Top 5 Ways to Maximize Storage In Your Kitchen

Kitchens are busy places; they deal with a lot of traffic. What’s more, the heart of the home also sees its fair share of stuff. Our kitchens tend to collect more than we usually anticipate — food, cutlery, cook books, cooking utensils, pots and pans, spices, decanters, and the odd ornate feature that helps bring some character into the room.

During a kitchen renovation, or a rebuild, it’s critical to consider where all this stuff is going to live when the dust settles, and how you’re going to creatively integrate storage solutions that maximize the efficiency of storage in your new kitchen space.

We’re counting down our top 5 favourite ways to maximize storage in the kitchen, with style and function in mind.

Cabinets and countertops can be easily cluttered with appliances and dishware, making the natural progression of kitchen storage solutions a simple case of installing more shelving. Often, kitchen designs neglect to include the sides of existing cabinetry — open wall space that goes under-utilized. Consider having some additional floating shelves installed to accommodate your countertop fruit supply, the coffee maker, salt and pepper shakers, or paper towel.

This expanded shelving solution idea not only gives you a clever and chic space to store your stuff, but also creates more countertop space for food preparation space or entertaining.

Think back to all the kitchen designs you looked at during the time leading up to your reno or rebuild. Think back to all the browsing you did, all the styles, finishes, and colour palettes you considered. Now try to take stock: 90% of those kitchens all featured some type of clutter on the countertop — flowers, a fruit bowl, oils, a vase of cooking tools, etc. Whether it’s useful or not, kitchen clutter is inevitable, and sometimes welcome — but how we choose to organize and store that stuff is key to keeping function a primary demand.

The best way to contain the countertop chaos is to… contain it. Start by finding a tray or board that complements your kitchen aesthetic enough that you won’t mind leaving it out. Consider a wood butcher block, or a chic metal tray. Not only does a countertop tray or board keep the countertop clutter stored and organized nicely, but there’s a double-edge to this idea: when the tray gets too overcrowded and stuff begins to spill overboard, that’s your signal to limit and reconsider what gets to stay on display.

There’s significant literature out there that creatively caters to storage solutions integrated into or on top of cabinetry, but not a lot of it that considers the space underneath the cabinets.

Converting the under-cabinet toe-kick space into functional sliding drawers in an increasingly popular and innovative kitchen storage solution that are perfect for storing away roasting pans, baking sheets, cookbooks, or a few kid-friendly art supplies or toys if your new kitchen space combines as a family hang-out space. The low location means that seldom used equipment and clutter is stored well out of the way, and if you go the children’s route, they can reach their stuff on their own.