How to Find More Space in Your Kitchen

Do you have enough cabinet space? While some homes have been built with cabinets and closets galore, many homeowners find that when it comes to cabinet space, there is never enough. Storage space in your kitchen is a premium, and adding more cabinetry can be an expensive endeavor. You might wonder whether there is anything that you can do to improve the storage situation in your kitchen without spending a lot of money. While all of these tips won’t work in every kitchen, give each of them careful consideration.

Hang utensils or pans from the ceiling
You’ve seen the racks that can hold utensils and saucepans from the ceiling or even under a cabinet. If the rack itself won’t fit, or if it’s too pricey, consider just screwing in C-shaped hooks under a cabinet to hold spatulas, slotted spoons and the potato masher. Then they will always be at hand, and you will have saved some counter or drawer space.

• Put up shelves
  You don’t need an elaborate shelving system. Even one or two shelves, installed tightly and well, can hold cookbooks, spices, mixing bowls or other relatively light items. Of course, if you do have the room for more shelves, pick up a sturdy bookshelf and put it to use as a stand-in for a pantry. Be sure to anchor it to the wall, particularly if you have little ones (or not-so-little ones) who might be tempted to climb the shelves to reach items up high.

• Use stackable containers
  If you can put products like flour, sugar, coffee grounds and dry cereal in square, stackable containers, you can open up a lot of cabinet space. Do the same for leftovers that you want to store in your refrigerator, and open up shelf space in there, as well.
  

• Use up your vertical space
  If you look in your cabinets, chances are that you have the shelves tightly packed, but that there are several inches of unused space above your spices, canned goods, boxes of pasta, bowls and mugs. If you can, lower a few of your cabinet shelves and add an additional one in each cabinet. Another option is to get your C-hooks out again and use the underside of the shelves to hold mugs or other items. Hang a basket from a low ceiling to hold bananas or limes, and don’t be afraid to use small stackable drawers in a corner or in a less accessible area of the counter so that you don’t lose that space.
  

• Take some things out of the kitchen
  Is there somewhere else in your home that you can store surplus when it comes to canned or paper goods? Maybe under-the-bed containers would be useful. Could you keep some of your dishes in the dining room hutch? Or how about in the garage?
  

• Purge what you have
  The final tip for having an organized kitchen and opening up more space is to go through your drawers and cabinets as you look for more space, and take out duplicate items or items that you don’t use anymore. If you have an appliance that you only use once per year, see if you can give it to a friend with the stipulation that you can borrow it when you really need it. If you haven’t used something in over a year, donate it to your local thrift shop or just give it away.

Kitchen organization just comes down to finding the right place for every item that you have to store in this room. Since the kitchen is often referred to as the “heart of the home,” it’s worth it to take some time and, if you can, some money, to improve the storage system in this area of the home.