Finding Storage Space In Your Home
For those of us who live in the city or in the suburbs, it might be a challenge finding space to store large quantities of goods or supplies. For those of us who live in places like Florida, the situation is worse since we don’t have basements here.
I’ve worked hard to clear out my garage and get organized in that space, but the problem is with Florida heat and humidity, the garage is simply an unsuitable place for much of what I’m looking to store. With a house that is for the most part full, locating climate controlled space for storage in my house is tough.
My strategy has been to maximize my closet space. What I’ve noticed in homes like mine (suburb community / built in 2005) is that the closets often have fairly high ceiling with one single shelf around the closet about halfway between the floor and ceiling (normal height for shelf / hanging clothes). I noticed that there was plenty of room to add another shelf halfway between the shelf and the ceiling. Each shelf has at least two to three feet of space above it (I don’t have exact measurements). The result is a completely separate shelf above everything else in several of my closets.
Getting items to and from the top shelf requires a step stool for me (I’m 6 ft. tall), but since this is long term storage / items you don’t need on a daily basis, moving a stop stool in when you need to is not a big deal.
I’ve started accumulating some buckets of dried food with 20-25 years of shelf life and putting them on these upper shelves. This food storage location is working out great. If you’re using standard wire shelving, be sure to anchor it well as these buckets of food are fairly heavy and you don’t want your shelf crashing down on you.
I do identify with you and am looking forward to reading your posts. Living in Florida does have some unique problems so it’s nice to hear some ideas from a fellow Floridian.
In relation to storage, I certainly understand! I have lived in Ohio and Louisiana most of my life and the major difference I have found since moving to FL is the lack of basements and lack of storage, but also homes with smaller square footage of living area. To compound my personal challenge, I live on Gulf front property so I have to contend with high salt water in the air, constant sea breezes and literally beach type yard (plenty of sand and no soil) – which makes for some problems with everything from storage to gardening.
I have your site bookmarked and will be checking in daily. I know I will never be one of those big time survivalists, but I am a mother who wants to do all I can to prepare my family for whatever lies ahead. Whatever it is, it won’t be like it was as I grew up, and my guess is, it won’t be easy.
I take it this is a new blog? I found you through the SHTF blog. You don’t sound like a kook to me. I’ve felt for quite some time now, that something’s just not right in our country. More and more people are starting to see it, but not nearly enough. Anyway, keep blogging. I’ll keep reading from my little lump of coral in the Pacific. I still have a house in Brevard county Florida so I know exactly what you mean when you taelk about the garge not being suitable for storing many things…..
I too appreciate your posts. I live in South Florida and have the humidity and heat issues regarding long term storage. We went through hurricane Andrew and our preps were a comfort when the grocery store shelves emptied out and the city was on a curfew.
I have emptied my upstairs linen closet and use it for storage. The ac keeps it cooler there than other areas of the house. My other storage area is a down stairs closet that is not quite as cool but is completely dark. It’s definitely better than storing in the kitchen even if we lose electricity. I’ve compared the quality of foods stored in each place for over a year and the closets are definitely at least better than the kitchen cabinets. If times are severe, I will care more that we have something to eat even if it is not the eating standard I would like to have. (My dad hated turnip greens but during the depression when he was desperate, he was given a plate by a complete stranger. (He nows loves them.) Everything tastes better when you are hungry.
I’ve compared food prices from 2009 to 2010 and the increase is at times 20 to 50% higher from a year ago. We know it will only get worse from here on.