When designing a kitchen, both style and functionality must be considered. Having a beautiful kitchen doesn’t mean much if it doesn’t work in the way that you need it to. Similarly, if your kitchen is functional, but you hate the way it looks, you’re not going to want to spend much time in that space. When we start designing a custom kitchen for a client, we of course ask questions to get a sense of their personal style, but it’s just as important to gather information about how the client actually uses their kitchen.
For someone that loves baking, for example, might benefit from including features such as a double oven, an appliance lift, and tray dividers. On the other hand, someone who lives life more on the go and keeps up with young kids might prioritize having a large island in their kitchen to have a central gathering place for their family. Regardless of how you use your kitchen, one must-have demand is essential to your kitchen’s functionality: storage.
No matter how many dishes, utensils, pots, and pans you own, there always must be a place to put them. One of the biggest complaints clients have regarding the functionality of their kitchen is that there is not enough storage space. Let’s be real, kitchens come with a lot of stuff. Those KitchenAids and air fryers are great until you have to figure out where to store them.
No matter what size space there is to work with, every kitchen requires storage. Even in the smallest spaces, there are ways to get creative in order to provide the necessary storage that fits your needs. We’ve put together a list that highlights some of our favorite kitchen storage solutions and why we love them:
1. Spice Rack Drawer
Consisting of just slanted rows of wood, the simplicity of the spice rack drawer makes it the perfect storage solution for spices. If your spices are sitting on the bottom of an upper cabinet or pantry shelf, then they are taking up valuable storage space that could be used for bigger items. With this drawer, your spices stay organized and within reach without sacrificing too much space.
2. Appliance Garage
If you’re someone that uses your fair share of small appliances, you need an appliance garage! Whether it be for a coffee maker, mixer, or rice cooker, this is the perfect way to store those small appliances without having to lift them in and out of the depths of a lower cabinet every time you want to use them. It’s simply a door face that opens like a garage door and can be made to fit any size. Your appliances can stay on the countertop where you may normally keep them, but now they can be easily hidden away. This is the perfect solution to keep your favorite kitchen tools handy while still keeping your kitchen looking clutter-free.
3. Utensil Rollout
There are a few different versions of this one, but either way, we love a good utensil rollout. Most often you will see these as a vertical rollout (usually placed near the stove) with one or multiple containers on the top shelf and space on the bottom for cooking oils, foil, spices, etc. This option takes up a small amount of horizontal space, making it a great solution for a smaller kitchen. When you have more space to work with and/or have an overflow of cooking utensils, a larger drawer with several containers might be a better option! No matter what style, these rollouts make it easy to sort your utensils as opposed to jamming them in a drawer or taking up more counter space.
4. Super Susan
Similar to a lazy susan, a super susan is essentially the same concept, however, the rotating shelves are attached to a fixed cabinet base as opposed to a center rod. Corner cabinets have always posed problems, but with the rotating shelves, you’re able to maximize storage space without reaching into a dark blind corner cabinet. With the super susan specifically, the lack of a center rod means a larger storage space with less of a chance of objects getting stuck. If your kitchen has corner cabinetry, a super susan is a must to get the most out of your storage space!
5. Cutlery Drawer
This cutlery drawer will likely remind you of the commonly used silverware trays; however, this one is built right into the drawer itself. Not only is this stylistically more appealing than a typical cutlery organizer, but it also ensures the entire drawer’s surface area is usable space. For even more storage, this two-tiered version uses a second rollout tray which doubles the space!
6. Rollout Trays
Probably the most versatile storage solution on this list is these rollout trays. We love that they can be used almost anywhere, whether it be in a pantry, kitchen island, or any other cabinet. Use it for your dry food items, cookware, and even small appliances. Since the trays extend for easy access, you can pack in whatever you need without worrying about things getting piled out of reach. Customize the dimensions to get exactly what you need without any space going to waste.
Have any of these options inspired you to start designing your dream kitchen? Get in touch with one of our designers today so we can start discussing how to maximize your kitchen storage!
