Homesteaders and others in the preparedness community often dream about huge bunkers deep underground filled with a healthy stockpile of food, water and other essentials. It is all really nice in theory, but for many, living in an apartment or a small house eliminates the dream for that giant storage space.

But that doesn’t mean stockpiling food and water is completely out of the question. Even the folks who are not fortunate enough to have a lot of extra space or room in their humble abodes can still build up a nice stockpile. It may not look the same and it may not be quite as elaborate, but you can still build up at least 30 days’ worth of food and other necessities. The key is to get rid of clutter that is taking up valuable space you could be using for your stockpile. Have a yard sale and get ready to fill the space with valuable food and water.

Here are 10 ways to do it:

1. Look up. Every home has lots of space around the ceiling area that is empty space you could be using. Install shelving around the upper wall, 1 to 2 feet below ceiling height, depending on how high your ceilings are. These shelves can be filled with lots of food and essentials. It may not be wise to put heavy cans or bottles of water on the shelves above your head. You will want to store those items lower to the ground.

2. Get low. Hiding water and canned food under the couch and your other furniture is an option. Furniture that is hollow in the center, like end tables or coffee tables, can be filled with supplies.3. Use over-the-door hangers that are meant for shoes to stash first-aid supplies and dry goods. The hangers can be used in closets and on the back of bedroom doors.

4. Pull the couch out about 4 to 5 inches from the wall. Stack canned food in that area. There is actually a rack you can purchase specifically for this reason or you can make your own. Place a piece of wood over the top to hide the rack. Add a couple of candlesticks or pictures to disguise your stockpile. You can easily fit 50 or more cans of food back there.

5. Stash items in the back of the linen closet. This tends to be a space that is either left empty or the linens are pushed back, leaving the front of the shelf empty. You can use a thin sheet of wood to create a false back to hide your stash.

6. Use totes designed to store clothes under the bed to hold food and water. You can also buy can holders that would normally go in a pantry, and slide those under the bed. You put in new cans on one side and pull out cans from the other to keep up with rotation.

7. Explore the crawl space. Houses that have crawl spaces above the ceiling provide you with a nice place to stash first-aid supplies and things like toilet paper. It is not an ideal place for water or food, because it is likely to get very hot up there.

8. Create a false floor in your closets. Putting one to two layers of cans across the bottom of the closet floor and then covering with a blanket or a sheet of wood and dropping your shoes on top is one way to take advantage of the space. You could also use boxes or buckets filled with food to create the false floor.

9. Fill 5-gallon buckets with food and create makeshift furniture. You could make a couple of nice end tables in the living room or a nightstand in the bedroom. Place a round or square piece of wood on top of the bucket lid, drape with a nice cloth and treat it as you would a normal table.

10. Try a false floorboard. These are one of the oldest tricks in the book, but they work. Hardwood floors are great for using the space underneath to hide food. You will want to make sure anything you put under the floor is sealed up tight to prevent it from being infested with pests and chewed on by mice.

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