A kitchen is the most used workshop in the home, and so it is important to have that workshop be as efficient as possible. All the tools you use in your kitchen need to be well organized and easily accessible. There are a wide variety of kitchen storage solutions that are available. Some of these storage solutions are made for specific brands of cabinets and others the kind that you can add to most standard modular cabinets.
But first before you start to build more storage space into your kitchen, you will need to know what needs to be stored. If you need to add some space for pots and pans, dishes and glassware, trays and serving bowls, spices or packaged foods, you will need to measure the items you will be storing so you know how large your storage units should be.
It is better to begin to plan your kitchen storage strategy before even starting the kitchen floor plan/design process.
After you have gone through all the steps of kitchen design and planning the next step in your kitchen design is to plan enough storage to suit your needs. The amount of storage space depends on the shape of your kitchen since different shapes of kitchens automatically provide different amounts of storage space.
Storage is more than just plain cabinets, there are so many more options these today. You can find solutions to various storage problems and be able to make the most of even the smallest of spaces.
It is possible to have a beautiful looking kitchen and lots of storage. A good place to start would be the kitchen cabinets and cupboards. But there are other places in the kitchen that could provide potential storage areas. You need to think beyond the cabinets, shelves and closets to look at available storage space. Carefully examine all surfaces in your kitchen, for example look at areas above or below appliances, also look behind doors and any unused floor space your might have. Draw up a list of any potential storage areas in the kitchen that can be better organized.
If you have a large countertop area, then you have more space for storage below it. After having subtracted the areas for your sink, refrigerator and cooktop/oven, you have all the rest of the space below the countertop to incorporate storage. Storage below the countertop can be very convenient for heavy items such as kitchen appliances as well as heavy pots, pans and kettles. Consider the amount of space these items take up. Try to plan out how to expand this space as time goes on you will buy more utensils and the items you already have will take up even more space.
You can also make your own kitchen storage units that can be custom-designed to fit your needs. You can build common kitchen storage cabinets and racks that will add storage space and help you organize your kitchen better. For instance you could build a wall mounted rack holder for storing pots and pans. It could also be hung from the ceiling. Another idea is to install some 3 tiered step shelves for storing condiments, cans, and spices in wall cabinets. The false fronts on sink base cabinets are great for installing tilt out trays that can storage away sponges, soap, and other kitchen items.
You could add a towel bar to the back of sink base cabinet doors for keeping dish cloths and small hand towels close to the area you need them in. Installing pull-out baskets or shelving in base cabinets can make it easier to reach items in the back. Tray dividers can also be installed in base cabinets to create more storage for trays, cookie sheets, and muffin pans.
So as you can see having a beautiful looking kitchen with lots of storage can be possible because of the wide variety of kitchen storage solutions available.
James Mahoney is the author of many kitchen design articles and has a site about kitchen design ideas at Kitchen Designers Ideas.com.
He also publishes a newsletter on kitchen design.
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