21 Storage Solutions for Your New Kitchen

Storage Solutions for New Kitchens

21 Storage Solutions for Your New Kitchen

The modern-day kitchen needs creative storage solutions more than ever before. As a home to appliances, cookware and specialty gadgets, it has become difficult to organize everything. Blenders, mixers, food processors and boxes of cereal easily fill up every available inch of space.

Consumers have demanded more storage, and manufacturers have responded to the demand by inventing creative storage solutions to help solve kitchen organizing dilemmas.

In fact, kitchen designers allocate almost as much time designing what goes inside cabinets as they do the outside.

Every Kitchen Is Unique

Every kitchen is unique, and every homeowner has a need for their own personalized storage. And the market is filled with options. Home decorating magazines, websites and tv shows feature the latest trends in cabinet storage.

How Do You Decide What’s Best for Your New Kitchen?

Cabinet makers offer built-in storage, but their options are made from wood and can be heavy and clunky. Manufacturers that specialize in storage solutions have introduced sleek, light-weight, European styled items, which are very different from their wood counterparts. Of course, it’s all a matter of taste.

Let’s take a look at 21 of today’s most popular, often-requested, creative storage options.

1. Pull-Out Pantry.

More than any other storage solution, homeowners remodeling their kitchens want a perfectly organized pantry. To clarify, they want every item visible when the cabinet doors are opened, on shelves that pull out. No more dark corners with three half-used boxes of pasta you couldn’t find before.

The version shown here slides out so that items in the back are always easily accessible.

2. Corner Storage.

Creative corner storage is great for blind corners. Gone are the days when you have to get down on your knees looking for a missing Christmas tin. With today’s available corner storage, everything is accessible and in its proper place.

Many corner storage solutions are available on the market today. Further, the European styling in the Kesseboehmer LeMans unit is especially nice. The trays swing smoothly out of the cabinet, giving you access to every stored item.

3. Pans and Lids Storage.

How’s this for useful and creative storage? A well-designed base cabinet pull-out stores pots and pans on the bottom level, while the matching lids are on the top tier. As a result, everything is conveniently organized in one place.

Store your pots and lids in one pull out storage unit
baking sheet organizer is a very clever storage solution

These handy organizers are perfect for muffin tins, broiler pans, cooling racks, cookie sheets, serving trays and all sizes of cutting boards. They can be installed in a cabinet or in a pull-out configuration.

An undersink caddy comes in handy

5. Under Sink Caddy.

The cabinet under the sink can seem impossible to organize. Things easily get pushed to the back. This clever supply caddy holds all cleaning supplies. It also pulls out from under the sink and is easily removed so you can take it with you. It’s also convenient under the bathroom vanity for bathroom cleaning supplies.

6. Pull-out Trash Cans.

Every kitchen should include at least one pull-out trash can. No free-standing, smelly trash cans in your beautiful newly remodeled kitchen! The double bin configuration makes recycling easy. And for smaller spaces, singles are available.

7. Hands-Free Trash System.

The latest innovation on this popular favorite is the hands-free version. The touch of a foot or a knee opens the cabinet and brings out the trash bins. Such a helpful and feature to have when your hands are full and/or dirty.

pull out double trash bins with soft close

8. Odor Reducing Trash System.

Yes, you read that correctly. Rev-A-Shelf, one of the manufacturers with hundreds of built-in storage solutions, offers a complete line of waste containers that feature a self-contained odor-reducing bin. The unique design keeps odors from trash and compostable materials out of your household.

Creative pull out spice storage options
Three creative pull-out spice storage options.

9. Spice Storage.

Organizing the many spices cooks need is always a challenge. A one-size-fits-all solution doesn’t work for a serious cook‘s spice collection. Luckily, the manufacturers who make storage solutions are up to the task. There are drawer inserts or cabinet rack designs. So practical.

10. Slide-out Baskets.

Wicker baskets on solid wood sliders look nice and are practical for storing potatoes or anything that doesn’t need refrigeration, like napkins or placemats.

baskets on wood slides are a beautiful storage option

11. Wine Storage.

Convenient in-drawer wine bottle storage

No collection of storage solutions can be complete without including wine storage. The experts at Hafele have different options: vertical and horizontal, wood, metal, plexi pull-outs and static storage. Your kitchen designer will help you select the best option for your wine storage.

In-drawer storage includes deep drawers

12. Deep Drawer Storage Solution for Dishes

Storing dishes, glasses, pots and pans and bakeware in a deep drawer rather than in a wall cabinet is a relatively recent storage innovation.

A piece of pegboard becomes the drawer bottom, then dowels, dividers and boxes can be placed to accommodate whatever you wish to store and organize.

There are other advantages to storing your plates in a deep drawer. Everything gets stored at waist level instead of up high, making it a more ergonomic solution. Storing more items below the counter is great for aging in place, as well.

13. Drawer Inserts.

An essential “must-have” for any organized space are drawer inserts for both cooking utensils and cutlery. When you order these for your new kitchen, you’ll appreciate the old saying: “A place for everything and everything in its place.”

Creative storage at its best - utensil and silverware storage
Utensil storage (left) and cutlery storage (right)

14. Tip-Out Sponge Storage.

This creative storage solution is a perennial favorite and has been around for years — for a good reason! A tip-out tray disguised as a drawer under the counter by the sink holds sponges and brushes. They are out of sight, but close at hand. Plastic or stainless steel inserts are available. Of course, this type of sponge storage doesn’t work if you choose an apron front sink.

15. Stainless Steel Custom Drawer Inserts

Custom fitted stainless steel drawer inserts take in-drawer storage to the next level. They’re attractive plus practical for keeping food fresh. You can get them as bread drawer inserts, produce drawer inserts, flour and sugar inserts. Further, they can be used for pet food storage and as a pet feeding drawer. 

Custom fitted stainless steel drawer inserts keep things fresh

16. In-Drawer Charger and In-Drawer Powering.

If you’re anti-clutter, this one’s for you. You can hide your devices inside a drawer while they’re charging, and keep cord clutter in your drawer and off the counter top. And it’s not for kitchens only. Plug in hair dryers and flat irons in the bathroom, then close the drawer and eliminate looking at tangled cords.

17. Utensil Bin Storage

Stop searching through drawers for utensils while you’re standing at the stove. This creative storage solution pull-put organizer for base cabinets features adjustable shelves with chrome rails to help keep everything in its place.

Pull out utensil bin storage
Creative storage system from Hafele

18. Hafele Fineline “Move” Drawer Organizer

Fineline Move is a combination of European and American styling in modular drawer organization. This system of multipurpose inserts holds and organizes everything from bowls to spices, jars of pasta sauce and condiments.

19. Wood K-Cup Drawer Insert.

Rev-A-Shelf will help you clean up your messy coffee station and organize your coffee pods. Full disclosure: this storage solution is available in other materials from many mass merchandisers. For instance, Wayfair, WalMart and Target. But the Rev-A-Shelf version is wood, and it can be trimmed to fit precisely into your drawer.

Coffee pod drawer organizer

20. Tupperware Container and Lids Organizer.

Bring sanity to the insanity that is plastic food storage containers-and-lids accumulation. This pull-out is nicely crafted with dovetail corners, chrome accent rails and soft close hardware. If you’ve every struggled to find the right lid for your container, you know you need this.

21. Over Refrigerator Swing-Out.

After corner storage space, the cabinet above the refrigerator is the most difficult space to access. For example, one solution is a swing-out shelf that brings the contents out to you in this small space.

Conclusion

The creative storage solutions presented here represent only a sample of the many available as you begin planning for your new kitchen. Some of the items shown can be built in by the cabinet manufacturer as part of your cabinet order, if you prefer.

The options are practically unlimited, thus working with a kitchen designer when planning out your new kitchen makes sense and guarantees great results.

Your designer will ask you how you use your kitchen, what items you have that need storage, how many people are in your family and how many of them like to cook, and other questions that let your designer know what kinds of storage options you need for your new kitchen.


KDP exists to offer insight and advice about all things related to kitchen remodeling. Our goal is to connect homeowners with talented, experienced kitchen designers who live and work in their communities. We are a serious resource for anyone preparing to remodel their kitchen so they can make the best possible choices about designers, contractors and products.