Even if you’re in a sprawling McMansion, (lucky you!), it seems like there’s never enough room for meal prep and every single kitchen good. You don’t need a master chef’s space, but even dressing up a package of ramen for a late-night snack is significantly easier when you can track down everything you need at a moment’s notice. Here, some simple storage solutions that’ll keep your cookspace tidy.
1. Use your backsplash for vertical storage
Your backsplash is there to, well, protect your walls from sink and stove splashes. Why not hang a rack behind your range to store stuff that is safe to use on the stove anyway? You won’t even have to move from your spot in front of the hot stove to grab the pan or utensil your meal prep requires.
2. Deck out the inside of your cabinets
Sure, plates, bowls and more stack neatly inside a kitchen cabinet, but the inside of cabinet doors are ripe with possibility. From adding a few sticky hooks for hanging measuring cups, to this all-out peg board setup, there’s plenty of space to put odd utensils that you can’t squeeze into the silverware drawer.
3. Embrace vertical countertop storage
The few inches along the back or side of your countertop rarely gets any action. Put it to use to tilt handsome trays, cutting boards and serving platters. It’ll break up the monotony of a bare countertop and save you some space in kitchen cabinets for less-flashy essentials.
4. Add extra countertop space with a kitchen cart
A tiny plot of kitchen countertop is all too common in apartments and cottages, alike. Coraling small countertop appliances that don’t get daily use—think mixers, blenders and more—fit nicely in a cart for attractive storage that you can wheel out of the way.
5. Invest in a foldable dish rack
Dish racks occupy about as much kitchen space as your sink, but aren’t essential 24/7. Invest in a chic option that will fold up easily for vertical storage inside kitchen cabinets or along the back of your kitchen countertop.
6. Store dry goods in pretty containers
There’s a reason your great aunt swears by her large ceramic canisters for sugar and flour. Those baking basics and other items like pasta, lintels and more look handsome in clear jars. Your goods will keep longer in airtight containers than in the boxes or bags they came in from the grocery store. Put your label maker to use for some next-level DIY organization.
7. Use S-hooks for anything and everything
These zero-commitment pieces of hardware are serious multitaskers around the house, but the kitchen is where they truly shine. Hang them from rods mounted on walls, under kitchen cabinets, and anywhere else to hang utensils and coffee mugs. (Coffee mugs can be quite the kitchen cabinet hogs.)