Ideally have them put in shelves that can be adjusted (holes down the sides that you put those plugs into.) That way you can make the shelves varying heights that best suits what you want yo put in there. I did this, and I have one tall shelf for high cereal packets and other smaller shelves that just accommodate two tins on top of each other, plus another shelf that is just right for my storage containers. That way you make the best use of the space.

When our building company architect had drawn up the plans and we'd gone on to the next stage of "add-ons", we requested a niche in the tiled shower area for shampoos etc, but were told it can't be done due to water-tight issues. Then, during the walk-through before signing off, we mentioned this to the building supervisor, and he was surprised about our request of a shelf being declined, and said that we should've asked them before they tiled. But, since we'd already made quite a few changes to the standard plan, we didn't want to cause any aggro. Now we have one of those metal extendable corner shelves. So, it pays to get a second opinion.

Hi Narella, most manufacturers of induction cooktops such as say Miele and Smeg make their 600mm wide units around 500mm to 505mm deep (front to back) where these fit comfortably into a 600mm deep cabinet, while still allowing for all the clearances, overhangs and venting required. You may like to check with your cabinet maker but as far as I am aware NEFF make their induction cooktops much deeper; making these 546mm deep instead of 500mm. This means that your cabinets also need to be deeper than the "normal" once all the required clearances are taken into account. I am not sure what you mean when you say this will not work with the rest of your cabinets. If you are positioning your NEFF cooktop above your underbench oven as it is shown in your original photo; then it appears that your cabinet maker has again done the right thing and has actually made all your adjacent cabinets the same depth; whereby preserving these clean modernist lines of your kitchen. Regards, Malcolm.

We had a similar problem in our rental where we pretty much only had two walls that were suitable for hanging space and not a lot of functional storage. We went and purchased two billy bookcases, the 100cm high ones, and installed them side by side. Purchased a couple of extra shelves and made them shoe storage. They easily fit my shoes but my partners have to be on an angle so they don't jut out and you can adjust the height of the shelves to fit in boots or flats to maximise storage. It's nice knowing my shoes are stored and are not getting crushed or damaged and you are not rummaging through a box trying to find the other shoe. The top of the bookcases is used for storage also, with some nice baskets and my jewelry case. We also put a hanging hook on the side for my partners belts. While I don't a photo on hand of ours, a quick google of billy bookcase shoe storage will give you pages of examples.