In areas where installing shelves or cabinetry would take up too much room, opt instead for simple hooks that can hang dishes and cookware flat against the wall. Simply attach the hooks directly on the wall surface, or install a pegboard for customizable storage.
Find Your Most Accessible Zone
Store the items that you use every day, like plates, bowls, mugs, glasses, and silverware, within arm's reach. For most people, that means the lowest shelves in upper cabinets and the highest drawers in base cabinets.
In a kitchen without cabinets, drawers are your saving grace. They hide your unsightly but necessary kitchen tools (like citrus squeezers and meat tenderizers) and make everything easy to reach. The trick to a well-organized drawer is to take advantage of every inch of available space.
Old furniture can be repurposed to serve as your kitchen cabinets. Antique dressers or armoires and even wine crates can be turned into large shelves or a kitchen island.
Repurpose a closet, use bookshelves, or open a wall and set some recessed shelving between the studs. Look for unused corners and spaces near the kitchen (like hallways, mudrooms, or the space under the stairs) where you can add shelving to store canned food, dried goods, and lesser-used kitchen appliances.
The best way to store dishes long term is to purchase boxes designed specifically to hold plates. These have double corrugated cardboard sides, which protect your plates from being crushed by other items. They also hold together longer, making them a great option for long-term storage.
Zone 1: Everyday Dishes and Utensils
You will want to put the everyday dishes and utensils to the right of the dishwasher or above the dishwasher. If you don't have a dishwasher, use the sink instead.
Plates, glasses and other dinnerware are most often stored near the dishwasher. Spices should be stored near a prep area, but not too close to the stove or oven as heat can destroy their flavor.
Building your own DIY cabinets is really an easy project to take on and it's totally doable with just a few basic tools and some good quality plywood.
However, there are some scenarios where a kitchen without upper cabinets is just what the aesthetic calls for. Without the bulk directly at eye level, the space opens up, feels larger, and brings a calm minimalist quality. Some kitchens may have just enough storage in the lower cabinets to fulfill a cook's needs.
For dicing and chopping, you need a prep zone, and for cooking, a cooking zone.” To best create these zones in a galley kitchen, she agrees that the refrigerator should be at one end so the countertop space ends up in the middle, punctuated by the sink on one side and the range on the other.
Small galley kitchen ideas benefit from a light and bright colour scheme to give an airy feel. We suggest sticking to neutral hues, with colourful accents to add vibrancy. White or grey galley kitchens are a stylish choice and look particularly striking in compact spaces.
A scullery or hidden pantry is a place to store dishes and dried goods or even have a smaller fridge for drinks and wine. Cleverly hiding a secret pantry behind a faux-cabinet wall is whimsical and pragmatic. Renovating your kitchen to include one of these sublime spaces has been trending since the pandemic.
Sometimes known as a serving pantry or a scullery, a butler's pantry is a transitional space between a kitchen and a dining area that's often used as a storage, food prep, or staging space.
Go through your house and find boxes, baskets, glass jars, and clear canisters Use them to store snacks and open bags of chips. Mix and match and rearrange your food storage containers until you find a configuration that works! This is the key step in organizing your pantry without spending any money.
Make storage more accessible
Keep daily-use items, like cookware, in lower cabinets that are easier to reach from a wheelchair. Even if a wheelchair isn't being used, place these items between waist and shoulder height. Adding pullout landing boards of spring-assisted shelving can also help with heavy items.