Cabinet Ideas to Boost your Kitchen Storage

Here’s how to max out your cookspace from corner unit to pantry cabinet.

Cabinets typically represent a hefty chunk of your kitchen budget—hovering around 30%—so you want to choose carefully. The design you select not only sets the overall style of the room, but also helps to maintain its organization and order. So, how to get all the puzzle pieces—including pull-out shelves and kitchen islands—to fit scoring you the most storage and, hence, efficiency? Consider these factors:

Configurations that magnify storage

Base cabinets may vary by width and height, but you are still limited by how high you want your countertop to be. Wall cabinets can go all the way to the ceiling, utilizing even the topmost inches for infrequently used bulk items like paper towels. Combine and arrange the units according to how you operate in your kitchen and what tools or features you use most often. Deep drawers for pots and pans should go near the stove. Shallower drawers for utensils belong with the prep area, along with maybe a pullout cabinet for trash or recycling, and dishes and glassware near the dishwasher—all to minimize steps. Islands are a great place to stow cookware; be sure to allow for clearance of doors and drawers that must be pulled out. You might want to put open shelves on the ends to make way for drawer space in the middle and to avoid doors that can jut into traffic paths.

Organize from the Inside Out

While planning the configuration of storage, think about internal organization, too. Drawers handle deep pieces like pasta pots and asparagus steamers, and you can access them with the pull of a knob. Alternatively, slide-out metal shelves will let you stow a variety of items in one super-size cabinet, but they can be less-space efficient insofar as they require you to first open a door, and then give up as much as 4 to 6 inches inside to allow for the shelves’ outer frame and rolling mechanism. Think carefully about what you want to put there and how often you need to get at it before making a decision.

Special Features for Versatility and Efficiency

Inside your cabinets and drawers, you can add optional features that keep the contents tidy and super accessible, such as: organizational inserts for tools and knives; narrow pullout pantry shelves; slats for cookie pans and trays; and even a spring-loaded shelf that swings up and out to lift, say, a heavy mixer. And don’t let that dead space behind the corner cabinet go to waste. Many manufacturers offer Lazy Susans that spin around with the touch of a finger to access the contents on rear shelves. Look, too, for adjustable hooks to hang cookware vertically, so there’s no need to drag everything out to get to that one pesky pot. Some manufacturers offer lighting inside the cabinet box to help locate contents. If you haven’t specified internal organizing features when you ordered the cabinets, you can add them later with metal stacking shelves or hooks found at a home center.