Kitchen Storage Hacks

If you’re like most of us, you can never have enough storage in your kitchen. Overflowing drawers and shelves is a common occurrence in all but the largest kitchens. As families grow, so does the need for storage.

Fortunately, there are a ton of options and enhancements available for your new kitchen. Before starting your kitchen remodel, you must complete the planning and design phase.

Kitchen remodels are an expensive endeavor and the stakes are high. You don’t want to spend a ton of money on a kitchen that you don’t love. I always suggest that people take their time during the planning phase and make sure their goals are clear.

A skilled kitchen designer and sales staff can help you explore the best options for your new kitchen, but this article will cover some storage essentials and unique storage options.

Pantry Cabinet

A pantry cabinet is a great solution for food items and offer a versatile storage space. Pantry's are available in a variety of heights and widths to fit the available space in your kitchen.

Being full height, pantry cabinets are typically placed at the end of a run of cabinets or next to a refrigerator. This placement avoids interrupting a span of countertop

Since pantry cabinets are normally 24” deep, roll out shelving is necessary for convenient access to all items.

Toe Kick Drawers

Most kitchen cabinets have a recessed toe kick for comfort. It allows a user to stand close to the cabinets in a natural position.

Custom cabinetry allows the solution of incorporating drawers into this wasted space. It can be a perfect spot for frying pans, baking sheets, linens, or other low profile items.

You would be surprised how much additional space the drawers can provide. On a 10’ long span of cabinetry, toe kick drawers can add over 5 cubic feet of storage.

Frameless Cabinets

The majority of cabinets in the US are what’s called a “face frame” cabinet. The perimeter of the cabinet opening is wrapped with a 1.5” frame.

While frames are a traditional construction method, they are not necessary and reduce the storage capacity in a kitchen.

Frameless cabinets maximize the storage in any kitchen and the full overlay doors offer a custom look.

Frameless cabinets are available through many local cabinetmakers and select national cabinet brands.

Sink Base Drawers

Sink base cabinets are often a pain point and often become a messy catch all for cleaning items. With careful planning and layout, your sink cabinet can become organized and tidy.

U shaped drawers can nest around the sink and associated plumbing. This provides additional levels of storage with easy access to the items within.

15” Deep Wall Cabinets

The majority of kitchens have 12” deep wall cabinetry. You can gain a lot of space by using a 15” uppers. This is a great solution for kitchens of any size .

Not only does this increased size allow 25% more storage for glassware or foods, the extra room allows storage of large mixing bowls and serving dishes.

Taller Wall Cabinets

30” high wall cabinets are commonly used and leave wasted space. This design configuration brings the top of the cabinet to an 84” elevation. Sometimes a soffit, made of drywall, is used to fill this void, other times the space between the ceiling and cabinets is left open.

Using 36” or 39” high wall cabinets will bring the cabinets closer to the ceiling and still allow the use of a decorative crown moulding in a home with 8 foot ceilings.

Custom Cabinetry

The sizes of “stock” or “semi custom” cabinets are available in 3” increments. This greatly limits design flexibility and available storage.

Custom cabinetry can be ordered in exact dimensions, to best fit your space. This can eliminate the need of filler strips and will squeeze in a little more storage.

Message Center Cabinet

A message center is a small cabinet installed on the side of a wall cabinet. They are a great place to keep spare keys, stationary, and notes.

These shallow cabinets may also be configured to meet other storage needs. Shelves can be added for storing spices or hooks can hold mixing spoons or utensils.

Door Mounted Storage

There are a variety of small shelving units that can be added to the interior side of a cabinet door. It will allow quick access to things that otherwise may get buried in a drawer or larger shelf. These shelves are limited in weight capacity so they are best suited to small lightweight items.

Dividers

Dividers on shelving or in drawers can help keep things tidy and in their place. They can keep unruly Tupperware in check and everything easy to find.

Drawer boxes featuring a peg board design on the bottom allow for dowels to be placed where needed.

Roll Out Shelves

Base cabinets fitted with pull out shelving provide convenient access to all items inside the cabinet.

This solves a common problem accessing items placed in the rear of the cabinet. With standard base cabinet shelving, you must remove everything in front of it to get the item out. Then you need to put everything back.

Roll out shelving can sometimes reduce overall storage space, but the increased convenience is typically well worth it.

Base Cabinet Drawers

A traditional base cabinet has a drawer above the door opening. As mentioned above, adding roll out shelving to a base cabinet offers increased storage access. Replacing a traditional base cabinet with a drawer base is another popular option to increase convenience. Drawers allow easy access to all items within.

Stacked Drawer Inserts

Two tiered drawer inserts are a clever way to keep your kitchen drawers organized. The stacked drawers allow for convenient storage of anything from utensils to K cups

Rev A Shelf K Cup Storage Drawer

The specific needs for storage can vary from one family to the next. A home that does lots of entertaining will have different needs than a busy kitchen feeding 3 teenage boys. Your kitchen storage needs to work for you.

When planning a kitchen remodel, storage and usability must be the priority for a functional design. I always seek to solve problems and remove obstacles, when remodeling a kitchen. Even in a small kitchen, there are many ways to maximize your storage and get organized

Kitchen storage needs often change over time. As family size increases or decreases, the kitchen must adapt. Flexibility creates a kitchen that will meet current and future needs. So before you begin your renovation, consider what storage problems you need to solve. Write them down and discuss your needs with your kitchen planner.

If you’re not completing a full kitchen remodel, there’s still hope to get organized. Rev A Shelf is a leader in products that enhance new and existing kitchens. They have some great options that you can easily incorporate into your home.