If you are planning a kitchen remodel, then you know it is important to find a balance between style and functionality. Decluttering your kitchen is a key first step toward achieving an efficient and beautiful kitchen design. Once you have cleared out your kitchen, you can decide what you really need to store and find the ideal kitchen design layout and storage solutions to meet your needs and let your style shine.
Clear Everything Out for a Clean Slate
Your kitchen design storage solutions will handle anything you really need to store. Your first step to a decluttered kitchen is to carefully examine the contents of your kitchen and make sure you only keep what you actually use.
Take everything out of your kitchen cabinets, drawers, and pantry (you will need to do this anyway if you are starting a kitchen remodel). Get rid of anything that is out of date or broken. Donate items that you haven’t used in a long time and know that you will not use (we see you, healthy juicer!).
Now, examine what is left and make sure you are looking at items you know will be used in your new kitchen design. Work with your kitchen design expert to determine the best targeted storage solutions to handle everything you need to have available in your kitchen. They should be up on the latest trends in kitchen cabinets, storage accessories, and ergonomic storage ideas to help you find the best options for your kitchen.
Maximize your Layout and Kitchen Cabinet Design
Wasted space has no place in an efficient and stylish kitchen design, so make sure your kitchen remodel effectively utilizes your available space. Cabinetry design is key to creating enough storage and therefore essential to maintaining a clutter-free room. Take great care at the planning stage when deciding on your ideal layout and it will serve you well for years to come. How do you do this?
- Which layout fits best? Your kitchen design professional will help you create a layout that maximizes your room’s footprint, or you might decide to expand by bumping out or knocking down a wall. Choosing the right layout allows you to increase your efficiency in the kitchen, utilize all your storage and workspace, and create a stylish room that enhances your lifestyle.
- Include two islands if you have the room. Don’t overwhelm your room by shoehorning in a large island if you don’t really have the space. However, if your kitchen footprint allows it an island is an excellent way to increase storage. If you feel an island is right for you, include the largest island that makes sense for your space. In addition to storage, an island also provides extra workspace, seating for casual dining, and helps to break up key kitchen design work zones. Even better, in a spacious kitchen design consider incorporating more than one island. This allows you to focus one island on workspace while the other is reserved for entertainment and dining.
- Maximize storage with floor to ceiling cabinets. Get the most out of your kitchen cabinet plan by extending your cabinetry all the way to the ceiling. If the upper cabinets are too high for you to reach, then use them for items you don’t need regularly or consider including easy pull-down shelves.
Figure out what fits both your space and your family’s storage needs while also enhancing your style.
Perfect Pantry Solutions
Food is the heart and soul of any kitchen design, and nothing works harder to help you keep all your food supplies organized than a customized pantry. Whether you have space for a walk-in pantry, a full-service butler’s pantry, or are limited to a section of your kitchen cabinets, specialized storage will ensure every can, jar, and box of food has a place and is easily accessible.
A walk-in pantry is ideal, and you can even convert an underutilized closet or alcove adjacent to the kitchen if you don’t currently have a pantry. If this space is large, consider including an extra sink, countertop space, or even a second dishwasher. It will transform the way you prep and clean up and make entertaining a breeze.
If you don’t have space for a walk-in pantry, don’t worry! Designate a section of cabinetry as pantry storage and outfit it with customized storage. Even deep drawers can be included to accommodate small appliances and larger containers. Vary the size of your storage to suit different needs, like narrow pull outs just for bottles of oil and vinegar, small spice jars, or canned goods.
Pull-Outs, Rollouts, and Swing-Outs
Special storage inserts turn ordinary cabinets or corners into a storage dream. Pull-outs and rollouts allow you to easily access every item in a deep cabinet without difficulty and to manage your supply of food and essential items. Swing-outs are a game-changer for corner cabinets, where they turn a disorganized abyss into handy storage space, perfect for everything from small pots and pans to Tupperware.
Accessorize for Small Items
The most difficult things to declutter and store neatly are often the small items. From cutlery to small cooking utensils, spice jars to bag storage clips, small items can turn a drawer or cabinet into a chaotic mess. Custom inserts mean every item has a home, you only store the items that fit (forcing you to maintain your clutter free cabinets!), and you can more easily find everything. Drawer inserts are ideal for utensils or spices or install a spice shelf insert into a cabinet. Turn your “junk drawer” into a treasure trove with customized inserts to keep every item in place.
Deep Drawers with Custom Inserts
Drawers are a perfect solution for storing a multitude of items, but they work really well for heavy things like small appliances, pots and pans, and even dishware. Keep them from turning into a cluttered mess with storage dividers, peg systems, or inserts. These handy items will keep your dinner plates separate from your salad plates, your pots and their lids lined up, and small gadgets organized in a way that makes sense to you. By having these items organized in drawers you save your back from having to reach up high to lift down heavy items.
Stand Tall with Tray Dividers
Baking trays and cutting boards are some of the most frustrating items to keep in line. If you stack them, you may find they are too heavy to move around or topple over when you try to access the one you want. Vertical tray dividers are the answer, as they act like a neat filing system for your trays, keeping everything in line and easily accessible.
Hidden Gems
In an efficient kitchen design, every inch of storage space makes a different to maintaining a clutter-free kitchen. Work with your kitchen remodeling expert to figure out how to best utilize every corner, alcove, or nook to create valuable storage. Here are a few ideas.
- Corners can be a nightmare but when designed properly they transform into valuable storage space. Add swing outs or lazy susans to corner cabinets or include pie-cut drawers that look cool and fit perfectly.
- Toe Kick drawers utilize the narrow undercabinet spaces to create pop out drawers that are ideal for storing linens, baking trays, or other narrow items.
- Appliance Garages are ideal for those small appliances you want to have ready to go on your countertop. They are right there for daily use, but you can close the garage door and stow it away neatly when you are finished to keep your countertops clutter free.
Balance with Open Storage Solutions
Closed storage in the form of kitchen cabinets and an enclosed pantry are ideal for maintaining the look of your clutter free kitchen design. For a truly clutter free room make sure your cabinets don’t turn into a dumping ground by regularly clearing them out.
Open storage has its place in a neat, organized kitchen remodel too, but make sure you limit your open storage to a few essentials or carefully curated decorative items. Regularly clear off your open shelves and dust them to keep them looking crisp and clean.
Beverage Bar Solutions
Whether you like coffee or tea, martinis or wine, or just prefer a glass of ice-cold lemonade on a hot day, a beverage bar is an ideal addition to a well-organized kitchen design. In a large kitchen remodel include a stand-alone, customized beverage bar complete with its own sink, storage for drink supplies and glasses, and even a second dishwasher. If you don’t have space for this type of beverage bar, then a section of countertop and cabinetry with customized storage works perfectly, but just make sure it is away from the main cooking area.
Include Everyone in Your Storage Plan
When planning your storage solutions, make sure you consider everyone who will be using the space. In a busy kitchen design this could be not only the adults who will be cooking but also teens looking for a snack or doing homework, small kids wanting to do arts and crafts while you work in the kitchen, or pets roaming in and out for food, water, or a quiet place to sleep. Failing to consider the needs of everyone who uses the kitchen will lead to annoying clutter gathering in your new kitchen.
Include a charging station with a drawer for chargers, plus a designated space for snacks, homework, or crafts with storage for each to keep the kids happy. If furry family members are part of your life, then include a pet feeding station with drawers or cabinet shelves for food, leashes, medicine, toys, and other supplies. Think about where your pet’s bed will go too, so you won’t be tripping over it while cooking.
Specialized Storage for Your Interests
Think about what you like to do, how you use your kitchen, and therefore what you will need to store when planning kitchen storage. Your needs are unique, so be sure to outline your requirements for your kitchen design expert to help guide your storage needs at the planning stage.
- If you are an avid baker, then you probably love your kitchen baking gadgets and supplies. Include a mixer lift to easily store and access your stand mixer when you need it. Designate an area of cabinetry for baking trays, whisks, measuring cups, and other baking gadgets. Set aside a section of pantry storage or keep a separate mini pantry in your baking zone for flour, sugar, vanilla, and other baking essentials.
- Whether you are instant pot mad or love creating homemade flavors in your ice cream maker, if you love specialty cooking you probably have a lot of gadgets and accessories. Keep them from cluttering countertops or kitchen cabinet shelves by creating custom storage so every item has as home. This could be in your main cabinetry or in your walk-in pantry, depending on your available space and how frequently you use them.
- Are you the destination for family, friends, and neighbors when it comes to holiday entertaining? If so, you probably have special serving trays, linens, and possibly even dishes that only come out for these occasions. Don’t let them clog up your everyday storage, leaving you less room to organize your main kitchen tools and supplies. Utilize storage space such as a high pantry shelf or an upper cabinet to keep these items out of the way but ready when you need them.
What else is important to you in your kitchen? Decide how you will use your kitchen design, who will use it, and what you need to store. Then create customized storage solutions to maintain a clutter-free, efficient, and stylish kitchen remodel that will enhance your lifestyle for years to come. Visit our project gallery to get inspired and then contact us to start planning your new kitchen design!
