Have you ever opened up an interior wall? Do you know what that space in there is called? "Shelf space"

You have lots of space for groceries inside your inner walls. Most wall studs are made of 2x4s. If you removed the wall surface and replaced it with panelling (probably on a frame or solid sheet -- I'm not a carpenter), with hinges on the inside of one edge and an invisible spring-activated latch on the other. Just push it with your palm and a panel opens, showing you the studs, which you've carefully spaced to make more shelves.

Standard 2x4s are 3.5" wide. Regular vegetable cans are almost 3" in diameter. You could stack cans from floor to ceiling and it would be easily accessible for rotating. An area covered by one sheet of panel-covered plywood would provide about 24 linear feet of storage space if your 'shelves' were 14" apart. If you stacked the cans, you'd have room for maybe three times that, or approximately 285 cans of food. That's not a bad start, is it?

What if you had two panels?

Sue

That would be great! Now just have to convince DW to consider that!

Great idea, Susan,

I'd like to add a couple of thoughts to that, having learned a few lessons on doing this from my friend's father.

If you're going to do this, only use interior non-insulated walls. You don't want to lessen the house's efficiency, and you don't want your goods exposed to constant fluctuation of outside temperature, especially in extreme parts of the seasons.

As Susan mentioned, stack cans by date vertically instead of horizontally, keeping similarly dated items in a column rather than a row. This will keep you from having to constantly go to the bottom of a stack for items that will expire sooner.

Try to keep the same items in the same column as much as possible. That way, should you want a can of corn for instance, you don't have to unstack a column of pinto beans to get to it, only to have to restack the beans when you've gotten what you wanted. This will also help when it comes time to resupply because visually it's easy to keep track of.

You can easily make shelves between the wall studs to save some of the hassle that will come no matter how hard you tried to stick to the two ideas above. Most studs are 16" apart from center.

Be careful while stacking and removing cans. While it may not matter that one side of the wall has a hole in it that you're utilizing, a hole in the other side of the wall might be an eyesore in the living room.

As badly as most houses are regarding transferring noises from one room to the next, you're making it worse by removing the materials between rooms. In other words, don't stack food in the walls behind your bed if you and your SO tend to make a lot of noise in the sack.

If this is to be a hidden cache, hide the items well, but don't make them so hard to get to that you don't rotate your stock consistently. Behind the hutch behind paneling screwed into the wall studs is a great hiding place, but it's a pain in the backside to get to.

Remember where your caches are. I learned that my friend's father learned about storing items in the walls from his father after my bud's grandfather died. While helping to fix up the house for sale, we found a 20 year old canned ham and several cans of SPAM behind a piece of sheet-rock in the master bedroom's closet. We were toying with the idea of letting some future resident find the potted meats, but decided not for reasons of health.

Introduce her to the idea by asking if she'd like a dedicated pantry for canned foods.

You can also fix the in the wall can storage so new goes on top, old comes from the bottom. A can holder can be built that will allow you to see the cans for inventory, and easily remove the bottom can from the stack.

If you decide on this form of storage be careful on the way the doors latch. In an earthquake those columns of cans will be falling over. Even if the doors hold, be careful when you open it after a good shake. I'd look into building shelving between the 2x4 studs. Put a lip on the lower edge of each shelf to keep the cans in place.

Also consider the following.....I use to live in NYC. Up there the studs were 2x4's. Down here in FL, they do a lot of building with steel studs. I know they have benefits but I still have great difficulty 'nailing' into them. It's a PITA to try to 'anchor' into them when going through the dryway...before you go opening up your drywall, make sure you have wood studs... I know I wouldn't want the hassle of dealing with steel studs.

You are always thinking, aren't you??? Interesting idea, won't work in an RV tho...

"...won't work in an RV tho... "

Haven't you ever seen that old Lucille Ball movie The Long, Long Trailer?

Sue

Yup, altho I have never been a real fan of Lucy, my mom used to watch her...

To fasten things to metal studs you need to use screws and you need an electric/battery powered screwgun/drill with a good screw bit in it . Any thing is doable if you have the right tools

Well, I will have this conversation with the wife, but I have a feeling I know how it is going to go

Steel studs aren't a major obstacle. If you only modify one stud bat and stay a bay or two away from the ends of the wall I wouldn't worry much. Just screw in any shelves and rig a piece of plywood, skim coated with drywall mud and painted so it blends, to make a door.

If there is any structural issue or the wall feels shaky it is simple enough to either buy similar steel studs and to make a square section or insert wood ripped down to make a filler.

Lots of room in those empty stud bays. Even more if you fur them out to make a 6" bay. You can also make other improvements. Furred out a bit you can insert isocyanurate sheets as thermal insulation. cover the inside of the bay with ice shield sheeting and it can increase the acoustic insulation. No need to hear your mother in-law having a blow-out.

Other areas that can be converted to storage are soffets in the kitchens and bathrooms. Gasket any doors to keep moisture and fumes out. Doors are sold at many home centers. Perhaps add a little insulation. Use some discretion. Some soffets are sturdily built while others are capable of little more than carrying their own weight. There is also an issue of making sure there is a barrier between the soffet storage and the attic.

Another spot is hallways and closets. Both are typically the same height as the rooms. In many modern houses this is several feet taller than what is normally used.

A 10' hight living room leads to a 10' hallway. There is no reason the hall needs to be 10' high. Build a frame and drywall or plaster to match and you could have a storage area overhead the length of the hall.

Access can be by way of overhead hatches or by way of doors cut through the walls of adjoining rooms. This later method is usually best for using the unused space at the top of closets. Either way you need a step-stool to get to your stuff but there is a lot of room.

Another option along similar lines is to install cabinets along the junction of the wall to the ceiling. This space is usually unused. Well done it looks good. Lots of space for supplies or goods. Particularly the light and bulky stuff like sleeping bags, winter clothing, paper towels and, the one thing your going to need long-term, toilet paper.

Can't believe it!
I threw this out to the DW and she actually liked it!
As long as we're not storing the pork-n-beans in the bedroom, I think there will be "in the wall" storage in the future.
Thanks for the idea.

Sneaky! Sneaky! But I like it! You've got many Good Sound Points there!

(Also reminds me of my Kid Days watching Batman, -how when they turned a Bust or Statuary Head, -a Wall would turn around in the Wayne Mansion, -to enable their entry into the Batcave!).