Having an organized kitchen tends to make cooking much more enjoyable. It enables you to concentrate on the recipe as well as the joy of creating a meal – instead of on finding out where your kids put your favorite cookie sheet after they emptied the dishwasher the night before. If you’re considering upgrading your kitchen, here are a few fun storage options that will help keep your cookbooks, spices and appliances where they belong.
Clever Storage Tips for an Organized Kitchen
1. Wall-mounted tablet holder. For those who don’t use traditional cookbooks but like to experiment with recipes you find online, chances are you’ll appreciate an undercabinet accessory. It not only allows your tablet to hang in view – and off your counter – additionally it charges your device at the same time.
Tip: An alternative is a book stand that you can simply put put on your countertop and easily move from prep area to cooking area.
2. Built-in cookbook shelf. Even if you’ve moved mostly to online recipes, you may still have old standbys in paper form. And yes, you can put these cookbooks in a pretty shelving unit in your kitchen island or above your desk area, if you happen to have one. But why not position them front and center? Keeping cookbooks within sight could even inspire you to try that exotic recipe in the beautiful cookbook you purchased but never touched. A great location for your collection is one that you frequently face, for instance over your ovens, as shown in this pretty kitchen design.
Tip: To minimize the necessity to dust cookbooks on display, store them behind a glass cabinet door.
3. Labeled shelves for appliances. We love the idea of labeling pullout shelves. Perhaps you’re wondering why you’d bother, since you can clearly see what’s sitting on each shelf. However the purpose of labeling isn’t to identify what’s present. The goal is to indicate for your kitchen helpers where everything goes – avoiding the problem of many hands in the kitchen constantly inventing new storage spots.
Tip: You can achieve this look when you purchase chalkboard labels, which come in a number of shapes and sizes. Ensure that the label is removable so that you will don’t damage your cabinets. Fair warning: Once you get started, you may get label-happy and begin labeling every one of your containers in your cabinets too.
4. Cutlery divider drawers. We enjoy organizing utensils in custom, built-in cutlery divider drawers, which are typically used for storing silverware, but are also helpful for storing cooking utensils. Keep in mind that you may want these spaces to be bigger than what you would have for your daily-use forks, knives and spoons. We love the double-tier divider.
Tip: If you are looking for ways to arrange your existing kitchen, you can buy store-bought dividers for your silverware. Be sure to measure the interior of your drawers before you go to the store. Also, look for adjustable trays which will fit snugly inside your drawer. If the spaces in ready-made silverware dividers are too small to fit your large cooking utensils, you might instead lay a cushioned grip liner at the bottom of a shallow drawer. The liner prevents your cooking utensils from sliding on top of one another so that everything stays visible.
5. Pullout knife drawer. For those who don’t have an entire cabinet to dedicate to your knife storage, a drawer. Knife storage can also be incorporated into the utensil drawer we described above.
Tip: A lock also would certainly be a practical solution on the knife cabinet, where the knives are at kid-height. Even when you don’t live with children at home, it’s a good safety precaution to consider for visiting ones.
6. Pullout knife cabinet. This cabinet eliminates the requirement for a chopping block on your counter-top, holding knives in an easy-access pullout beside the oven.
Tip: Knife blocks are generally crafted from hardwoods (maple, walnut) or bamboo. The one disadvantage of this kind of knife storage is that you often can’t clean inside the holes – but you can get around this problem by choosing blocks with open ends on the bottom. For those who aren’t designing a new kitchen, you could instead consider using a magnetic knife strip to hold knives on your back-splash wall.
7. Wall racks for pots and pans. When we think about kitchen storage, we tend to associate it with cabinetry. However, there are several ways to use your vertical space as storage as well. You could use the wall next to the cooking area to conveniently hang pots and pans. The racks aren’t only easy to access, but they also double as an appealing accent wall that lends personality to the space.
Tip: Use a pegboard to achieve the same effect, but with the flexibility to move the hooks to accommodate different sizes of pots and pans. Pegboards come in a variety of colors to add pizazz to your kitchen.
8. Deep pot drawer. Deep drawers can be a very practical place to store pots, pans along with their accompanying lids – and you’ll want to use the full height of the drawer. Nest your pots and pans with the lids on top of one another to get the most out of the width, depth and length of your deep drawer. To ensure that your lids don’t topple, turn them upside down with the handle facing the inside the pot. Nest smaller lids in larger ones.
This setup is a great option to another one that looks appealing but that actually has drawbacks from a space-saving perspective. These are the cabinet organizers that divide the pots and pans from their lids. This is definitely a great feature if you have the extra space in your kitchen, but sometimes extra organization comes at the cost of actual storage. To understand what we mean, imagine dedicating space for the lids in a deep drawer, say to the back or side of the drawer. Doing this would take away valuable drawer floor space – where you could instead be neatly laying out your pots and pans. Nesting the lids solves this problem.
Tip: You may notice that the handles of the pots and pans will be staggered, rather than lined up in the same direction. This tactic also maximizes space. However, if you have so few pots and pans that you’re concerned they will likely collide every time you open and close the drawer, include a cushioned grip liner, as we suggested for the cutlery drawers. No more sliding!
9. Cookie sheet dividers. we find that the best way to store cookie sheets is vertically, and the best spot to do this is either over the fridge or over the ovens – that is, when you have a cabinet available above them. Keep in mind that, as for the cutlery dividers, you are able to custom-design the width of these dividers to suit your needs. We suggest making each slot large enough to enable you to comfortably store a couple of trays or even a large platter. Leaving 4 to 6 inches between the dividers is perfect.
Tip: Keep in mind that the more dividers you have, the less space you actually have for storing cookie sheets and platters – since the dividers themselves take up room.
10. Pullout spice cabinets. These pullout spice cabinets allow you to view what’s on each side of the stove at a quick glance. The middle shelves are typically adjustable and may accommodate the height of cooking oil bottles. When selecting this approach, be sure to consider what you intend to store. Keep in mind that the width of the cabinet plays an integral role in what you can fit. Common, comfortable sizes for this type of cabinet are 12 and 15 inches wide.
Tip: When designing a new kitchen, the look of a pullout spice cabinet on both sides of your cook-top can be quite pretty. However, you may not really need that much space for spices and oils. If that’s the situation, you can actually use the second pullout cabinet for canned goods. Or you could install the same-size cabinet but make it a regular cabinet door with the knob or handle at the top – voilà, you’ve created the appearance of a pullout.
11. Sliding spice back-splash. The sliding back-splash idea may very well be helpful to store many items: spices, oils, knives, cooking utensils, glasses or canned goods among them.
Tip: If you like this concept, talk with your kitchen designer during the design stage since this needs to be planned in advance so that you don’t give up counter depth to achieve this extra storage.
When we remodeled our kitchen, one thing we opted for was every cabinet had pull out shelves installed. This way we were able to see everything inside the cabinet. Have any great ideas that you have incorporated into yout kitchen that you would like to share? Simply click here to let us know.
Need a Kitchen to Remodel?
Start Your Home Search Here