Kitchenability

02.12.2019

8 Storage Ideas For Small Kitchens

Tiny house living has become a significant trend today. More dwellers are inclined to live in small spaces, as the benefits are endless. The best of which is you’ll only have a small area to clean and maintain.

However, there seems to be an endless problem of how to store things in your kitchen. The kitchen is one area in the house where there’s a lot of things to store. Here are some great storage ideas for small kitchens:

1. Decant your pantry items.

If you’ve got a small pantry, the best way for you to maximize the space is to decant. For example, instead of keeping cereals in their original boxes, which can take up so much space, pour them all into cereal containers. You can do the same as well for coffee, rice, oatmeal, sugar, flour, quinoa, and other grains. To keep note of its expiry date, don’t forget to cut out the expiry date from the original box and tape it to its new container. Decanting is an extremely smart food storage system that you can follow.

2. Downsize your furniture and appliances.

You don’t need a 6-pot capacity stove when there are only four of you living in your house. Most homeowners don’t spend so much time in the kitchen anymore, as breakfast tends to be quick and easy, lunch is spent at work or school; hence, the only time you have left to do some cooking is at dinner time. You can, therefore, manage with a smaller gas range, and even with a smaller fridge.

Here are some other furniture and appliances that you can downsize:

• Microwave
• Dining table

3. Utilize the space above your stove.

One of the most neglected areas in your kitchen is that space above your stove. If your stove doesn’t have a hood, there are many ways for you to use that extra space on top. Some of these include:

• Install hanging shelves on top of your stove for you to put spices, cooking oil, and other commonly used ingredients for cooking
• Hang pots, pans, and other utensils
• Use the space for extra pantry storage or recipe books

4. Make use of bins!

It’s a common misconception that using bins to organize your things will take so much space. Making use of containers will give you so much space, as each object in your kitchen has a place to “go home to.” When every item belongs to a section, you no longer dump them into one box, mixing things of all sizes, which can eat up so much extra space. Bins are the best way to organize and add storage space, as it’s also quite cheap.

5. Install drawers under your island.

If your kitchen has an island, double check to see if there’s some space underneath that you can utilize. Instead of just making it a big chunk of cement, you can have your island remodeled so you can install more cabinet or drawer space! This extra storage space will be great for small appliances that are now on your countertops that you can store when not in use. Doing so will give you more counter space, too.

Examples of these small appliances are:

• Oven toaster
• Electric kettle
• Electric mixer

6. Store pans sideways.

The best way to store your pans is to make them stand sideways. Putting your pots on top of each other eats up so much more space, and it makes removing them quite difficult. When you store your pans sideways, you will immediately find what you are looking for, and you don’t make a mess when removing one.

7. Make use of a Lazy Susan!

A Lazy Susan is that rotating canister that makes it easier for you to reach out to the end of the cabinet when you have a small cabinet space. Lazy Susans are great for spices, sauces, canned goods, or whatever it is that you keep in the pantry, that makes it so difficult for you to locate and take out.

8. Use your cabinet door for storage space.

You may not have noticed, but your cabinet door can be a good way for you to add in a little bit more storage space. Small house dwellers generally put their cabinet doors to good use. What you can do is to attach a magazine holder to the inside of your door cabinet, or even command hooks.

You can use this extra space for the following:

• To hang kitchen rugs
• To store miscellaneous item such as plastic bags, cling wrap, or aluminum foil
• To hang small utensils such as measuring spoons
• To store Tupperware lids

Conclusion

The key to making the most out of any small space is through organization. When every item has a place, it’s easier for you to make more room for other things, too. Even more importantly, when you have a great storage and organization system in place, you can monitor expiry dates of food items. These ideas will help you love your tiny house living lifestyle even more.