When it came time to build a new Canning Jar Cabinet for our home at the farm, we decided to create something that really celebrated and embraced the beauty and work that goes into the age old art of canning.
As in something that just wouldn’t store our jars filled with our garden’s harvest, but would showcase the beauty and effort that goes into growing your own food – and preserving it too!
And that is exactly why we created this canning cabinet to be wide-open. After all, canning jars are beautiful, especially ones filled with home-grown garden produce.
So why not celebrate it and keep it out to see and enjoy? Especially when it really does show off all of the home grown food you created.
Re-Creating A Classic – The New DIY Canning Jar Cabinet
For those who have followed our blog since we started writing about our little farm adventures back in 2011, you may remember that one of our first projects was a canning pantry made from pallets.
Back then, the pantry was born out of pure necessity. We had our first big bountiful harvest, and we were canning and preserving like nobody’s business!
In fact, so much so that we quickly realized we were going to need a simple, economical solution for storing all of the canning jars. And so our original canning pantry was born.
At the time, we had a lot of pallets and pallet wood on hand. Using a framework made from a shipping crate, we created the cabinet with an eye on sturdiness.
For years, it served our family well. With four teens in the house, we filled it each summer and fall. And through fall, winter, and early spring, it slowly emptied with meal after meal. (See: Building A Canning Pantry From Pallets)
But when we built our new house at the farm in 2016, the old cabinet simply didn’t fit. So in it’s place, we created built-in shelves in our pantry for our canning jars.
Creating A New Twist To An Old Favorite – Our New DIY Canning Jar Cabinet
The shelving system worked well enough for sure. But honestly, we hated not seeing the effort and beauty of our harvest all year long. And so, we decided to create a new cabinet that would fit in our current space.
But this time, instead of closing it in with sides and a back, we decided to make it an open-showcase for our canning efforts. And I have to say, it has quickly become our favorite piece of “furniture” in the house!
It has the same sturdiness of our original canning pantry cabinet, but with so much more display space. In addition, the open sides make getting to the jars so much easier.
Even better, even if you don’t have enough canned goods to fill it, it is a great place to store other canned or dry goods as well. And who can’t use more pantry space?
The DIY 2×4 Canning Jar Cabinet
The cabinet measures 60″ tall, 24″ deep, and 30″ wide. And with (4) shelves and a sturdy top, it can hold a lot of canned goods. In fact, each shelf holds up to (48) pint jars, (35) quart jars or (55) 1/2 pint jars.
And with open sides and a 10° angled top shelf, it’s built to showcase them in style! The top shelf can of course be left flat if desired, but it really does help to showcase a portion of the jars.
Creating the cabinet is actually quite simple, and certainly doesn’t require anything more than the most basic of tools of a saw and drill & driver. (See : Canning Jar Cabinet Plans)
The entire canning jar cabinet frame and shelving frames are created from 2×4’s. 2×4’s just make so much sense to build with. In fact, most of our DIY plans start with 2×4’s as the primary material.
Not only are they economical and plentiful, but can easily be sanded or routed, and painted & stained into beautiful pieces. But most of all, 2×4’s are also incredibly strong. And it is that strength that matters most when it comes to holding canning jars!
One thing is for sure, we are glad to have a canning jar cabinet back in the house! For more information on safely storing your canned goods, see The 3 Biggest Mistakes To Avoid When Storing Canning Jars Over The Winter. Happy Gardening, Harvesting & Preserving! Jim and Mary
Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. The two are frequent speakers on all things gardening and love to travel in their spare time.
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