#13 What If. . . ? If you can't "hide" your food storage then . . .

Flaunt it!

That's what we have done, occasionally, throughout the years. And we think it works! 

If the ideas seem unusual or weird --- remember the blog you are reading. I am Simply, Gail: the Creative Cheapskate. I love the challenge of making do . . . of making the most of what we have.


Here are some of our ideas for your consideration. . .


Many posts ago I  suggested the many benefits of having a small wooden rocking chair in the kitchen. If you can't remember the benefits I listed at that time, I am sure it won't take you long to come up with your own list.

The kitchen, in our 900 square foot home, was too small to hold the table, but that smallness was a blessing in disguise when we brought in the rocking chair.

Another issue was lack of cupboard space. We found a large wooden bookcase for cheap, painted it and used it as an open cupboard.  It held numerous kitchen goods in a variety of baskets and fun containers, as well as small groupings of canned foods. (Nothing ever got lost in the depths!)

Fast forward many years. The children have flown the coop and we are once again in a small home with minimal cabinets and storage space. There is a small dining area off the kitchen with two corner cupboards (with glass doors on the top half) --- pretty useless in to us since we aren't currently into "show" shelves --- and were never into china and crystal.

Since I use much of our "food storage" on a regular basis, I wanted it convenient. So off came the glass doors and up went the #10 cans---staples and dehydrated vegetables.

The photo at the beginning of this post are cans that I prepared as a wedding gift for one of our kids--- in the event their first home didn't have storage to hide them away. I made theirs before I made ours.

Some of the cans in the top photo are #2-1/2 cans for things that aren't used as often or items I wanted to "introduce" to the newlyweds. "Elliott" holds biscuits for their dog.

How I Did It

I covered all the cans in scrapbook sheets I found in variety packages on a clearance table. Some of the cans are covered in horizontal "stripes" from the leftover pieces.

You can use whatever suits your decor---you are limited only by your imagination. (We have papered a kitchen wall with pages from a reproduction from an old Sears catalog and a border in an early bedroom for our daughter from colored construction paper--covering them with "Modge Podge" coating.)

Back to the cans: I made the labels on the computer...and instruction labels for the back of the cans that needed instructions.

Lastly, just to help them last, I covered the covering with clear no-name-brand "contact paper."

I purchased the white plastic lids and put them on both ends of the cans so the metal wouldn't leave rust marks on any surfaces. It was a bonus that the bottom one added to the overall look.  At least I think so!

Yes, it was fairly time-consuming but it was simply great fun and quite cheap.

Confessions:

•  The ones we have in our corner cabinets are only covered 2/3 of the way around (only the part that shows) and the left-uncovered-part is where the directions are.
• The ones that aren't used as often are unadorned and out of sight.