Cabinets and Accessories

Most homeowners agree that you can’t have too many kitchen cabinets. Unfortunately, many of us are limited by budgets (cabinets are usually the largest expense in a kitchen remodel) and the number of cabinets we can fit into our floor plans. Here’s how you can make the most of your existing cabinets or reduce the number of new ones you need.

Wall Cabinets
Today’s open floor plans, multitude of windows and popularity of kitchen islands and peninsulas have decreased the role of wall cabinets compared with kitchen designs of the past. These cabinets are best reserved for items you use every day or, if they’re equipped with glass doors, for decorative items you want to display. Because they are relatively shallow, they’re best used for glassware, cups, mugs and small plates. They’re not as good for storing food because items in the back are often difficult to reach and to see. You can add accessories, however, that can make wall cabinets’ contents more accessible. For example:

• Baskets or other containers help keep cabinets organized and prevent small items such as gravy packets from getting lost. Place baskets on cabinet shelves close to where you’re likely to need their contents. Give each basket a theme, such as coffee making (for filters, a measuring spoon, sweeteners, etc.), beverage service (for a corkscrew, stoppers, bottle openers) or tools (for screwdrivers, tape measure, hammer).

• Cabinet door racks (hung on the inside) utilize space that would otherwise be wasted and offer easy access to small items. They are a great way to organize spices.
• Three-tier “stepped” organizers can help keep small cans and jars, such as spices, visible.

• “Helper” shelves take advantage of the vertical space in cabinets by adding a second shelf above an existing one. These shelves help to avoid tall stacks of items. It’s much easier to get to a serving platter if you don’t have six bowls resting on top of it.

• Pull-down shelves are good for hard-to-reach spots (such as over the fridge). They bring contents down to your level and then fold back up again.

• Step stools are another good way to reach upper shelves that are often underutilized. Many fold compactly and can be stored in narrow spaces — even in the toekick under a base cabinet. Others roll on wheels so you can slide them into a closet when they aren’t needed. If you have a small kitchen with high ceilings, you could even install a second row of wall cabinets above the first and use a rolling library ladder to reach them.

• Adjustable shelving is a must for getting the most out of a wall cabinet. Storing mugs that are 3 in. high in a shelf space that is 8 in. high is a waste of space. Adjustable shelves can be positioned to best accommodate each cabinet’s contents.

• Dividers are common in base cabinets, but they’re great for storing baking pans, cutting boards and serving platters in wall cabinets, too. You only have to be able to reach the lower corner of a cookie sheet to pull it down.

Base Cabinets
Base cabinets with doors are slowly giving way to base cabinets with drawers (Photo 1). Drawers offer greater accessibility: They make it easy to grab items that were once nearly impossible to reach because they were stuck on a fixed shelf at the back of a base cabinet. Items are also easier to see because you can pull them into the light.

Base cabinet drawers use space efficiently as well, taking advantage of every cubic inch inside the cabinet. With heavy-duty full-extension slides, base cabinet drawers can handle heavy items, and they open and close with the touch of a finger. Also, all family members, from children to the elderly, can reach what’s inside base cabinets with drawers.

Even so, traditional base cabinets with doors still have their uses. They are ideal for storing large items such as baking trays, and they are well-suited to pantry-type storage with roll-out wire-basket shelving.

Base cabinets are getting bigger. Many homeowners and designers are opting for deeper, 30-in. base cabinets instead of standard 24-in.-deep units. In return for 6 in. of floor space, you get significantly bigger drawers and shelves. Countertops are deeper, too, with more space for canisters, appliances and large cutting boards — not to mention food preparation.

If you’re buying new cabinets, take full advantage of base cabinet options — even if it means cutting your budget in other areas. Buy fewer upper cabinets, or select a less expensive countertop material. Fancy granite countertops won’t do you much good if you spend frustrating minutes each day trying to find things buried in the back of dark cabinets.

If you are reorganizing an existing kitchen, you can find plenty of after-market kits to add organizers to base cabinets. Pullout trays, sometimes called rollouts, improve capacity and accessibility in any base cabinet, and they’re easy to install, even with the existing shelf in place.

Drawer Options
Drawers are often afterthoughts in kitchen design, but they can make a big difference in organization. When reviewing your plans, consider what you want to store in drawers. Wide, shallow drawers are good for utensils and other kitchen gadgets. Avoid deep drawers for these items because they will just end up piled on top of one another. However, deep drawers do make sense for storing pots and pans, dishes and small appliances (Photo 2).

Make use of adjustable drawer dividers or dish caddies to keep items separated. Drawer inserts can help you establish one specific spot for each knife, ladle or spice jar. Some drawers have two tiers of storage (the top tier slides aside so you can get to the bottom tier), doubling their capacity for organizing small, flat items. Adjustable pegboard inserts keep dishes from sliding around when drawers are opened and closed.

Some designers recommend waiting until you’ve moved into your kitchen to decide how to organize drawers. You don’t have to buy built-in drawer organizers; adding them later is easy — and less expensive. If you have old drawers that don’t pull out all the way, look into replacing the drawer boxes with new ones that have full-extension slides.

Pantry Cabinets
Almost all kitchens end up with leftover spaces that are too narrow for full-width cabinets. Pullout pantries are an efficient way to put these narrow spaces to work. Think of a pullout pantry as a single tall, narrow drawer (usually 9 to 15 in. wide) with long, narrow shelves. They’re ideal for storing dry goods because items are easy to see.

A more traditional pantry cabinet with doors usually consists of shelves on the inside of the doors plus either pullout wire shelves or foldout wooden shelves inside. Once again, the key to their storage efficiency is that each shelf is narrow so you can see all items and food doesn’t get lost in the back. Both types of pantries are usually available as base cabinets or tall cabinets meant to match the height of your refrigerator or upper cabinets. Full-height Lazy Susan systems are also available for corners.

Corner Cabinets
Corner cabinets are difficult to access, but a wide range of hardware options can help (photos 3 and 4). Lazy Susans are a great if your corner cabinet footprint is fairly square (as opposed to rectangular) and the cabinet door is in the corner (not off to one side). Corners that are set at a 45-degree angle can take best advantage of the space with a full-circle or D-shape Lazy Susan.

Lazy Susans are best-suited for small items. (The post in the middle doesn’t allow room for larger items.) Though convenient, these accessories can make cabinets difficult to clean, and if something falls off the shelf, it may be difficult to retrieve. (To help prevent that problem, opt for a unit with sides that are at least an inch high.) Lazy Susans get a lot of wear and tear, so choose a heavy-duty one that is built to last.

Another option for cabinets with a corner door is an “easy reach” cabinet. Its large door opening and two fixed L-shape shelves make it easier to see and reach items in the back. It is ideal for storing oversize items such as large bowls or pots.

Drawers are another possibility for corner cabinets. They work best in 45-degree corners, but some cabinet manufacturers even offer 90-degree corner drawers. You lose some of the space in the back, but if you need more drawers in that particular area of the kitchen, this may be your best choice.

The other type of corner cabinet is a rectangular “blind” cabinet (where the cabinet door is on one side of the corner or the other). A good, though pricey, solution is a blind-cabinet pullout system. This usually involves two upper baskets and two lower baskets that pull out and then slide over so you can reach the contents of each one. Because the baskets are rectangular, they make excellent use of the space in a blind cabinet. However, they depend on a sophisticated mechanism, so be sure the one you buy has a good warranty. A less-expensive option (though it doesn’t maximize space as efficiently) is a half-circle (also called a “half-moon”) Lazy Susan.

Sink Cabinets
Storing items under the sink is often challenging because of the plumbing in the cabinet, the possibility of leaks and the need for access to make repairs. Quarter-round shelving in the rear corners is helpful but not easy to reach. U-shape roll-out shelving that fits below or around the pipes is preferable, but it should be easy to remove so you can access valves. A low-tech solution is a pair of cleaner caddies. You can devote one to supplies for cleaning windows, counters and appliance surfaces and the other to tougher jobs, such as floors and ovens.

Of all the storage spaces in a kitchen, sink cabinets typically contain the most hazardous substances. If young children live in or visit your home, buy safety locks for the doors. You can choose from a variety of options, most of which are inexpensive and effective.

Kitchen Islands
Kitchen islands (Photo 5) can be as simple as a grouping of base cabinets or shelving units with a countertop or butcher block on top, but they can also be much more elaborate. Islands can incorporate snack bars, kitchen offices, sinks and any number of appliances. When considering an island for your kitchen, think about how it can improve storage and organization. Moving a cooktop to an island, for example, will free counter space and wall space (previously devoted to the vent hood) near the range. Installing a sink or an under-counter microwave also in an island is another way to clear perimeter counter space.

Placement of the island is important as well. You’ll want the storage it provides to be convenient for the activities it supports. Many islands can be made deep or long enough to have cabinets or drawers on one side and shelves on the other — ideal for storing cookbooks or to build in a small kitchen office. In a small kitchen, consider an island on wheels so you can move storage and counter space wherever you need it and park it out of the way when it’s not in use.

Whatever island design you choose, be sure to include towel bars and hooks for dishtowels and potholders. Also include an outlet strip so you can operate countertop appliances without an extension cord.