Affordable food storage ideas for your larder or pantry

On moving day, when I first realised we had a pull-out larder, I was so excited about it, I sent a picture of it to a friend’s house reno group I have on WhatsApp! Little did I know, that I would actually come to hate it, as it always got stuck, the kids couldn’t open or close it by themselves it was so heavy, and it was difficult to see what food items we actually had in stock. Not to mention the shelves were made from metal racking so smaller items didn’t sit straight and things fell through to the shelves below.

So, when the opportunity came to have a more traditional style pantry cupboard, I immediately began to rip the broken pull-out larder out. This gave me so much more choice for storage as I wasn’t limited to the height and size of the smaller, pull-out larder, and its easily accessible and works so much better for the whole family.

To keep costs down, most of the storage jars are ones we already had but repurposed. For instance, the containers we are now using for flour, I bought for cereal years ago (but they were too small really.) I reorganised my kids’ craft stuff and reclaimed some Kilner jars that had been storing pompoms and stickers.

I bought the big Kilner jars for pasta from someone on Facebook Marketplace and the Kilner Spaghetti Jar from eBay. You can get similar airtight containers from stores like Ikea and Wilko at cheap prices too. The spice jars are from Sainsbury’s and the label is in just the right position for the shelves, so despite now shopping at cheaper supermarkets (cost of living crisis y’all) I will refill the Sainsbury’s jars I already have.

The cereal containers were from Amazon and my biggest outlay, but they by far have had the most impact to how we live! As you can see our kids like a range of cereal each morning, and often have up to three types mixed in together. We encourage independence, so on the most part they do it themselves, and these containers make that so much easier and reduce the mess! When cereal is kept in it’s original box, I find it would escape down the side of the bag, into the bottom of the box, and then would go stale. With these containers, no extra cereal escapes and being in an airtight container, they stay fresher for longer.

If you’d like to source similar items for your own food storage, check out your local selling sites, eBay, or check out the links below: