For many homes, kitchens can feel the least “custom” of rooms. As a primary working space in the home, many homeowners may design their kitchens around appearance rather than the realities of daily routines and traffic patterns.
However, it doesn’t have to be. You can turn your lackluster kitchen space into an optimally organized cooking and prep zone with just a few cleverly implemented storage solutions. Read on to explore 10 clever ideas for Smart Kitchen Storage to give your home that custom-built feel and keep your culinary endeavors running seamlessly.
1. Add Deep Drawers Instead of Lower Cabinet Doors
Lower cabinets can also pose a problem when they are filled with items that are hard to reach at the back of the cabinet. Deep drawers are a better option for a kitchen. A deep drawer is fully extended when it is pulled out, so you can see everything in the drawer and easily retrieve the items you need. Items such as pots and pans, large mixing bowls, storage containers, and appliances such as a stand-up mixer or blender are ideal for deep drawers. Dividers or inserts can also be added to deep drawers to keep items organized and to keep lids from getting in the way as items are pushed to the back of the drawer.
Deep drawers are also the perfect place to store your largest and most irregularly shaped kitchen items like pots, pans, mixing bowls, and large containers. By sliding out completely, these drawers allow you to easily see and access the back of the storage space. With the use of dividers and drawers, items with lids and wide mouths, such as large pots, can be stored stacked on top of one another.
Additional items such as dividers or drawer storage inserts can help maximize the storage capacity of a deep drawer. In addition to keeping utensils and kitchen gadgets organized within the drawer, these types of items can also help to keep items with lids as well as items such as large mixing bowls or stock pots organized within the drawer.
2. Use Custom Cabinetry for Awkward or Underused Spaces
Some kitchens have so many nooks and crannies, left by previous cabinet installers and by the very design of the kitchen itself. These little nooks can be great storage spaces if done right, or dusty, forgotten corners of your kitchen if left as is. A kitchen remodel is the perfect time to give these areas the custom cabinetry that they so desperately deserve. Your new storage can pull out and double as a pantry or hide your trash and recycling. We can even work around built-ins such as banquette seating, built-in columns, built-in refrigerators, built-in ovens, and more. The possibilities are endless when working with the nooks and crannies of a home.
When space in your kitchen is irregularly shaped or you have highly specialized storage needs, custom cabinet builders or experienced cabinet makers can make the most of the space. You can have pull-out spice racks, a built-in pantry, storage for trash and recycling, and many other creative storage solutions. They can also work around such things as built-in carvings, wainscoting, fireplaces, and built-in appliances. The storage should look as though it was built into the kitchen as part of the original construction.
Do not confuse adding more cabinets to your kitchen with creating functional storage within the space. You must also realize that there are cabinet builders who specialize in creating custom cabinetry within the unique confines of a particular kitchen and that your kitchen storage should ideally be created to work perfectly with the particular types of storage needs you have within your home.
3. Create Kitchen Zones
A kitchen that is organized well is one where things are set up to support tasks that are going to be done in the kitchen so that objects can be put in storage near the place where they are to be used.
Knives, cutting boards, mixing bowls, and even measuring cups can be stored in the prep zone. Cooks will appreciate having their best pots and pans along with oils, spices, and utensils in the cooking zone next to the stove. The coffee or beverage zone is perfect for holding mugs, coffee filters, coffee pods, tea, and sweeteners.
This approach reduces unnecessary movement and makes the kitchen feel more intuitive.
4. Add Pull-Out Pantry Shelves
Pantry cabinets are notorious for being cramped and difficult to organize, and before long, they become a cluttered mess with all of the items having fallen to the back of the cabinet. A pull-out pantry shelf is a fantastic way to store items such as canned goods, baking supplies, packaged snacks, cooking oils, and dry goods.
Pull-out shelves can also be placed in corner cabinets to maximize storage space. The shelves for pull-out pantry storage are perfect for storing canned goods, baking supplies, snacks, oils, and many other dry ingredients. They can be installed as a single shelf or as multiple shelves in a full-height pantry cabinet or even installed into an existing lower cabinet for instant storage.
5. Use Vertical Dividers
For storing flat objects like baking sheets, cutting boards, large cooling racks, and serving trays, using vertical space to store them upright in a cabinet or on a shelf in an upright position is the best way to store them. They can be unstable when stacked on their sides, so storing them upright is the only way to store them in a pile.
Whether used in a small cabinet, above your oven, or in a deep drawer, these vertical dividers will sort your tall items in a very efficient manner.
6. Hide Trash and Recycling
On the other hand, adding a pull-out trash and recycling storage is a wonderful alternative to placing an unflattering bin in an inconvenient location. By placing it right next to your sink, in your most utilized area of your home where you do the majority of your cleaning up, this storage can remain hidden from view.
They are perfect to be installed next to the sink or near the prep area, as they will free up valuable floor space and keep the kitchen looking and feeling very tidy and clean.
7. Add an Appliance Garage
Toasters, coffee makers, blenders, and mixers are items that most would class as useful in the kitchen but which can very quickly take over the countertops. Appliance garages give your appliances a home, but one that is still easily accessible.
An appliance garage is another innovative storage solution for the kitchen. This feature will provide your countertop with a clean surface and your appliances with a designated home. This type of storage can come in the form of a simple cabinet with a lift-up door or a pull-out door or in the form of a deep cabinet that is installed into your countertop.
8. Extend Cabinets to the Ceiling
Take note that there are some kitchen cabinets that only extend up to the ceiling, leaving some spaces for dust accumulation and making the room look unfinished. Extending your kitchen cabinets to the ceiling can give you extra space to store your kitchenware and create a more towering and finished look in your kitchen. These higher-up storage spaces are perfect for storing those items that you don’t use often, like your special cookware for a particular cuisine, your holiday dishes, your special-occasion serving wares, and so on.
Taller storage is ideal for less frequently used products like infrequently used serving or special occasion dishes, cookware, etc.
9. Add Drawer Organizers
Drawer organizers can store spices, utensils, knives, items of wrapping material, containers, and even dishes.
Drawer organizers can store everything from spices to utensils to knives to plastic wrap to containers to dishes. And by using built-in or adjustable inserts, you can prevent your drawers from becoming a jumbled mess of random items. By organizing your kitchen drawers, you can make your life easier by having everything you need right at your fingertips.
10. Mix Open and Closed Storage Carefully
A kitchen that is too full of open shelving can be cluttered and feel chaotic. A mix of open and closed storage is more likely to have a light and airy feel to it. Use your open shelving for storage of products that you wish to display, such as dishes, glassware, books about food and cooking, and cooking utensils and gadgets. Store less attractive items, like packaging of dry and canned goods, disposable cooking utensils, etc. behind closed cabinet doors.
Make attractive items visible and store less attractive items in cabinets. For example, dishes, glassware, and cookbooks look nice on open shelves, but packaging, cleaning supplies, etc. should be stored behind cabinet doors.
Final Thoughts
The Smart Kitchen Storage is not just about stocking up cabinets. The goal of Smart Kitchen Storage is to create a kitchen that is customized to your personal habits, your home, and your daily routines. With the right combination of drawers, zones, pull-outs, organizers, and custom solutions, you can create a personal and practical kitchen that is tailored to your unique needs.
