Along with aesthetic appeal, storage is another important aspect which needs to be considered while designing a kitchen. Although homemakers do not overlook the fact that the space in a dwelling need to be effectively utilized, storage concerns crop up within no time after moving into the house. The needs of acquiring new utensils as well as many other kitchen essentials arise and often one tends to ignore the fact that the kitchen may not be able to accommodate all these items. Storage is a bigger challenge if the kitchen is really compact and many utensils have to be arranged within the available space in an efficient manner. There are several innovative ways to smartly utilize the kitchen spaces and deal effectively with the clutter. We have enlisted 20 different ways in which the spaces in your kitchen can be effectively utilized, which also greatly add to the aesthetic appeal of your home. The next time you are saddened by the shabby appearance of your kitchen, implementing a few of these ideas would be of great help.
1. Cupboards/Tension Rods
A cabinet is the savior of any kitchen, since it holds many utensils and relieves one from storage woes. However, it is really important to install a cabinet which smartly utilizes every inch of the space inside. Having drawers of different sizes in a cabinet can help in storing big utensils as well as smaller objects in an organized manner. The compartment meant for storing plates should ideally have tension rods in between to prevent them from falling and also efficiently utilize the space. It’s better not to spare the doors of the cabinet either. Smaller utensils can be hung behind doors and important notes such as contents of the cabinet can be inscribed on them.
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2. Pull Out Cutting Boards
This hack is a smart kitchen waste management mechanism which can relieve you from cleaning the mess on the kitchen slab caused by chopping vegetables. Ideally, cabinets should be designed in such a way that a cutting board is attached to a drawer which can be pulled out. A hole can be drilled in the board as an outlet for all the vegetable and fruit waste to fall into a dustbin below. This hack saves a lot of kitchen time usually lost in keeping the slabs sparkling clean.
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3. Etagere
Instead of always relying on the horizontal approach of storing objects in the kitchen, adopting a vertical storage mechanism also efficiently achieves the purpose. An Etagere is a narrow and long piece of furniture, which consists of a set of racks which can ideally be used to place jars and plates. The legs of the Etagere are not too wide apart, which prevent occupation of too much of floor space. Thus most of your storage needs are taken care of, without too much of encroachment.
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4. Pegboards
Why keep the walls of the kitchen blank when you can effectively use them for storage purposes. Frying pans and stirring spoons, which are very frequently used, can be hung on pegboards instead of being stuffed inside cabinets. When observed from a distance, pegboards also give the impression of a poster.
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5. Baskets
Loaves of bread and other such items can be stored in baskets, rather than leaving them scattered on the kitchen slab and making the cooking place look shabby. Instead of spending a lot on designer baskets, empty plastic detergent boxes can also serve the purpose.
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6. Magnetic Knife Blocks
If they cannot fit into pegboards or stands, the best way to store knives in a kitchen is by sticking them to magnetic blocks on the walls. This also helps in keeping the knives handy and avoids the situation where you spend time finding one in the drawers of the cabinet.
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7. Spices on The Refrigerator
Refrigerators have made our lives much easier and have immensely helped in storing eatables as well as beverages and keeping them fresh. However, here is one new way of storing cooking ingredients using a refrigerator, which not many know. Try storing all the spices in the house in magnetic containers, so that they can easily stick to the walls of the refrigerator. This will eliminate the need of reserving a space in a cabinet for the cloves, chillies and turmeric.
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8. Counter Top Knife Design
If you don’t want to leave the knife blades exposed, yet store the knives in a way that they can be easily reached, the best method to adopt is the counter top knife design. However, the only challenge is to ensure that the sharp ends of the knives don’t come in contact with the contents of the cabinet drawers below them.
Photo Credit: http://www.tokoon.com/10-bright-thoughts-for-contemporary-kitchen-storage/
9. Folding Tables
You need a table or chairs in your kitchen, then its best to opt for the foldable table-chair set. They can be dumped in a corner of the room and used when required. This portable kit will keep a major chunk of the room relatively free, which would otherwise be occupied.
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10. Trophies for the Kitchen
If the family is filled with immensely talented people who have won numerous trophies, a few can be useful for the kitchen. Even protein powder containers can be as useful as baskets in holding stirring spoons and other kitchen utensils. So these are the next best things to the traditional storage jars.
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11. Plastic Bottles and containers For Spoons
What do you do with all those used bottles of moisturizers, shampoo or even those plastic ice-cream containers? One great way to utilize them is by turning them into makeshift carriers for spoons.
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12. Old Door
Is there an old door in the house, which is rotting away on the terrace after the recent renovation? It’s time to bring it down to the kitchen and use it for hanging the utensils. You can perhaps even paint these doors before installing them in the kitchen, so that they can make the place attractive.
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13. Kitchen closet
If you are just planning to construct a new house, it would be ideal to reserve a place for a closet in the kitchen. All the clutter of the cooking place can be stored in this space. The door to shut this closet can also be designed to give the impression of a pseudo wall.
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14. Ladder Shelves
Many kitchens have ladders, which occupy a corner of the room. These ladders can also come in really handy in storing objects. The legs of the ladders don’t occupy too much of floor space when stretched and their steps can substitute for racks on which baskets filled with kitchen items can be stored.
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15. Kitchen Cart
One cool way to deal with your kitchen’s storage needs is to have a cart which stores your utensils. A cabinet of sorts, which is also mobile, can free a few square feet of kitchen space when required.
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16. Magazine Racks
Magazine racks can be used for storing Silver foils and anti-bacterial kitchen sprays. This small hack can make a huge difference in de-cluttering the kitchen. These magazine racks can perhaps be placed below the kitchen sink, rather than a table or a kitchen slab. Racks which are used to stack books at the store help a great deal in stacking the lids of vessels.
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17. Spaces Above Doors
Where would you store all the wine bottles? How would you keep that expensive crockery secluded from the worn out vessels which are used on a daily basis? Perhaps the best way to store them is to create a slab above the doors to store them. These spaces can be filled with bottles or even expensive dishes which are used only during special occasions.
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18. Utensils on Ceilings
If the kitchen is too compact and all possible spaces in the room to store vessels have been occupied, the ceiling would be of great help. Vessels can hang from hooks on the ceiling, which in a way also makes it easy for a person to find a particular utensil, without having to explore the many drawers inside the kitchen cabinet.
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19. The Precious Kitchen Sink
The significant amount of space below the sink is usually ignored by us. Trays and boxes can be fitted to the doors and floors of the kitchen sink region to fit the objects which couldn’t find any other place in the room. Ideally, dish wash powders, detergents and anti-bacterial solutions fit into this space.
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20. Pantry Organization
Though storing essentials like sugar and flour in mason jars is a common practice, it is good to store them in square plastic boxes. Such containers can be stacked on top of each other, which leads to effective utilization of space. Thus, in a compartment with say two feet of space, six items can be squeezed using plastic boxes.
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