Kitchens are by far our favorite room in the house. It’s where family and friends gather. It’s where stories are shared and new life skills are acquired. It’s where all the food is, and everyone loves food, right? Well, food is important to us and storing that food effectively is just as important.

See where we’re going with this?

Yep, this article is all about optimizing your kitchen for storage and organization. We’ll be sharing some common storage ideas plus a few other creative ones you may want to try yourself!

Closed Kitchen Cabinets

Closed kitchen cabinets are the most preferred among homeowners for very practical reasons. For starters, the dishes, pots, pans, and utensils kept in closed cabinets are protected from falling if placed incorrectly. They will also accumulate less dust over time.

For visual reasons, closed cabinets make a kitchen cleaner since the clutter is tucked away behind doors. However, there are a couple different styles of closed kitchen cabinets!

Most cabinets are solid and come in a variety of different colors. Below is an example of darker wood cabinets with no visible handles. This is most common in Victorian-style houses.

Tackle even the toughest kitchen grease with these best degreaser sprays.

However, contemporary design has opted instead for sleek white or black cabinets with no handles either. In place of handles, little pockets are above or under the cabinet doors to open them.

One other closed cabinet design that is popular is a cabinet door with glass in it. This is a practical design. Take a look below at some cabinets with windows.

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Open Shelves in Your Kitchen

Adding open shelves to your kitchen is both practical and effective! Most people will store pots and pans along with plates, bowls, mugs, and more on these shelves.

The top shelves can be used for decorative elements in your kitchen, such as old plates, plants, small ceramic items and other things you may want to display! You likely won’t use the top-most shelves regularly just because they are so high.

The openness of these shelves makes your kitchen feel bigger, so if you’re wanting more storage space but you’re in a smaller kitchen, this may be the best option for you!

Even if you have a larger kitchen, open shelves as illustrated in the picture above are a very practical addition. This look is very popular in farmhouse style kitchens. And if you’re interested in this type of design, head over to our post about farmhouse design for your kitchen and home!

Basket Storage in Your Pantry

Baskets can be a fun and colorful addition to your pantry – a great way to personalize the space! They also help make great practical use of floor and shelf space.

Try out these cute hand-woven storage baskets from Amazon!

Fancy Kitchen Storage Ideas

Lots of people have fancy china or other nice plates, cups, glassware, and silverware. However, the storage units for these are different than your regular units. 

Generally, these are nicer, large wardrobe-style storage units that have decorative elements and can showcase the beauty of these pieces, too!

Most times, these cases have glass windows and are either dark wood or stained any number of colors, designed to complement the beautiful dishes stored inside. Check out the picture to the left for reference!

Sometimes, these aren’t included in your kitchen but rather right outside your kitchen. Since these types of tableware are generally used for the nicest of occasions, these are sometimes included in a side room, perhaps a dining room right next to your kitchen!

Kitchen Island Storage

If you have an island in your kitchen, you have room for even more storage space. Most times, the things you store in your kitchen island depends on what you’re using your island for!

If your stove is located on the island, consider adding pots, pans, and utensils, along with other small appliances you don’t want out all the time, like toasters or blenders. 

If your sink is built in, dishwashing soap and hand soap would be appropriate. You’ll be using that space to clean dishes, so why not put your kitchen cleaning supplies there? Also think about grabbing one of those little storage organizers for your cabinets so supplies stay neat and easy to access.

However, as seen in the example below, cookbooks are useful to store in your kitchen too. Since the stove is located on top of the island, it makes sense to have all sorts of cookbooks stored in shelves on your island as well. 

Wrap-Up 

Everyone wants more storage in their kitchen and everyone also wants organization to be easy to follow and keep up with. Hopefully, some of these ideas will help incorporate discipline and order into your kitchen storage!

Try out organization first, and if you want more, consider a partial or full renovation of the space! Hopefully some of these ideas have inspired you to take your kitchen to the next level.

Happy organizing!

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