Whether your kitchen is large or small, there’s a good chance there’s wasted space that could be used for storage. We’ve already investigated quite a few of these in the first 6 instalments of Controlling Kitchen Chaos, and this time around we’re looking at the highs and lows.
Up High
If you raise your eyes upwards, you’ll most likely find that your cabinetry doesn’t go all the way to the roof. In a way that makes sense, because very few people would be tall enough to reach inside cupboards at that height anyway!
But equally, if your cabinets don’t reach the ceiling, they can be a major dust trap which is hard to clean.
In its simplest form, you can potentially put decorative items on top of your cabinets if there’s enough space.
If the gap is fairly small, though, consider some kind of matching or decorative face plate. Perhaps even a strip of cornicing. Kind of like a kick space, but at the top of your cabinets rather than the bottom. If nothing else, it will prevent massive amounts of gross stuff collecting there – or at least you won’t be able to reach it, so won’t feel obliged to keep it clean!
If the gap is bigger, then consider adding a row of small cupboards to fill the gap. That extra space can really come in handy for rarely used items, and you might even find it useful as a storage space for things that don’t normally reside in a kitchen, if you’re short on storage elsewhere in the house.
Remember, though, you will need to have a stool or foldable steps handy for the times when you do need to get up high – no climbing on bench tops!
Down Low
Most kitchen cabinets stop short of the floor, and the bottom part is either left open to enable cleaning underneath, or the kick space is covered by a strip of board.
Take a look at the space, and you might be surprised to realise that you can fit a row of shallow drawers along the bottom of your cabinets. Low, flat drawers are a great home for things like baking trays or cutting boards.
You can also use them as a place to throw paper recycling until collection day, assorted linens and tablecloths, bottles of wine, some of your more exotic utensils that don’t get used much, or even pantry items that are quite flat. Use your imagination!
So there you have it – if you want to find more space in your kitchen that you can use to help control kitchen chaos, try looking up and down.