Article By: Nicole White Quinn
Today’s clever kitchen designers have storage solutions to fill every nook and cranny in all sorts of kitchens. These handy helpers can help you take advantage of every square inch.
When you’re grappling with backsplash material decisions, consider something that can help you snag some extra storage, too. This stunning kitchen has a secret that amps up the storage possibilities without taking away from its clean look.
The designers installed sliding doors in the marble backsplash behind the stove and put extra shelving behind them. The beauty of this technique is that you can achieve the best of both worlds — a beautiful backsplash and storage.
Tip: You’ll need to have enough space within your walls to make this work, which means you’ll need to have this discussion very early on with your contractor.
Corner drawers are a great alternative to the lazy Susan. Cut on a diagonal, they simply pull out like standard drawers to make use of an otherwise hard-to-reach corner space.
Tip: Have your drawers made in varying sizes to keep things organized. Pot lids and smaller items can go in the smaller drawers, and plastic containers and pots and pans in the larger drawers.
If you prefer a cabinet door in the corner of a base cabinet, and you don’t like lazy Susans, rotating and sliding shelves can help you access corners with ease.
Tip: Unlike corner drawers, these pullouts can be installed in both upper and lower cabinets.
Even the toe kick area, once wasted space, can be used for storage when you add a very shallow drawer for small items.
Tip: You’ll have to bend a lot to access a toe kick space, so consider storing items here that you’ll need to access just once or twice a year — such as serving dishes, chargers and holiday napkins.
Open shelving is often the most budget-friendly way to deal with the small space left at the ends of most upper and lower cabinets. If custom cabinets are in your budget, closing those shelves with a curved door is a great way to keep things neat and tidy without installing two separate doors to cover the corner.
Go beyond basic shelving for your base cabinetry. Today’s kitchen organization additions come in every kind imaginable to help you sort and store your belongings. Use a mix of slide-out shelving and drawers to access heavy items, and custom pullouts to house mixers, spices, cutting boards and baking sheets.
The end cabinets in a kitchen layout typically get fitted with a door facing for a polished look. Here the homeowner has found a clever space for keys, a pegboard and a dry erase board for notes and to-do lists, and installed slats for magazines and cookbooks.