Source: Gareth Hubbard via Unsplash
Looking for the best kitchen storage ideas? We’d all love a massive kitchen with a full walk-in pantry, but sadly we can’t all be Khloe Kardashian who has the ultimate pantry that we all envy. It is simply AMAZING! Unfortunately for most of us, we’re only blessed with an average kitchen size with minimal storage space to work with. But there are some nifty tips and tricks that you can do… So here are the kitchen storage ideas that professional organisers use to transform small kitchen spaces.
Let’s begin with the basics. Are you designing a kitchen from scratch? Or are you wanting to declutter your existing small kitchen and create a more beautiful and functional space?
If you’re building brand new or remodelling, I’m sure you’re already researching your options. But there are some important considerations worth reinforcing. Remember that the more streamlined your little kitchen, the bigger it will seem. Structurally, this means plenty of built-in and clever storage elements.
But perhaps you’re not able to renovate at the moment. So I’ve looked at in-built kitchen storage solutions but also DIY kitchen storage ideas using your existing systems.
Building or renovating? You’ll be making decisions around creating the most efficient system for your family’s cooking needs. This is made ten times harder if you’re restricted by a kitchen that is on the smaller side. Here’s some food for thought when it comes to storing food.
When you’re in a tiny home, every inch of space needs to be utilised. This means if you’re not using a bit of wall space, why not install some cabinetry or an IKEA bookcase and use it as an open pantry. By using uniform containers, it looks extremely organised and sure to impress your guests.
Don’t forget to keep a cute kitchen stool nearby so you can reach everything.
When you have a small kitchen, sometimes you don’t want cabinets from the floor to ceiling. This can make your kitchen seem even smaller. So an alternative to cabinets is open shelving. This also works well to display pretty or frequently used items or foodstuffs.
Don’t have a butler’s pantry or even the ‘standard’ corner pantry cupboard? The best alternative is to have pull out kitchen pantry storage. This can be within long vertical cupboards or even under-bench cupboards. You’ll never be moving your entire pantry around to find the self-raising flour hiding at the back.
But what about drawers? If you can, put your plates and cups on a lovely dresser to be out on show. Then you can use the below-bench drawers for heavy items or for storing taller ingredients in their upright position.
Storing your plates in deep, low drawers is a better ergonomic choice than placing them in higher cupboards. Use a peg system to hold the plates in their places.
Maybe you can use your corner cupboards to store platters you rarely use. Or hang up your pots and pans in the kitchen instead. Using up awkward spaces is ideal for some custom corner pantry storage.
Looking for some more inspiration? Check out all of our kitchen ideas for your dream home.
Remember when we spoke about dead space before? Well, the spot under the stairs is often one which can be better utilised as a great storage spot whether for foodstuffs or crockery.
Get help converting spaces and adding shelving from a carpenter who can take care of all the heavy lifting (and also make sure it doesn’t collapse).
A narrower benchtop plays a trick on the eyes and elongates a counter. The latest materials (like pressed-porcelain panels or high-tech ultracompact surfaces) can be as slim as 12mm.
Fill any alcoves that you happen to have in your kitchen with open or floating shelving.
Not only does it look pretty but it makes it super easy to find what you’re looking for.
If you’ve got the space and budget when renovating to add a butler’s pantry, it has to be top of the list for the keen home cook. Ideally, you’ve moved into a home which already has one! It could be a little nook, a large walk-in pantry complete with another dishwasher and sink or just some extra storage.
Colour isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when looking at kitchen storage ideas. But it’s something that can really influence the overall mood of your kitchen. Paint walls, or just add colourful soft furnishings and decorative items. Or you could try colour-coding the dry-goods themselves.
Have a tiny kitchen with floor to ceiling cabinetry? Painting it minimalist white will make it seem much less poky and appear to be larger.
Using lighter colours and textures from floor to ceiling will make your kitchen appear a lot larger. When looking at above kitchen bench storage get your cabinet colour to match the wall paint colour so that it blends in together.
A monochrome colour scheme seems to suit kitchens especially well. Probably because it always looks good as a backdrop against the ever-ch6nging, kaleidoscopic colours of your fruit and veg.
Add little colourful details in unexpected places just for fun. Why not? After all, if you’re going to pick a theme, carry it the whole way through!
Transform your pantry from mix-matched chaos into an organised colour co-ordinated dream.
Or if you want to take it up a notch, cater for every colour of the rainbow.
Today’s mood: #joyous.
Sort your dry goods so every cupboard has a different colour. It may not be all that practical if your flours are in different cupboards, but how pretty it will look when you open the doors every day!
Always begin with clean, empty cupboards and cabinets. This goes for whether they are brand new or kitchen cupboards that have been around for quite a while. Cleaning out your cupboards will allow you to identify items past their ‘best before’ date too.
Next, figure out a plan of where everything should ideally go based on what you need to easily reach, what you use often, what looks appealing, and so on. Once you have a designated spot for it, it is far more likely to find its way back there again.
Plan out how you can make the most of the insides of cupboards and cabinets with some of the wide range of useful shelf risers and maximisers.
Storage is THE big deal in a kitchen. Organise your dry-goods by food type or use or even by colour. Or, store them in clear airtight containers so you can see what you need to add to your shopping list.
Labels are a no-brainer for making life easier and contributing to a look of organised, uncluttered unity. Decide on a style that you love and a labelling system that works for you.
Sure you can go and buy matching storage plastic containers. Or you could do the environment a favour and repurpose old glass coffee jars for storage.
Why not paint the inside of your shelves in chalkboard paint so you can label your goods? This means that you can always move jars around or use them for different spices.
There are always nooks and crannies in kitchens that are little pockets of underutilised space, so think about using such space for spices.
Extra storage sounds great, but what if you’re renting? Well, this is where baskets become super useful to neaten a space and create pleasing continuity.
Some people like to label the pantry in a, particularly kid-friendly way to help kids with chores and make them speedy helpers. Tiny chalkboard labels are genius because when details about the contents change (such as a new expiry date), they can easily be updated.
Simple wooden crates make easy work of keeping items separate in your drawers. This is a great idea if you want to save fridge space and create a dry produce drawer for storing things like onions, garlic and tomatoes.
If you have a certain brand of items or patterns you can put these items out on display. Make the most of them by grouping them so they have a common element, such as the same colour, shape or material.
Nature provides the most perfectly imperfect uniform items to display. Appeal to your senses with implicit “zest” and “freshness” by displaying vases or baskets full of your favourite cooking fruits. Or better yet, set up your very own juice bar!
Displaying items harmoniously creates a serene, tidy small kitchen ambience.
How annoying is it when you can’t find the right lid for the pot or you can only stack a certain way, otherwise the drawer won’t close? Why not efficiently store them in a narrow space using an organiser.
No question, they are a great space-saver and have many uses. You can even put them in the fridge – just don’t spin too fast or you’ll find the bottles fly everywhere!
The side of a cabinet makes the perfect place to install racks for your favourite recipe books.
These days you can find all kinds of inside-cupboard can organisers and space-saving vertical can storage cabinet systems to buy.
You’ll be able to see where everything is and keep it tidier when trays are vertical rather than stacked on top of each other. This is another great DIY kitchen storage idea that can be done by anyone.
There are hooks, pegboards and plenty of other ways to set up some vertical storage solutions for almost anything in your kitchen.
Hooks are useful for so many things in a small kitchen but this is a really sweet what to store aprons and tea towels.
Copper pots are a kitchen classic and give a kitchen an instant foodie flavour.
Do you have pretty utensils that you’ve been collecting? Hang them on hooks rather than take up counter space or be banished to the third drawer.
Hanging mugs on hooks saves space and has country charm.
Gridboards or pegboards have multiple uses in a small kitchen. Use them to keep potentially disorderly items neatly stored.
Use a variety of racks to hang all your cooking utensils, pots and even some of your foodstuffs.
Add charming details such as oversized knobs to hang things off.
It may not be everyone’s idea of interior design but it’s still a very quirky kitsch and practical idea.
If you love your crockery, openly admire it. Plate racks give a kitchen easy cottage-kitchen vibes. Keep beautiful plates on show or just a nice way to dry them off.
There are a lot of utensils and if you’re like me, mine are all chucked in one draw with no organisation whatsoever. So in part to also motivate me, I thought I’d share some awesome utensil storage ideas that I’ve found.
For wooden spoons and other utensils, keeping things on hand next to the stove in some jugs makes for quick cooking.
This is an awesome idea when you come to think about it. All utensils come in different shapes and lengths, so diagonal drawers allows you to keep things organised by lengths. Or just go for regular drawer dividers. Just like with office filing, having dividers is invaluable for keeping your drawer contents organised and neat.
Kitchen storage ideas for herbs
Have your herbs on display and they will always look and make your kitchen smell gorgeous.
It’s just like combining a herb garden and art into one feature wall.
Or you might be able to incorporate herb containers into a level of your kitchen island.
Speaking of islands, as a way of creating surface space, they are great if you have the room for one.
Make your island earn its keep by being multi-functional, such as incorporating shelving.
Things don’t always have to be tucked away. By incorporating some open shelving into your kitchen island design, you can display some of your beautiful items and cook books.
There are also much smaller islands out there, or you could have a trolley or rolling cart. This way it can easily move around and a perfect option for renters.
Steal from professional bakers and have a vertical trolley on wheels. Instantly create metres of space.
Bet you didn’t know what a Murphy’s Island was… but now you do, and I think you’ll be wanting one too if you’re in a small kitchen.
When it comes to appliances most of us have many. From KitchenAids and Nutribullets to microwaves and toasters – they all need to live somewhere and not always be taking up precious bench space. So here are some excellent appliance kitchen storage ideas.
Hiding small appliances in a “butler’s cupboard” with retractable doors helps streamline and declutter. And don’t forget to install power points so that you don’t have to constantly move appliances around.
Another way to hide your small appliances within your kitchen is to house them behind a drop-down door.
The microwave is a really easy one to store away behind the closed doors of a cupboard.
This will foreshadow your ideal kitchen style. For example, it may be a little vignette by the door with a stool, cute apron, teatowels and some dried flowers.
It’s one feature of the kitchen that you’d rather not see, and that is the bin. Most modern kitchen will now incorporate bins into the cabinetry design.
Kitchens and vintage are a match made in heaven. Scour op-shops for a one-of-a-kind vintage conversation piece, such as a vintage wood pocket door – beautiful and, being partly transparent, functional.
Even if it’s just to create a prettier view whenever you stand in front of the fridge. Curate a few collectibles and make the most of that wasted space.
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