Kitchen Capers: Nifty Tricks to Store Just About Anything
Get your kitchen in order with some innovative storage solutions designed to make life easier
If you love your kitchen, chances are you love life. Think of it this way: If your kitchen is a place that makes you smile, then each day is more likely to get off to a good start and end the same way, but if your kitchen is difficult to work in, things are hard to find and you hate the way it looks, the opposite may well be true. The key to creating a kitchen you love being in is not just about colour, tapware and gleaming appliances (although that all helps); a truly inspiring kitchen works like a well-oiled machine with everything you need within easy reach. These novel options will have you rethinking how you tackle storage in your kitchen and put a spring in your step every day of the week.
Steady stacks. These dividers keep towers of plates and bowls secure, and enable this drawer to hold more than it otherwise could.
PLATTERS
Presentation is everything. They come in handy, but the dilemma of what to do with all those platters in between social occasions can baffle even the most organised of people. Stacking them into cupboards is usually the way, but that approach takes up precious room and makes it hard to find just the one you want when you want it. Storing them in a drawer with the help of dividers to keep them upright is such a great idea – I can’t wait to make it happen in my kitchen.
Presentation is everything. They come in handy, but the dilemma of what to do with all those platters in between social occasions can baffle even the most organised of people. Stacking them into cupboards is usually the way, but that approach takes up precious room and makes it hard to find just the one you want when you want it. Storing them in a drawer with the help of dividers to keep them upright is such a great idea – I can’t wait to make it happen in my kitchen.
OILS & SPICES
Easy access. The mark of a great kitchen is how easy it makes it to reach for ingredients while you’re cooking. A drawer by the stove makes perfect sense, and when each spice container is tilted up a little like these are, they’re easy to spot and easy to grab.
Easy access. The mark of a great kitchen is how easy it makes it to reach for ingredients while you’re cooking. A drawer by the stove makes perfect sense, and when each spice container is tilted up a little like these are, they’re easy to spot and easy to grab.
Clean lines. If you like your kitchen benches to be clutter free, placing cooking oils and sauces within arm’s length of where you use them most is a good place to start. I love that this pull-out drawer is to the right of the stove. Left-handed cooks might choose the other side … but if two of you cook and each has a different dominant hand, you might have to toss a coin for it.
COOKING TOOLS
Drawer brilliance. Why busy up your bench space with collections of utensils when you can have them all at your fingertips in a drawer like this?
Drawer brilliance. Why busy up your bench space with collections of utensils when you can have them all at your fingertips in a drawer like this?
Easy pickings. Rummaging through overfilled drawers in search of that elusive item will become a distant memory as you slide open one of these sleek drawers and pluck out exactly what you want.
COOKBOOKS
Look up. I love this use of space over and around the sink for kitchen storage. Cookbooks are just one of the things that would look great displayed in such a space, and they’re just where you need them. My cookbooks have three homes, and they’re not all in the kitchen.
Look up. I love this use of space over and around the sink for kitchen storage. Cookbooks are just one of the things that would look great displayed in such a space, and they’re just where you need them. My cookbooks have three homes, and they’re not all in the kitchen.
Book-end. Everyone loves an island bench, but this one is even more loveable because of its handy shelves. The perfect spot for cookbooks.
STATIONS
One-stop shop. When everything you need for a given task is at hand, think of the time and energy you could save. No more moving about the kitchen to gather all the items you need.
Care for a glass of merlot, honey? Can’t you just imagine standing in front of this wine alcove and choosing tonight’s tipple? This wine station has it sorted, right down to the pull-out bench for pouring a glass or two.
One-stop shop. When everything you need for a given task is at hand, think of the time and energy you could save. No more moving about the kitchen to gather all the items you need.
Care for a glass of merlot, honey? Can’t you just imagine standing in front of this wine alcove and choosing tonight’s tipple? This wine station has it sorted, right down to the pull-out bench for pouring a glass or two.
Toe kicker. If you don’t have room to dedicate a whole cupboard to your wine station, under-cabinet storage like this could be the answer.
Handmade. This baking station puts everything you need in one spot, from bowls and ingredients, to the mixer and cake tins. Easy.
Morning bliss. Free up space in your pantry by grouping like-minded items and placing them elsewhere in the kitchen. This kitchen has a breakfast station – now why didn’t I think of that?
POTS & PANS
Hang it. Dangling cooking essentials from hooks can be achieved in just about any kitchen. Rails secured under shelves or upper cabinets are easy to install and are worth the effort if you’re tired of moving pots and pans around the bottom of a cupboard.
Hang it. Dangling cooking essentials from hooks can be achieved in just about any kitchen. Rails secured under shelves or upper cabinets are easy to install and are worth the effort if you’re tired of moving pots and pans around the bottom of a cupboard.
Hang it, part II. Got a spare wall? Individual hooks make it even easier to find what you need when you’re cooking up a storm.
Higher ground. Using the space over an island bench is another simple solution, and it doesn’t look half bad either.
Sanity saver. Storing muffin tins, pans and racks upright makes so much more sense than stacking them one on top of the other. It’s not rocket science, but it does make you wonder why every kitchen doesn’t have drawers like these.
PANTRY BASICS
Law and order. When you go to fill your bowl with muesli only to find someone has helpfully put an empty box back in the pantry, there’s no way your day can get off to the flying start you were hoping for. Decanting anything packaged into see-through containers let’s you know when to put dwindling supplies on your shopping list.
Law and order. When you go to fill your bowl with muesli only to find someone has helpfully put an empty box back in the pantry, there’s no way your day can get off to the flying start you were hoping for. Decanting anything packaged into see-through containers let’s you know when to put dwindling supplies on your shopping list.
Jar bound. If you don’t have a walk-in pantry, don’t let that stop you from getting organised. A collection of glass jars like these would work just as well on a kitchen shelf.
PAPER TOWELS
Handy helper. Oh, for a paper towel holder like this one. It’s out of the way, so isn’t a standout feature guests can see, but is easily accessible without having to open a drawer or cupboard. It’s the simple things in life…
Handy helper. Oh, for a paper towel holder like this one. It’s out of the way, so isn’t a standout feature guests can see, but is easily accessible without having to open a drawer or cupboard. It’s the simple things in life…
Cleaning whizz. Upright drawers like these are not only the ideal way to house paper towels, they keep cleaning and washing-up supplies all in the one spot – there’s even a tea towel at the ready. Drawers like these also make the most of that awkward space under the sink.
KNIVES
Sharp idea. Knife blocks have been around forever, but not every knife block is beautiful. This one frees up valuable bench space, and could suit just about any style of kitchen.
Sharp idea. Knife blocks have been around forever, but not every knife block is beautiful. This one frees up valuable bench space, and could suit just about any style of kitchen.
Upside down. Here is a novel approach to plunging knives back where they belong, and if they’re positioned where you use them most, why not?
Neat and tidy. That narrow space between the oven and cabinets can be put to good use with a knife block built into a drawer like this one.
Chop chop. Short on bench space? A cabinet that doubles as a cutting board could be the answer – especially if your knives are stored in the drawer underneath.
Built-in boards. You’ll have room aplenty when you can pull out a cutting board no matter where in the kitchen you happen to be working. This storage option is another opportunity to put willing hands to work – there’s room enough for everyone to help.
Help yourself. If breakfast at your house is eaten at the island bench, place cereal bowls, coffee mugs and other morning essentials within easy reach. Many hands make light work, after all, and you’ll find fewer people jostling for space in the rest of the kitchen during the morning rush if what they need is handy to where they’re sitting. Even young children can help themselves to their own cups, plates and bowls if they’re easy to access – in this kitchen, their colourful (and unbreakable) set stored down one end.