It’s always good to have a full pantry and to keep a bunch of canned foods handy. If there’s anything this past year taught us is that it’s always good to be prepared and that you never know when you’ll have to lock yourself inside the house for a few days or even weeks.

Of course, all those canned goods you’ll be buying need to be stored somewhere. There’s a whole bunch of different ways to do that so here’s a few ideas that you might like.

It’s not really that cans are so difficult to store but more that it’s annoying having to move them around and to have to take some out just so you can see what’s stored all the way at the back of the shelf. A custom storage system for canned goods like the one shared on shanty-2-chic would be much more practical and convenient.

It can be really nice to have everything you need for cooking right there in the kitchen. For things that take up space like cans and jars you can come up with a custom storage system that take up little space and is very practical and easy to use as well. Here’s a slide-out vertical storage system that would be perfect for that. Check out classyclutter to find out more about it.

Here’s a really cool storage system for canned goods that you can install on a wall, perhaps inside the pantry or in the kitchen. It has several vertical slots that can hold a bunch of cans each and a space at the bottom similar to what a dispenser might have. When you take out a can another one automatically slides down in its place, ready for next time. You can check out amy-toby to find out more about this system and how you can build it.

A few simple shelves could also work. This custom rack has several open shelves and they’re all placed at an angle so you can easily take things out and see what’s stored all the way back at a glance. It’s perfect for storing cans and jars and it’s small enough to keep in the kitchen. It has casters so you can easily move it around which means you could hide it inside the pantry with barely any effort every time. Check out the plans and details on ana-white.

Here’s another wall-mounted can organizer, quite similar to another one that we’ve mentioned earlier. It has a super simple and clean design and five vertical slots which can hold multiple cans each. It’s easy to use, convenient and it doesn’t take up any space on the floor, the counter or inside the cabinets. You can have this installed in the pantry, the kitchen or perhaps in the garage. More details can be found on ana-white.

It may not seem like an obvious choice at first, but simply storing the cans inside a drawer can solve a lot of problems. Instead of storing them on a shelf where it’s difficult to see all the way in the back or to take things out, storing the cans in a drawer lets you easily see what’s inside. A trick that can help with that is to write with a marker on the top of each can so you know what the contents are at a glance. This clever idea comes from motorhome.

You can also organize all the cans in a series of narrow containers like the ones featured on abowlfulloflemons. You can label each of them based on the contents and you that way you can store multiple cans in a small space, all neatly organized on the shelves of your pantry. Of course, it’s not just the cans that can be stored in such a clever and convenient way.

We’ve mentioned before that shelves are not really great for storing canned goods or jars on. However, they’re not all bad. Shallow shelves are actually excellent because they’re not deep enough to hold more than one row of cans. That means you can see everything at a glance and nothing is hidden behind anything else. You can build a bunch of custom shelves from scratch and install them in the pantry specifically with this in mind. You can learn more about this on houseofhepworths.

You could also easily organize your kitchen and pantry with a bunch of racks. There’s a variety of different styles and sizes to choose from and some are excellent for storing canned goods. They sit at an angle and can fit in standard cupboards and overhead cabinets and they allow you to easily see everything without having to move items around. There’s a bunch more clever and practical storage ideas that you can check out on familyhandyman if you’re interested.

The last thing you need in a small pantry is making a mess every time you’re looking for something just because you can’t immediately see the item you’re searching for. Corners are especially annoying because there’s plenty of space there but it’s not easy to organize them. Rotating shelves or lazy susans are really great in this case and they solve all these issues. You can install a few in your own pantry and it would actually be pretty easy. Head over to decorchick to find out what it takes.

You don’t necessarily need to redesign your whole pantry in order to make it better or more storage-efficient. Sometimes it’s enough just to use what you have and to stick with simple solutions. For example, you can get a few plastic boxes or crates and you can gather all your cans and jars in there. That way they’re all in one place and they take up less space on the shelves. The containers can be clear so you can see the contents and you can also label them. Check out iheartorganizing for more pantry organization ideas.

Even cardboard boxes can be useful for organizing the pantry. They’re cheap so this change won’t cost much and they come in lots of different shapes and sizes. Find some that would fit on your pantry shelves and take up a portion at the front so they look like the ones featured on thekimsixfix. This way it will be easier to see the contents and to reach inside.

SimpleHouseware Stackable Can Rack Organizer

It’s not always necessary to create fully customized storage systems from scratch, as many of the ideas presented above have shown you. There’s plenty of useful organizers and accessories available for purchase which could make your life a lot easier. For example, this can organizer from Simple Houseware is super practical and convenient. You can keep it on a shelf inside the pantry, in one of your kitchen cabinets for easy access or even on top of the counter.

Large Food Organizer

Another great product is this large can organizer from Shelf Reliance. It’s quite roomy and can hold multiple cans and it can also fit perfectly inside the kitchen cabinet. You can also add something like this to the pantry. It makes it super easy to organize and to store all the canned good without taking up a ton of space. It’s adjustable which means you can use it store cans of various different sizes.

SimpleHouseware 2 Tier Sliding Cabinet

This Simple Houseware basket organizer is not specifically designed to hold cans but it can definitely be perfect for that. It’s compact and simple and it has a versatile design that helps it look quite nice in case you decide to keep it on the counter or in plain sight. It has two slide-out baskets that can hold a variety of different items such as cans and jars, fruits, veggies, condiments and other kitchen-related things.

Atlantic Gravity-Fed Compact Double Canrack

The Atlantic rack is designed to hold canned goods in a nice and organized manner which allows you to see them all at a glance. It’s made of metal and has a sturdy constructions but it doesn’t take up a lot of space. You can keep in inside a cabinet or on top of a shelf and you can have more than one in case you need more storage. There’s both a single and double version of this product that you can check out.

Vtopmart 4 Pack Soda Can Organizer for Refrigerator

Something you might not have considered before is to use an organizer such as this one to save some space inside the fridge. This is great if you’re commonly keeping soda cans in the fridge since these can be quite annoying to store and to organize in a small space. They’re nice and clear and they don’t stand out or take up much space by themselves and they’re also very useful for pantries and cabinets. Check out these organizers on Amazon.

FIFO Can Tracker

The FIFO can rack is also a really nice product. It allows you to organize the mess inside the kitchen pantry and it’s also small enough to fit in most cabinets and cupboards. The dimensions are 2″ H x 16″ W x 16″ D which give you plenty of freedom to add something like this to an existing space and even to have several of them side by side.