Clever kitchen storage and organisation ideas to maximise your space
No matter the size of your kitchen, you’ll want to make sure you’re getting the very most out of your space. That’s where clever kitchen storage comes in, and we’re not just talking about putting dried goods in Kilner jars.
Kitchens serve many purposes, they’re there for meal times, entertaining, science projects, working from home, the list goes on, and so we need all the space we can get.
Now, whilst there are lots of things you can do to improve the storage in your current kitchen, the real key to success is thinking about how you want to organise your kitchen before you design it. This means you can consider all the smart storage options available and come up with the perfect combination that will make your new kitchen your most organised ever.
From designing your kitchen in a way that allows for additional storage options, to clever changes you can make to your existing kitchen, we’re going to help you optimise your space and make more room for living.
Create functional zones with the storage you need
Kitchen zoning is function-led space optimisation, ensuring specific spaces in your kitchen are built for specific activities. These include things like the cooking zone, the prepping zone and the wet zone (sink, dishwasher etc.) The spaces are carefully configured around the way you plan to use them. For example, if you want to make life easier when unpacking shopping bags, place your fridge next to your dried storage space or pantry, while ensuring there is enough worktop space to load the bags on. Having an expert designer ensures each area is created with complete function in mind — perfect both for a more organised kitchen and streamlined daily experience.
Use cupboards and drawers effectively
Deciding how many drawers and cupboards you need in your kitchen depends on your lifestyle and the space you have to work with. Depending on how you want to organise your space and kitchen items, one will likely work better than the other. Drawers extend completely, showing the entirety of what’s in the drawer, whilst it’s easy to lose smaller items at the back of the cupboard if you have no kitchen cupboard organiser in place. Cupboards, meanwhile, display items at head height and above, and are a great place to conceal larger boxes and other items that are needed less frequently. Both have their benefits and offer versatile storage options, it’s all about understanding what you need to store before your start designing your kitchen. Drawers do often cost more than cupboards when it comes to choosing your cabinetry, however, so make sure you’re making the right choice for your kitchen before you get started.
Choose shelves over cupboards to open up your space
Whilst traditional base and wall cupboards are perhaps the more obvious option, open shelving can help to increase the sense of space in your kitchen. This is especially true in smaller kitchens as lots of cupboards at eye level can feel overbearing in a small space. Shelves do tend to need cleaning more regularly, and you can’t hide things away in them, but they do provide the opportunity to add character. From displaying items that mean something to you and your family to having easy-to-reach ingredients for cooking, you can use shelves to bring your personality into your kitchen. To add even more space, you could add one large panoramic shelf to create a horizontal divide between your splashback and wall, or add a mirrored panel behind glass shelving to significantly increase how large your space feels. In this case, the mirrors reflect the room to expand it while the glass enables more natural light to pass through the area.
Design your dream pantry that’s easy to use
Pantries are fantastic for kitchen storage but not when thrown in without proper consideration. There are millions of different configurations you can use for your pantry but the best way to do it is to design completely with your personal lifestyle and usage in mind. Pantries look beautiful BUT functionality is key. For example, with deep shelves items can often end up lost at the back and hard to reach. So, depending on the size of your pantry you could have narrower shelves along with spice racks on the doors for full visibility. There are then other considerations to make too, such as: having separate cupboards above your pantry or big shelves at the top of it to store things you don’t use very often, perhaps an area to store everyday appliances you don’t want out on the surface such as a Nespresso machine or Kitchen Aid (you could even have an integrated coffee machine or microwave built into your pantry), and where the little things that you need everyday access to go so they’re easy to find and grab. The important thing, whatever your kitchen usage entails, is to build your pantry around you.
Make good use of corner space
Corners are not to be wasted: even if you think you’ve run out of space in your kitchen, by using the corners mindfully, you’ll be surprised by how much extra space you can gain. You could build small corner shelves for decorative pieces or corner drawers/cupboards for things you want hidden away. With the inner corner units of your kitchen, introducing wirework helps to stop items being lost at the back of cupboards, being pulled out to extend, then concertinaed neatly back in when closed. The angles and clean lines of corners used well are also visually appealing, making your new kitchen feel even more streamlined.
Make the most of your kitchen island
If you have an island in your kitchen, it makes sense to fit in as many cupboards, drawers and cubby holes as you can, depending on your island’s primary function of course. For example, if you use it as a cooking area, you can cleverly arrange all of your drawers and cupboards in a way that allows you easy access to pans, utensils and spices. You can add in little extras like a tea towel rail or narrow wine cooler too. If you’d like some versatile storage on your island, open shelves on one end can give you the flexibility you’re looking for. Different sized shelves can be used to store wine, recipe books, platters and placemats. This can also provide a nice view to the rest of the open plan living space. Whilst you can incorporate drawers or cabinetry on all sides of your island, we would always recommend having a piece of the worktop that extends out over these if you want to have seating available. Having to sit with your legs tucked up right against the cupboards/drawers is not ideal. You can still have cupboards, but they just need to be shallow to allow for leg room.
Organise and save space with kitchen storage containers
One of the simplest ways to make the most of your kitchen space is to use cleverly designed containers for certain kitchen products. This can include decanting dried essentials such as coffee, cereal or rice into jars and storing them on shelves, the worktop or in a pantry. An even more efficient way to do this is to use rectangle containers that can be neatly lined up next to each other. Other ideas include levelled spice racks that allow you to see everything you have in one quick glance rather than having to sift through to find the one you need. Most of the time, kitchen storage like this is an afterthought but we think it should be considered from the beginning because cupboards, drawers and pantries can be designed with these containers in mind. Designing your kitchen in this way means you make the very most of the space you have.
Use the walls
It’s easy for worktops to get cluttered over time. We each have our own preference for the way we use our kitchen, and so instead of the work surfaces always being clear for prep, they become covered with items like knife blocks, cooking utensils, kitchen roll and tea towels, spices and more. So, instead of placing these items in the way, why not use the walls to save space? By hanging them on wall hooks, installing floating spice shelves and opting for a magnetic wall-mounted knife rack, we can keep our space neat, tidy, and also add a layer of personality and interest to the kitchen overall. It will also help to keep little hands away from items like knives that could potentially harm them.
Reflect your personality with a kitchen display cabinet
If you prefer a more minimal aesthetic, then cupboards that hide most things away are a good solution. However, if you prefer to let a little detail out into the open then a glass-fronted cabinet could be a great storage option. Beautiful and practical. Whether fitted or freestanding, having a display case incorporates your favourite pieces as a focal point in your kitchen. You can even add purposeful lighting to them to draw further attention. This can really help you bring your personality into the space as you show off any collectable crockery, prized wedding china or seasonal tableware. The key with display cabinets is to get one with substantial drawers or cupboards in the bottom half too so that you’ve still got plenty of ‘out of sight’ storage room.
Go bespoke for ultimate kitchen organisation
Every storage idea we’ve mentioned here can be incorporated into a bespoke kitchen. A bespoke kitchen is a kitchen that’s personalised to you. You’ll work closely with a kitchen designer who understands your vision, and they will help you create a kitchen that makes the most of your space and lifestyle. Bespoke can mean a costly kitchen that’s handmade entirely from scratch; however, it can also be achieved by combining curated options from a pre-chosen range of cabinetry and a selection of custom-made elements. This is our approach at PAD, and we know that bespoke ultimately leads to more intuitive storage, functionality, organisation and, most importantly, achieves the desired feeling you want from your kitchen.
Planning your kitchen storage before you get started is critical. If you don’t consider the entire kitchen before designing or redesigning the space, it ends up unoptimised and unorganised, resulting in clutter and mess. So, to get the kitchen of your dreams, start by considering the clever storage solutions that will make your kitchen work for you.
If you’re ready to optimise your kitchen storage or are considering going bespoke for other reasons, contact our experts today.