Kitchen storage is a challenge for every household. Unless you’re a successful minimalist, chances are that your kitchen storage is essential. You need somewhere for every pan, every pot lid, and every jar of sometimes-used spices. You need pantry space, dishware, and somewhere to keep your knives. You’d probably also like to skip the 5-minutes of rummaging and unstacking to prepare for every meal.
Whether you’re dealing with a cluttered kitchen or are planning to make your new kitchen perfect before the clutter moves in – kitchen storage solutions are the key to your happiness. How do you optimize storage in your kitchen? Here are ten of our favorite effective solutions.
1. Hooks, Mounts, and Pegboards
Hang your kitchen supplies. The more you hang, the less stacking & unstacking are in your future. Pans, utensils, and pot holders can all be at-hand when and where you need them. Hang hooks by the stove for hot pads. Hang hooks on the wall for utensils. Hang hooks on the ceiling for pots and pans.
You can also diversify the way you mount things. A wall mount can provide, for example, a magnetic bar for your kitchen knives. For a blank stretch of kitchen wall, a pegboard can give you a place not just for hooks, but an ever-changing design of hooks until you find the best hanging arrangement for your kitchen workflow.
2. Build Drawers in Cabinets
Tired of reaching and rummaging in deep cabinets? So are we. One great solution is to update your cabinetry with drawers and vertical roll-out shelves instead of open cabinet shelves. Give your lower cabinets three to five typical drawers per cabinet segment to drastically increase the efficiency of your kitchen storage space – and level of organization.
Give upper cabinets roll-out and even fold-down organizer solutions to make each higher shelf more accessible than it was before.
3. Build Organizers in Drawers
For your drawers – old and new – build organizers. Give yourself compartments and pull-out sectors to make your drawer-stored items easier to find. The right kind of drawer organizer improves the look, availability, and cleanliness of the utensils stored inside. Purchase a collection of fitting drawer organizers to mix-and-match or pre-design your entire kitchen including beautiful built-in wood organizers
If you have older drawers, don’t forget to oil or replace the tracks. A stiff or squeaky track can actually discourage you from using a drawer which decreases your kitchen’s total function.
4. Design an Ultimate Sink Station
One of the biggest clutter-points in any kitchen is the sink. Sponges, scrubs, soaps, and dishes all pile up here when they don’t have to. Don’t have near-sink storage? Make some. Use a riser or a sink-mounted basket to provide a tidy drain point for sponges and scrubs. Install a small floating shelf above the sink for soap. Include a hook or catch arms to hold your dish brush.
Look at your sink and consider what lightweight storage you can build around it to make your life easier. There are some great sink storage gadgets to explore that might be just the solution for your kitchen’s near-sink space.
5. Turn Stove & Sink Into Countertops
If you often feel like there isn’t enough counter space, get benchtop covers for your cooking range (stove) and sink. You can easily turn both your sink and your stove into sections of countertop when either appliance is not in use. For example, covering your stove make it less likely for children to start or touch a burner and provides you with extra space for a cutting board – or just to unload groceries onto the countertop.
Many people enjoy a large fitted cutting board over the sink. In fact, for larger sinks, a half-sink cutting board is the perfect way to chop and scoop stems into the garbage disposal drain at the same time. Get back your kitchen space with two handle slabs.
One beautiful solution is to keep two squares of padded remnant slab that perfectly match your countertop. When you install new counters, ask your stone fabricator to use any remnant on your sink and stove countertop covers.
6. Add an Island Cart
Not all kitchens can support an island – it takes a lot of central floor space. But if you need portable shelves and cabainetry, you can have that. All you need is a rolling or even stationary island in the kitchen. An island cart provides an extra surface and extra storage underneath in a small kitchen. Being able to roll away means you can lock your island in the center of the kitchen, roll it to the side, or even send the “island” to another room as a serving cart for guests and special occasions.
7. Rolling Cupboard Corners
What do you do with the corner cabinet? The one with all the extra space that you’d have to literally crawl inside to use? The ultimate answer is a rolling design. Think an enormous lazy susan with one corner cut out to look like cabinet doors. Push on one side and the entire cabinet spins like the fireplace in Young Frankenstein. With two or three layers of shelves, this is a great way to access things like large cooking pots both in deep storage and in easy reach at the same time.
8. Little Floating Shelves
One way to optimize kitchen storage in a tight space is little floating shelves. You can add floating shelves anywhere, even to your backsplash. Floating shelves also phase in and out of style for your primary upper storage space.
The great thing about a floating cabinet is that it doesn’t take up much room for a lot of convenience. Use a floating shelf for spices near your stove or for sponges near your sink. Install floating shelves in unusual places and at unusual heights, then stock with your most attractive pantry goods. Matching dishware, canisters of ingredients, and pretty bottles of sauce all look great on floating shelves. Mismatched pans do not.
9. Use Every Side of the Cabinet
Need a lot more storage than you have? Use every side of the cabinet. On the cabinet side panel, place a hook or small rack of hooks. On the front, hang an over-door handtowel rack. on the back of the door, mount hanging pot lids. Your cabinetry can provide more storage than just inside the case and on the shelves. If you’re not afraid of hooks and mounts, you can get a lot more storage out of typical kitchen cabinets than most people would think possible.
10. Use Your Near-Ceiling Space
Finally, make use of the space near your ceiling. This is a great cottage/tiny house trick learned by people in cozily small spaces. There is some incredible cubic feet of space over your head and on the upper third of every wall that often goes unutilized.
The wall above your door? Place semi-decorative shelves and cabinets. The space above your cabinets? Use baskets, crates, or totes (and keep the space clean). above your island or stove, hang pans and utensils.
Optimizing your kitchen storage is easier than you think. Whether you are about to tackle a major kitchen remodel or just want a few clever solutions to try today, anyone can minimize and organize. For beautiful countertops to match your newly organized cabinetry, explore our gallery to find the perfect stone.