Yes, you can find room for a year's supply

Some have an extra room for food and emergency storage. This isn't our case. But that's no excuse. If you need extra storage space, create it.

I wanted to increase the storage space above the hanger bar in our hall closet. I used the same shelf supports to lay a similar-size board in front of the original shelf. Now I have a 24-by-72-inch surface that holds a case of paper towels, a case of toilet paper, a large case of diapers and paper napkins. I also put a sheet of peg board on the inside of the closet door to hold cleaning supplies, feather dusters, vacuum attachments, "mom's" screwdriver set, and a deep, narrow basket to hold winter gloves.

I used this same concept in the kitchen. I laid additional boards in front of my existing pantry shelves. This immediately doubled my shelf space. I didn't want to waste airspace above low items, so I added four more boards (five inches below my pre-existing shelves) for platters, cookie sheets, etc. I also hung top-to-bottom, wire shelves on the inside of the pantry doors. I added a sixth shelf above the five original pantry shelves. This simple pantry revision increased my linear shelving from 25 to 75 feet!

"Where am I going to put a year's supply of toilet paper?" I repositioned the top shelf in our linen closet, lowering it three inches. This allowed me to stack three four-packs of paper with no wasted airspace. The linen closet door is 18 inches wide. The top shelf sits 14 inches below the door jam. Visualize this 18-by-13 inch opening. Compare it to a case of toilet paper. Before storing, stand on each 4-pack. Flattening the cores makes more fit. I also put shelves on the back of this door to store extra toiletries, etc.

You can make a false-floor bottom in any closet. To do this, empty it and fill it back up with same height food or water storage containers. Lay shelving on top of them. Why waste the airspace between the top of your shoes and the bottom of your shirts?

In this same bedroom closet, I added a second board above the original shelf. This doubled my shelf space. Under the hanger bar I built in three, 24-inch shelves.

To create more space, I adapted the college dorm idea of putting the bed up on cinder blocks but instead of blocks, I set our guest bed on top of six, white 25-pound buckets of wheat. Be sure to put no-skid shelf liner on top of the buckets to keep your bed stationary.

Using those white buckets, stack one on top of the other to make night stands, end tables, and a small TV or plant stand. Cover them with a wooden round and a tablecloth and no one will ever know that you are camouflaging food storage. Likewise, you can add more end tables or entryway stands, by covering stacks of regular cases.