We have a good sized pantry with deep shelves, but the can food situation never was quite right.  We have ample shelving space - it was more keeping the cans organized AND visible, but not having to go rearrange cans every couple of days.  Who wants to do that?

On my last trip home from Costco, when I realized I had THREE cases of diced tomatoes already in the pantry, I had my moment.  The canned food situation had to change.  

At first, I thought of ways to create canned food systems on the shelf.  We had been gifted a wire rack for the shelf, but the problem was keeping only one kind of can in each row - if one person went rouge on you, it's was all over.

And then it hit me.  The canned food needed to be in a dispenser on the big blank wall at the end of my pantry.  

How did I not see that sooner.

Anyway, after a couple of days of thinking about it, I built this!

It's pretty simple - all 1x3 boards, just screwed together with acrylic glass on top.   The trick was cutting the bottom at an angle, so the cans stay inside the divider.  And the acrylic glass on the front so I can see exactly how many cans of diced tomatoes I have all the time.  I was lazy, so I designed the entire organizer to fit so I wouldn't have to cut the acrylic glass.

Features

• Low profile design takes up minimal space on the wall
• Automatically rotates older cans to the front
• Cans dispense easily, but won't fall out on their own
• Simple build using all off the shelf materials and basic tools
• Clear glass front keeps cans in plain sight so you know when you are running low
• Easy to hang with built in hanging supports on the back
• Can be easily modified to fit different height cans

No Acrylic Glass?  No Problem!

You can use 1x2s and 1x3s instead of the acrylic glass, if that's your preference.  It'll be cheaper and easier to build this way too.  Just screw the 1x2s and 1x3s to the front of the dividers.

Plans Sized Down from Photos

I do need to tell you that the canned food organizer that I built was a full 12 cans high - which is super awesome - but dropping the first can in 12 cans high is a little sketchy - will the can blow up?  Will it shatter out the front acrylic glass?  It hasn't yet on me, maybe it never will, but just to be safe, for these plans, I adjusted so its only 8 cans high.

If you need more can storage, my recommendation is simply to build two (or more) organizers, and stack them up.

Video Tutorial

We filmed the build process for this project, so please watch before you build for lots of tips and tricks.

Can Organizer Plans

The free plans for this can organizer follow.  We hope your project turns out amazing and can't wait to see photos.  Please send some our way when done via creating a brag post or tagging me on Instagram #anawhite