So for an April gift, Carl has finished the Cold Storage Room. For those who might be curious this room has concrete for ceiling (it is under our front porch), floor, back wall and one of the side walls. The temperature in this room is generally quite a bit cooler than the already cool basement so a great place to store foods. Carl insulated the other walls and then after putting up and finishing the wall board, he painted and put in the shelves. Here are a few pictures of the finished product.
No more tools and a nice clean floor
On this side there are shelves (on the near right) that will hold all my spices and more shelves for baking needs and other items.
The other side of the storage room. Notice the thermometer on the far shelf.
I spent much of yesterday putting contact paper on the shelves. I had debated bringing the large roll of contact paper I had used to cover our old ugly shelves in New York (before we redid our kitchen) but decided to put it in. Glad I did as it covered almost all the shelves. They look so nice I would hate for the cans to scratch them too soon. Today I spent most of the day moving our food storage back in. It is nice to see it all on the shelves again and to be able to know exactly what I do and do not have. There is still some organization I want to do. I had thought we would get drawers for the spices but they are just too expensive so I am using the boxes I got cans in for them for now and later will get some kind of containers to organize them in. It is nice to have them all where I can see them and know what I do and do not have. I also have some things upstairs that will now go downstairs instead of cluttering up our cupboards upstairs.
The one side of the storage room with empty shelves waiting for our filled water bottles (still need to fill them). This side has some canning jars, baking supplies, juices and drinks, oil, and jams.
Under the cabinets are assorted containers with bulk storage, grains, beans, corn, and more. The bag is sugar waiting for a container.
This is the other side which is very full. This is mostly canned things, but snacks and pasta are on the end and a bag of flour waiting for a container. Under these shelves is all the wheat we have still double stacked in 5 gallon buckets.
This is the inside of the door and the entrance to the cold storage room. The shelves on the door have jello, pudding and over-sized spice containers. Inside the door you can see the clipboard for recording what is used. I have already inventoried what we have but that is not yet printed out. The opening under the clip board provides access to the light switch.
Reality is this was not that long a project to complete but because it made me feel so disorganized it felt like longer than it was. I am so grateful for Carl’s patience and knowledge and abilities. His attention to detail has given us a wonderful room to store our extra food in and to feel more prepared.