Your kitchen storage space requirements depend upon your cooking and shopping habits, the size of the household and your individual lifestyle. If stored items are organised, then finding and accessing them becomes much easier and quicker. A skilled kitchen designer can work with you to improve your storage space utilisation – enhancing both ergonomics and access.
The use of shelves in base cabinets is poor ergonomics: It makes it very difficult to find items as it is impossible to gain an overview of the entire cabinet contents. It is quite common for a kitchen user to have to bend and stretch when searching for something. Equally they frequently have to remove the contents at the front in order to get to the items at the back.
Drawers and pull-outs, on the other hand, provide a good overview and direct access. They offer a ‘smarter solution for corner, sink and larder units allowing your organisation options to remain flexible. Lateral and cross dividers as well as containers made from dishwasher-proof stainless steel can be removed and rearranged to suitable individual storage requirements.
An ‘all-drawer kitchen design’ provides 50 per cent more storage than a conventional one. Also the streamlined look of the design exudes style and sophistication while combining functionality with overall aesthetic appeal.
Choosing drawers for your lower cabinets provides far more flexibility meaning kitchen elements can be stored and retrieved easily. Baseline drawers are also better for storing large items such as pots, frying pans and casseroles. Whilst rollout trays provide similar functionality they require additional cabinetry: doors and rollout trays.
There are now many clever solutions for the ‘blind kitchen corner cabinet’ available. Utilising this area for items that you don’t need to access regularly is often the best solution. However, if you don’t have the luxury of space then products such as a Lazy Susan (and the pull-out Lazy Susan) can greatly increase the accessible space. A wide range of other solutions are also now available such as sliding, swinging or expanding systems.
Companies such as Haefele and Blum have a great range of kitchen drawer storage and organisation accessories in a large range of styles to help manage kitchen drawer chaos and help streamline food preparation. These accessories actually create more space by organizing your kitchen drawers.
Popular kitchen accessories include drawer inserts, drawer dividers, twin cutlery dividers, drawer spice tray, utensil organisers, modular drawer organisers, expandable drawer organizers, and knife organizers.