Rubbermaid containers
- Label Maker
- Clean the room that will be used as the food storage room. You will want to make sure that everything is out of the room and that any clutter is cleared out. Take this time to look for any possible mold, water or draft issues and fix them. Water and humidity can damage food and ruin dry goods.
- Organize the shelving units. Place shelving units as close the walls as possible. If they seem unsteady, then use wall mounting brackets to secure the shelving units to the walls. Make sure that the shelves are not blocking electrical outlets or light switches. If windows are in the room, place shelves on either side of the windows rather than in front of them.
- Place clear storage bins on the shelves to hold loose packaged items such as bagged soups, ramen noodles and other small packets. Label each of the storage bins with a label maker to clearly mark the contents of the box.
- Place your food storage on the shelves. Try to keep like items together. For example, put all canned soups on the same shelf or shelving unit. Put dry goods on a different shelving unit. If humidity is an issue, consider buying a dehumidifier for the room or for boxes that store dry goods.
As your food storage grows, you can add new shelving units to the room, organizational pieces such as containers and canned good storage and dispensing units. This will keep the room organized, make the most of the space and allow the room to expand as the food storage expands.