In The Kitchen: Small Organizing Changes make a Big Difference

A coffee maker, a dish drainer, and a toaster oven took over my kitchen workspace.

These three items occupied over 16 square feet of granite countertop in my diminutive kitchen making it very challenging to use the countertop for actual cooking prep.  Never mind the cost ratio of the items : square foot of granite occupied.  Pure craziness!

Folks, my countertop space is expensive priceless kitchen real estate because we've already expanded our kitchen footprint as far as it can go!  I had to figure out how to deal with my kitchen gridlock so I could actually cook in the kitchen.

 Here's some of the changes I've come up with so far; perhaps you'll find an idea here for tweaking your kitchen's organization or some thought in this post will spark your own creative organizing (if so, please share your tips and tricks ... my organizing battle isn't over yet :)

{Coffee service - coffee maker, grinder, frother, et al, are stored in an under-cabinet pull-out unit  located directly under the countertop area where they are used.}

{Storage space under the sink cabinet was reclaimed / reconfigured by first installing a pull-out unit under the garbage disposal (right) so multiple bottles of cleaning supplies, etc could be stored in that shortened and tight space but remain accessible.  By containing the "bottle sprawl" that had once filled the cabinet from side to side but was now limited to a section of the cabinet we created an entirely open space on the left side of the cabinet, which we used to (see next photo) .... }

{... store our SimpleHuman dish drainer when not in use.  Because both the basket and drain board has rigid square sides they can stand upright without additional assistance; not all dish drainers could do this, so if you'd like to reclaim some counter space perhaps a new dish drainer is a very cost effective way to do so.  Also, we have a very deep sink and still the dish drainer fits under the sink.  You may wonder about the dish drainer leaving a puddle in the cabinet?  So far we've found that by the time items air dry, so does the unit!  And if not completely dry, a quick wipe of the board before storage solves that problem.  We've found the trade off between open counter space and wiping the drain board perfectly acceptable!}

So onto he toaster oven; it moved just 5 big steps away from its previous location to a gigantic storage cabinet on the perimeter of the kitchen.  We get the toaster oven out when needed and carry it to the countertop; it looks bulky but is lightweight so this works just fine.

The cabinet holding the toaster oven has 5 full-extension shelves that each hold 75 lbs. as well as smaller stationary storage on the right side; this cabinet was planned as an "appliance garage".  Until now I had just never considered storing the toaster oven ... it seemed like it should be on the countertop.   Silly me!

{Our "appliance garage" with full-extension pull out drawers; each drawer holds up to 75 lbs.  We store a lot in here: toaster oven as shown, stand mixer, ice cream maker, food processor, accessory bowls for all the appliances, bread maker, large boxes of food wraps such as plastic and foil, paper towels, even some stemware, and lots of other stuff too!}

{Our appliance garage showing the pull-out drawers.  You can see this is a very.large.full.height.cabinet.  Typically, appliance garages occupy deep corners on top of counter tops, but a free standing cabinet such as this can be great if you have the space.  And keep this in mind, if you can't remodel a kitchen to add storage, but you do have space for a large free standing cabinet adjacent to the kitchen, perhaps this  approach would allow you to add storage capacity and free-up counter space!}

Since I now think of the toaster over as mobile, I've discovered a wonderful unexpected benefit ...

{Toaster oven in use under the exhaust hood.  The appliance is sitting on a silicone cooking mat to protect the glass cooktop AND the cooktop burners are in LOCK mode so they cannot be turned on.}

... when toasting bread etc we just use the toaster oven on the counter, but when used to cook - like crab cakes the other night (which can leave a lingering odor), I place the toaster oven on my cooktop under the exhaust hood (duh!!!!) and like magic, there's no lingering cooking smell :)   I do have a full size oven, but sometimes, like for 2 crab cakes, the toaster oven seems to be a more appropriate appliance.


SAFETY NOTE: before using the glass cooktop as a work surface I:
1) use the LOCK feature to prevent burner(s) from being accidently turned on

{The cooktop controls.  The CONTROL LOCK is on so the burners cannot be turned on accidently.}

2) cover the glass cooktop with a silicone cooking mat to prevent scratches THEN place the toaster oven on top

{A silicone cooking mat provides the cooktop with protection against scratches when the toaster oven is placed there AND prevents any transfer of heat from the toaster oven since the silicone mat insulates against high temps.}

So where else in the kitchen can I apply this "pull-out" magic?

Well, my 15" wide x 24" deep, floor to ceiling open storage area was not being effectively used.  I just had books right at the front of the unit and a good 18" of depth was going unused (and I had more cookbooks to store, too).   So ... baskets!

{Baskets recently purchased at HomeGoods are a perfect solution for increasing cook book storage ... by sliding the basket out I can store and reach cookbooks that I use less frequently (see next photo).  Important to note is these baskets are very sturdy with a metal frame that is wrapped to look like a basket; not sure how well rattan only would hold up to this use.}

{With the basket removed you can see the second row of cookbooks.}

{To help the baskets easily glide and  not scratch the shelf finish I placed some FLOR carpet samples underneath!  (currently pulled out in the above photo).  I purchased a lot of samples a while back when shopping for FLOR tiles and thought this a perfect way to recycle!  Because of the rubber-like backing used on FLOR tiles the carpet holds to the basket and doesn't slip out of place.}

Have time to see one more thing?   It is a "pull around" and I think it's pretty nifty ... we figured out how to "add" countertop space on an as needed basis!

IKEA kitchen cart + wheels = mobile add-on countertop!

{The kitchen cart resides in the center of the kitchen as a pseudo-island; it's a great landing pad for items coming out of the oven (notice the metal grid on top I use as a "trivet") as well as handing to hold items going in / coming out of the fridge.  We've also added pull-out baskets so the cart provides storage and at the bottom is our "holding bin" for recycling that we take to the garage at night.}

But when I prepare large feasts and need more space the cart goes into action:

{The "kitchen island" adding countertop workspace at the cooktop.  The granite countertop and the island butcher block top are exactly the same height.}

Or,

{The "kitchen island" adding countertop workspace to the prep area between the sinks.}

These small changes add up to a big difference in available workspace and the kitchen is much more usable.  I'm still not pleased with the kitchen decor (that brown wall has got to go) but that's another day ... it will happen, just don't know when.  In the meantime I'll work on more areas in need of organizing and will post on that topic throughout January, sort of my ode to kicking off a new year, basics first ... don't you know!  So if you have the organizing bug too please stop back and see if I've made any progress and motivate me on my quest to get this house put back together!  (You can read my posts on our kitchen activities over the past 18 months and the house fire that started with our dishwasher here ... that's why I say "put the house back together".)

So how about your kitchen; love or hate your storage options?  Any changes or updates planned for your kitchen?  Want to share any kitchen problems driving your crazy and see what others have to suggest?  Feel free to leave it all in the comments below!

Thanks for visiting and Bye for now!

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