Saturday, June 2, 2012

Where Do I Put My Food Storage? 6 Gallon Bucket Shelf




Why store food storage in 6 gallon buckets?
  •  More economical.  For example right now (June 2012) you can buy a 6 gallon bucket of Instant Milk for  $85.29 which holds 437 servings or 28 pounds.  Buying the same amount of milk in #10 cans is  $156.72.  So by purchasing Instant Milk in a 6 gallon bucket your save  $71.43. 
  •  Stackable
  • Reseal-able
  •  Air-tight
  • Pest-tight,
  • Water-tight
  • Double Protection
  • Better use of storage space.  When you store #10 cans there is lots of wasted space around the can, hence more food in less space.
  • Less garbage.  When I store flour in number 10 cans, I go through a LOT of number 10 cans. 

So where do you put all those buckets?
In the past I have been hesitant to purchase food storage products in buckets, because I didn’t have anywhere to put them.   I have a few buckets but it seemed like whatever product I needed to get to was always at the bottom of the stack of very heavy buckets.

Our Old Solution:
This is what we used to do.  Stack them up in the corner.  Elegant don’t you think? 


Our New Solution:  The Bucket Shelf




Shelf Dimensions: 72 inches by 30 inches by 12  inches
Holds:  8 Buckets
Where to purchase the Bucket Shelf 
Price $89.99 

Pros:
·         The bucket shelf effectively uses a small amount of space storing 8 buckets while giving you easy access to each.  This is a huge improvement over my old method of stacking them high and deep and hoping I never needed to get to the buckets at the back.
·         The bucket shelf is easy to put together.  Since there are no can tracks to fit in the shelf can be put together in about 20 minutes.
·         Cost:  At $89.00 is a great price for shelving.   
Cons:
·         The bucket shelf will not sit flush with the wall.  Because the buckets sit in the shelf at an angle the shelf must be a couple of inches away from the wall.  The bucket shelf comes with two brackets that are used to secure the shelf to the wall, so it doesn’t accidently tip over.  But the brackets are pretty big making the shelf farther away from the wall then is necessary.  In my house space is at a premium so I’m not very happy about those 4 extra inches. 
·         The box it comes in says “box 1 of 2” which is totally confusing because it is only one box.  Note:  the box is heavy. 

Our Experience: 
My nice husband helped me set it up.  And since apparently we are bad at measuring space it would not fit in the space under the stairs were we thought we were going to put it. Instead it ended up in my office.  (Yes I truly am a food storage nut if I’m storing food in my office).   Because there is carpet where we set it up we put some boards under it.  This is important if you set up any harvest shelf on carpet it can punch through your carpet.  This would definitely not make you happy. 

Everything went well; the shelf was easy to set up, after we found our mallet.  The only tricky thing was that the Bucket Shelf is designed to NOT sit flush against the wall, but out about 8 inches.  It comes with a bracket so that you can attach the shelf to the wall so it won’t tip over. 

But we did not have the space for that.  We found that the shelf really needed to be about 2 inches away from the back wall.  So my handy husband is going to figure out some alternative to attach it to the wall so it won’t fall over in an earthquake.
This is how my shelf is set up. You can see that it is about 2 inches off the wall where as the bracket from Shel Reliance is about 8 inches long.  That was too far off the wall for me.

Over all I’m very pleased with the shelf. It makes accessing the items I have in my buckets much easier. I think I’ll even buy a few more items in bucket now.

I added two things to my shelf. 

A Rivet Hook and  Scoop


One of the things I added on to my shelf was a rivet hook, which I love.  It is inexpensive (about $3.00) from which I hang a scoop so that it is easy to refill any of the small containers I have in my kitchen for daily use.  


Tips
·         I recommend that will all Shelf Reliance FRS Shelves you use a rubber mallet to pound the shelves into place.  If you don’t you end up having pieces wiggle free. 
·         I recommend purchasing a hook and a scoop and hanging the scoop from the shelf.  I love these hooks and have them on most of my shelves.  Having a scoop right there and ready to use really help to fill the smaller containers that use in my kitchen.


Over All:  I really like the bucket shelf.  It makes my buckets very accessible.  I would purchase this product again (in fact I might buy one for my Mom). 



Disclosure: 
 This review is not sponsored by Shelf Reliance.  I purchased all items described for my personal use.   I am a consultant for Shelf Reliance and when you purchase through the links on this site I receive a small commission, which supports this blog.   


What about you? 
Where do you store your buckets?  Do you keep them accessible or do stack them up for long term storage?

2 comments:

  1. To attach it to the wall Use Dog leashes! Cut them to the size you want and attach them to the cabinet then screw them to the wall (be sure to screw them to the stud!)! It works perfect! You could use the ones made from weaved fabric ones but I suggest Leather! You can pick up used leashes free on free cycle. I was totally amazed that that little piece of leather & the fabric ones to can really keep even the heaviest of objects stable and attached to the wall to prevent tipping! P.S. Anything from dressers to bookcases should be attached this way to prevent tipping. I wish more parents knew that his is so easy and would keep their children safer.

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  2. Loverslanelodge,
    What a great tip! I'm going to have to try it. Thanks so much for sharing.

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