Masters Home Improvement

To make a busy kitchen work efficiently, adequate storage is essential.

Here are some nifty ideas and must-have products that will minimise clutter and help keep everything at your fingertips.   

Drawer solutions

An abundance of kitchenware, food items and small appliances can turn your kitchen into a muddled mess if you don’t have adequate storage.

While larger things were once hidden away in cupboards, the modern take is to utilise drawers for, well, virtually everything! Innovative drawer units offer various sizes and styles – they’re no ‘one-size fits all’ these days.

Now drawers can be used to store pots and pans, small appliances, dinnerware and cutlery. Even the old ‘junk drawer’ has been updated with separate compartments to minimise mess.

Whether the kitchen is full of busy cooks, guests or kids, soft-closing mechanisms for doors and drawers are a godsend – they prevent slamming, improve the drawers’ longevity and can be retrofitted on any door with new hinges.

Pantry options

A pantry can be tailored to suit the layout and your requirements. When designing or remodelling, it must have good ventilation and low humidity.

For a modest kitchen, a slender pull-out pantry can keep all items at hand. But for a large family kitchen, a walk-in pantry or a wide floor-to-ceiling unit is ideal.

To utilise more pantry space, refit an unused corner space, replacing it with a rotating lazy susan unit for easy access to food items.

And remember, many designers suggest that when figuring out how many shelves and cupboards you need, add at least a third!

Organisation tips

You’ll love your pantry if everything is clearly visible and within easy reach.

Deep shelves mean that little used items get pushed to the back, never to be seen again, so kitchen designers have solved these problems.

U-shaped shelving and shallower shelves help to keep everything in plain view.

If space is tight, racks can be attached to the inside walls of the pantry or on the back of the door. Use baskets, drawers, air-tight and stackable containers to keep everything neat and organised.

Clear the decks

A great way to keep the kitchen clean and the benchtops tidy is to have a bin fitted inside a cabinet.

If you have the room, multiple bins can be used to separate rubbish and recyclables. Having these bins close at hand makes it much easier to clean as you go.

Appliance corner

Coffee maker, toaster, juicer, food processor – you need a place to keep all those appliances near at hand yet out of the way.

An appliance corner is a dedicated cupboard where all these necessities are kept. By adding a powerpoint or two inside the cupboard means the appliance can be ready to go in seconds.

Recipe collection and ornaments

No-one needs bits of paper shoved in the back of drawers, yet most of us have ripped out a recipe from a magazine or newspaper and then had nowhere to file it.

A simple solution is to buy a folder and divide it into sections, then pop the recipe into a plastic sleeve and file accordingly.

For favourites you want to keep, consider having them laminated so the page becomes stiff and is easy to stand up on the benchtop.

Make a separate folder for takeaway menus when you want to give yourself a break from cooking.

While you’re at it, create a folder for appliance instruction manuals. They seem to disappear like socks in the laundry!

Shortcut shopping

Before going to the supermarket, check your pantry first to see if you need to re-stock any items.

To speed up the process, hang a whiteboard or notice board on the back of the pantry door, and update the list regularly.

Likewise, a well-placed blackboard where the whole family can jot reminders means you’ll never be out of breakfast cereal again!

For more ideas and inspiration, and to see the latest product ranges, visit your local Masters Home Improvement store.