This $22 Amazon Find Instantly Doubled My Pantry Storage
My house has an amazing feature that I never imagined would be a part of my kitchen when I became a homeowner. We have a small, segregated area off the back of our kitchen that is known as a “butler’s pantry.” It’s filled with extra counter space, cabinets, and storage space. It’s meant to be a service and storage room or a space where your “staff” prepares food and drink. To be clear, I do not have a butler — but what I do have is a problem overbuying way more kitchen supplies than my family of three can ever use. In fact, the butler’s pantry and its gift of extra space has been more of a curse than a blessing, as it enables me to over-shop. I now have no limitations in the amount of gadgets, serving platters, cookbooks, and, most of all, non-perishable goods that I can and will buy. But I knew there had to be a fix for this habit.
For example: I’ll be at the grocery store shopping for a recipe that calls for one can of chickpeas, yet I’ll buy three cans in case I want to double said recipe or have them on hand for next time. Suddenly it looks like I’m running a chickpea factory out of my pantry. But why not? I have the space — until all the canned goods get haphazardly thrown together (despite the extra cabinet space) and I have no idea what we are (and aren’t) stocked up on, and end up with a never-ending surplus of canned black beans, artichokes, tomato sauce, salmon, and more.
Or I’ll get overzealous about all this extra space. Case in point? My husband asked me to add his favorite protein powder to our Amazon cart. I went for the biggest canister available, thinking I was doing us a big favor and saving us money by buying in bulk. Not to mention that we have the cabinet space for an oversized item. Or so I thought!
One of the cabinets in our pantry became so bogged down and overloaded that, drumroll please, I screamed when I realized it was diagonal and about to fall onto the counter. Miraculously, my husband was able to fix it and prop it back up — with a stern warning — and I knew I had to stop overbuying. I needed to take stock of our pantry and know with certainty if we needed something before I even thought about buying it. If that meant a second trip to the grocery store or a pause on late-night Amazon shopping in bed, even if I was too comfy to get out of bed? Then so be it. Impulse buys would have to wait until the morning when I could double check our pantry supply.
This is, until I made an Amazon purchase that changed everything. Enter: the YouCopia UpSpace Turntable Shelf. It’s been a total game-changer.
First of all, it’s adjustable so I’m able to have it at just the right height for my cabinet (and can move it if need be). And not only did it fit perfectly, but it’s also extremely lightweight. It can hold up to 25 pounds of items without adding to the weight in my cabinet. But best of all, it features a lazy Susan-style shelf that rotates items easily. Wait, didn’t I just buy 5 cans of green chilis? Don’t I have a zillion jars of that eggplant spread I love from Trader Joe’s? One quick spin and I can see what we do — and do not — have in stock. Plus, it makes grabbing for cans and items all the way at the back easier than ever. No more juggling and sorting to get one single can!
Best of all, it provides extra space so I actually can fit the extra-large protein powder canister without worrying about my entire shelf crashing down. With a clearance of 3.7 to 5.7 inches, I can fit plenty of pantry goods underneath the turntable, too. The non-slip feet hold it in place without moving an inch, and my pantry’s never looked better.
This affordable item — that snaps together in less than a minute with zero tools required — has been instrumental in keeping me organized and on budget this year. The last thing I wanted to spend money on was replacing all the cabinets and shelves in my pantry because I was overbuying thanks to being utterly disorganized.
Buy: YouCopia UpSpace Turntable Shelf, $22.08 (normally $24.99)
