DIY Canned Food Organizer Tutorial

cheshiretiffy

It’s lovely, creative, and a great use of otherwise useless space, but is it a good idea to keep canned foods on the side of the refridgerator where it gets hot? Maybe yours doesn’t do it, but the sides and back of my fridge are usually rather warm.

{gabbi.z}

This is amazing! I wish I was skilled enough to build it! It’s so pretty…

SheilaG @ Plum Doodles

I LOVE this!!! I need to go check my fridge now & see if it’ll work for our space…. Thanks!!! 🙂

Lauren -aCommonersCastle

It’s amazing! Totally not weird that you love it so much, if I had one I would be drooling all over it (metaphorically of course) 🙂 It’s looks fabulous, and I love that you added the chevron to the inside. I want one! Now I just need to find a few spare inches somewhere in our kitchen!

Jenny@daysofchalkandchocolate

Brilliant! I pinned it and I’m going to email it to my husband. We need this so badly! Thanks for the clear tutorial too! I just love it!

Jackie

Saw you on Whatever Goes Wednesdays, and this is amazing ! You did a great job ! I have a small kitchen and would love something like this, but I plan on gutting the kitchen. However, I think this would we a cute little idea for the bathroom… Good job on your chevron stripes, too. Thanks for sharing !!

Jenny@daysofchalkandchocolate

I love this and it’s a feature this week!

http://daysofchalkandchocolate.blogspot.com/2012/05/features.html

K F

Neat idea, but the civil engineer in me wants to know how this could possibly be safe?! I see it toppling over as soon as my preschooler pulls it out far enough to no longer be sandwiched between the wall and fridge. Can you explain how you keep it stable? Thanks.

Jenny

I love this! How very creative. :o)

I do have one question. Do the things stored in it get very hot? My fridge & upright freezer both put off some heat & the sides are warm to touch. Do you notice this with your food you store here?

Joselyn @ The DIY Spot

Brilliant! I never came across anyone in blogland with a kitchen as small as mine. Actually, I think you have more cabinets than I do, if you can believe that. Two doorways and a dining room opening further contribute to my space challenged kitchen so, like you, I can benefit from one of these. Thanks so much for sharing this great storage expansion idea. Heading over to Learning to Be Me (your inspiration for this project) to give thanks as well.

Amy

What a great idea! I like the way you incorporated design into the back.

lubbygirl

Very nice idea, and workmanship. Does the fridge door open OK with that there? I have a side-by-side, and wondered if it would work OK for mine. Thanks so much for sharing – I have to try this now, as soon as I get the lumber rounded up!

Unknown

I would love to try this in our new home because it is a TINY kitchen! The only problem is there is no wall or anything on the side of our fridge, and it is next to our stove… I also have little ones so I wouldnt want to leave it out in danger of it tumping over

Lil' Luna

GREAT idea!! LOVE it!

Little Becky Homecky

YOU ARE AMAZING!! Thanks for sharing this!

Cariann McCready

What a great use of space! love it…

Susan @ Oh My! Creative

What a fantastic idea…and it’s so pretty! It creates so much more usable space! I love your striped wall in the background too!

I would love if you would post it and share it with my readers! Join the Community and share any of your creative project!

Susan @ Oh My! Creative

lindsayinnyc

I *LOVE* this!!! My husband and I live outside NYC right now but will be moving into Manhattan next year when our lease is up. We’ve “window shopped” for apartments and it’s hit or miss when it comes to any sort of storage. But 6″ next to a fridge? That’s a little more doable. Great idea!!

Mel M. M. McCarthy

This is SOooooooooh ingenious. I am going to make one of these for our postage stamp sized kitchen. Thank You for sharing the idea (not to mention all of the measurements and such fab instructions.) You just made my decade!

D-L

Very cool! Question: Does it get top heavy? What stabilizes it from tipping over if it is pulled out (by a child, I’m thinking!)

Twyla Gariepy

Holy cow we have the exact same kitchen, only my stairs go down not up. Or at least thats what it looked like before I did a little reno (like move the stove to the corner and get rid of that jut out thing and put a dishwasher there – Imagine that and you can guess how much cupboard space I now have). This is such a cool idea. I am totally going to go measure and see if I have enough room to do this.

Serendipity and Spice

This is fantastic! My pantry is super tiny- this might be the perfect thing for me!! Pinning it now!

Haydee

Yowza, that’s SO fantastic! Beautifully done..and I love the added dash of pizzaz with the chevron…you have endless bragging rights with this fabulous project!

Haydee

Yowza, that’s SO fantastic! Beautifully done..and I love the added dash of pizzaz with the chevron…you have endless bragging rights with this fabulous project!

Vanessa @ {nifty thrifty things}

What a clever idea! Love it!
Thank you so much for linking up to {nifty thrifty sunday} last week! You’ll be featured at tonight’s party! 🙂
XO!
Vanessa @ {nifty thrifty things}

oldandgrumpy

I took out a window to box in a cantilevered pantry and fridge space, so I don’t need this, but I know someone who does. Now I know what to do with the large wheels I rediscovered in the shop the other day. Thanks for taking the time to post this.

Jessie@saavysavings

What an awesome idea! Just pinned! Thanks for sharing 🙂

Hani@Craftionary

I am totally in love with this idea.. I have already pinned and shared it on my facebook page.. 😀 so excited to have you link up at craftionary..

Maria

What a great idea! I love how you used such a small space in such an awesome way! LOVE IT!

john mart

This is fantastic, I really want to have a go when I get to our kitchen.I just looked to see if I have enough room to make one of these and I do not! Nice job!
Moving Boxes NYC

Renato

lindo seu espaço 🙂
estou compartilhando aqui
Forte abraço Renato Artesanato em MDF

Zephyr Hill

Hi, Mallory, I just found your amazing project on Pinterest! It’s so SUPER! I’m a blogger, too, and it gets discouraging when no one makes comments (I do tutorials sometimes, too), so I wanted to be sure to come find you in Blogland and tell you how great this is! Kudos to you for living with and loving your small space, too!

Tina Veselka

I love this idea! I have a nice useless space next to my fridge this would be perfect for. I have read thru all the directions and all the comments. As such, I will definitely be measuring my space before purchasing supplies. I will also be using thin lattice strips, instead of dowels, on both sides to allow access from either side. I will also nail or glue a board ‘stop’ on the floor to prevent the unit from being completely pulled out. I may also put locking wheels on the front so that one can’t just walkover and yank it out. I will probably paint the exposed side with chalkboard paint to use as a Menu or shopping list. This project will be my “reward” for getting my house decluttered and organized this month. Thanks for the great idea!

Chris J

Coolest. Thing. Ever. I’ll be building this shortly for our tiny apartment kitchen. However, I may think of replace some of the top shelving with a place to hang a couple of pans, baking trays, and cooking utensils, as it would be directly next to my stove/oven.

Sallie424

This is wonderful Thanks for the construction post! Scaling down markedly and this is calling to me, for the kitchen, I’m sure!

preparedhousewives

Absolutely beautiful!!! Just pinned this and put it on my husbands to-do-list! So creative with the chevron on the back!

jessesToons

I love this, its just what I’ve been looking for. My husband and I just moved into this new home and we are short on space right now. We’ve got a lot of stuff and its been hard trying to find some extra storage in Edmonton. Looks like I’m going to have to be creative. I guess we’ll see how it all goes, wish us luck!

Abby

This looks so fantastic! We have a similar gap in between our fridge and wall and I shove our cookie sheets, muffin tins, and cooling racks in there because it’s convenient but it looks horrible. I was searching for some sort of pull out organizer for them when I found this… I LOVE IT! I’ll just do two shelves and move the dowels up a few inches to allow cookie sheets to be slid in. I hope it works like I think it will, haha, thank you for the tutorial!

Tiffany Mom 2-4

How much did the whole project cost? I have the perfect place next to my fridge and could use a place to store my can goods and seasonings. Thanks for a great idea.

Carol

I love this idea I’m going to get everything I need for it today. It’s perfect for the spot by my refrigerator. I have 2 sisters wanting one now. I guess we can make them all at once. Thank you for sharing.

yuppicide

I’ve seen this before, but you’re the first one I saw that posted building plans.

I wish someone manufactured these pre-built, but the problem comes is that it can tip over and the company can get sued? So, why not install a closet track on the top.. similar to how a closet door is on a track when it slides open. This will keep it from pulling out all the way.

Hi Dee Heermann

My bf and I made one this past weekend and it turned out awesome! Showed the pic to three people and they all want me to make one! :-D:-D

alice

I love this!!! I can’t wait to make it. My daughter will be so jealous, cause she doesn’t have the space beside her fridge!!! lol

Lourdes

Genius!

Earl Judds

These are great ideas for self storage. I am going to try this!

Lurae

My husband and I built this and found that with the 1×4 after we added the dowels we BARELY had room for a small spice can on the shelf. In the picture I see what appears to be regular sized cans. My husband is a very experienced “DIYer”, very sure he didn’t goof up on the measurements. So he simply added 1×1 around the back of the shelf, then added the back piece. Worked fine. Built one for our daughter and used 1×6 to start with and turned out perfect. Just a word of caution.

Phil

I just built this. Today. In three hours. The design is perfect. I used 1×6’s instead to give it a bit more depth, but changed nothing else. I’m going to add a drawer rail in the back to keep it in place and to prevent rolling it out too far. Thanks for the awesome design!

Allan

A couple of questions come up about rubbing the walls or fridge, heat and stability. Most hardware stores sell silicone bumpers with adhesive backing. Buy some that are 1/2 inch in diameter and attach to the wall and refrigerator. These will provide protection. As for stability, there are a couple of thoughts. Drawer slides have been suggested and are good if the other half can be mounted on a wall or upper cabinet. If its not possible, then wider is more stable. 6 inches would be better plus keep all heavy items at the bottom. As for heat, use 2 sheets for the backing and sandwich 1/4 inch styrofoam in the middle. You could also use foam sheeting used for packaging. Its really thin. If appearance is not an issue, then just put the styrofoam on the inside before the shelves go in. An observation is that rotating casters are shown. I think fixed casters would be better as there can be some wiggle when the casters rotate. Great idea

Heather

I made something similar but it is a vertical can rotation rack with a space for water bottles underneath. Mine does not roll, and I glued extra strong magnets on the back to attach to my fridge. It holds 44 cans and 27 water bottles. It appears very sturdy even when I shook it like an earthquake would. I haven’t painted it yet, but am very happy with it. Of course if the “Big one” hits, it more than likely would fall down, but there is a wall that it would lean against and not fall completely to the floor.

Judy Tricker

I have been trying to describe this type of thing to a friend of mine who thought I was quite nuts trying to fit something into a space so small. I knew exactly what I wanted and now can actually SHOW him what I mean. Thanjks so much for this
it is fantastic. Saw a similar thing put in between a washing machine and a drying that worked well too.

Sarah

This is an awesome project! I’ve been eyeballing it since I saw it on pinterest months ago; we fit 6 people into our 900 sq ft house, so every inch has to count. Mine will be a “broom closet” rather than can storage, and I’m doing a pegboard on the back to hang the dust pan and whatnot. Thank you for sharing this!

Lance E Sloan

My recommendation would be to add a rail to the wall just above the back of the organizer and a roller on the top of the organizer near the back that rolls on the rail. I’m thinking of the kind of rail and roller used for sliding doors. Especially the nicer-looking barn door style of doors that have become popular in homes lately. The rail and roller would give the organizer stability and also serve as a stop to keep it from rolling all the way out onto the floor.

Also, depending on one’s needs, fixed wheels would be better on the bottom of the cabinet rather than swivel casters. The organizer only needs to roll on one axis. Fixed wheels would keep it on that axis. That would also make this organizer safer and easier to handle, especially when it’s loaded down with many items.

Overall, this is a good prototype, though.

Edward Watson

Hi,
That looks good, we’ve got a similar gap in our kitchen which could be used for this, freeing up space in the cupboards.
Since you completed the project, have you had any problems with the shelves bowing because of the weight of the cans and how full do you load the shelves? I was thinking of putting an addition piece of 4×1 in the middle at the back and angle brackets to give extra support.
Rgds
Edward

David Flanagin

Take off your list I am getting mad. Take off your list or I am going to report you.

Manda

I just made my own! Thank you for the idea, it worked beautifully in my new studio!

Michael

I am a carpenter/ cabinet maker and for those of you who are concerned with the cabinet tipping over I would suggest mounting a drawer slide on the back side of the cabinet between the wall and cabinet. The drawer slide will solve two problems. It will limit the travel of the cabinet so that it won’t completely come out past the wall and it’ll prevent the cabinet from tipping over. If you’re handy you could mount the whole thing on drawer slides if you use a back panel at least 1/2 inch thick. The slides would need to be an over travel design to allow the cabinet to be pulled out far enough. I hope this helps some of you out there!

Michelle Williamson

Please add me to your mailing list. Thank you for sharing this wonderful evening idea! I can’t wait to get started

Jassi Gill

This is awesome article and I found it very helpful.

Robert Schels

A simple solution to the cabinet coming out to far is simple. Install a toggle anchor on the back wall 3″-4″ above the shelving unit. Then screw in a machine thread eyebolt into the anchor. Then screw an eye screw to the top of the shelf directly in the middle. Run a small piece of 1/16 rope from eyebolt to eyebolt long enough so the shelf stops 6″ short of all the way out.

Rashed

cool post

James

Thank you for this awesome idea. I really like the zigzag you put on the back panel.

Kartikey

This is really impressive post, Thanks keep it up.

Aaron Williams

This is an awesome article and I found it very helpful.

Kevin O'brein

Hello, your post provides very good information. Information within the comment is excellent.

Mike Hussey

Hi, you are providing very useful information. Keep on doing such kind of research. Appraising work was done by you.

strafor kesim

thank you

Merc

Nice article

beze kulesi

Thanks for post

söve

Thanks.

maket pasta strafor fiyatları

Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. After all I’ll be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope you write again soon!

strafor harf

always used to study post in news papers but now as I am a user of net thus
from now I am using net for content, thanks to web.

lucky patcher download

appreciate the quality of content being published here!!

mp3z

Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. After all I’ll be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope you write again soon!
Thanks for post

Yasar Ali

Nice site.