Human beings are pack-rats. We swoop up gadgets, year after year, and load up our closets, cabinets, and storage bins. The kitchen is a favorite catch-all for glassware, plates, silverware, jars, bowls, small appliances, and gizmos galore. No matter how much space we own, we never seem to have enough room in the kitchen.
The National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) recommends that you have at least a total of 158” of countertop space for food preparation and storage. That’s with a depth of 24” and 15” of topside clearance. It also suggests that you incorporate two optimal heights above the floor for your work surfaces—one at one 28”– 36”, and another at 36”– 45”—to ensure that all residents can use the kitchen. At least one corner cabinet, the NKBA adds, should contain a “functional storage device”, like a Lazy Susan.
Utilizing Cabinets and Countertops
There are plenty of organizing systems available in stock sizes out there for putting everything it its right place. The folks at Bob Villa.com suggest creating additional cabinet storage with door hangings, Lazy Susans, and pull-out accessories.
Meanwhile, the staff at This Old House suggests simple, affordable cabinet and drawer solutions such as stand-alone cabinets, pull-out towel holders, peg-board dish holders, under-sink organizers, swiveling corner racks, and pop-up shelves.
Bolting cookware to overhead hooks can also free up countertops and cabinets. You can put in u-bolts and s-hooks, or consider a wall trellis with hooks and shelves. There’s a wide selection of can, food, and soda racks that fit neatly on a shelf, tiered stacking shelves, pull-out pot lid organizers, slide-out caddies, and over-cabinet towel racks or organizers.
Spend a little time at the home improvement store or surfing the Web for solutions that can free up your precious counter space.
[...] concerned about optimizing your cabinet space to free up more room in the kitchen? Every so often, I like to surf the home improvement websites [...]