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In standard upper cabinets with two or three shelves, it's...

In standard upper cabinets with two or three shelves, it's easily to add an extra shelf. Credit: © Photovs/Dreamstime

It's true that you can never have too much storage, especially in the kitchen. Even if you think you've maximized all your kitchen cabinet space, you might be surprised to find that there is still more storage to be found and utilized in your cabinets.

Cabinet renovation

One of the instant changes is to make inaccessible cabinet space more accessible by installing cabinet drawers. The problem is that there is often a center stile — or vertical piece of wood — in cabinets with two doors. This center stile, when removed, can allow you to install drawers in your cabinets that greatly improve your storage capacity. For cabinets with a narrow span, removing the stile shouldn't be a problem. The wider the span between the two doors, though, the more there's a potential for sagging in the middle.

Cabinets that meet at the center and have no stile, though, can easily be fitted with drawers. If your cabinets close on the stile and don't meet in the center and the stile shows, it can be carefully removed and then added to one of the cabinet doors so that when they're closed, the stile still appears to be there. Look online for how-to's on this project. Check with a carpenter or cabinetmaker if you're not sure if the center stile removal will cause support problems.

For kitchens with tall ceilings or cabinets that don't go all the way to the ceiling, give some thought to adding cabinets above. It's an easy way to get more space above the cabinets that's going unused. The toe-kick, or the base of the cabinets, is often merely a piece of wood that covers the empty space beneath the cabinet. This is space that can be used by adding toe-kick drawers. These make great storage for baking sheets, cooling racks and pans.

Extra shelves

In standard upper cabinets with two or three shelves, it's easy to add an extra shelf. This is especially helpful to add more storage if you have a lot of height between your dishes and the shelf above. Or, use cup hooks. They're old-fashioned, sure, but they get your cups off the shelves and give you storage under them. Look at the space under your cabinets, too. The backsplash when outfitted with shallow shelves is a great spot to store glassware or coffee mugs.

Set it out

Get more storage out of your cabinets by displaying your dishes or cookware. Add a platter rack to a wall that not only displays your platters but frees up more space in your cabinets. Cookware removed and placed on a pot étagère is a storage-friendly way to store pots more efficiently and display them at the same time. Don't overlook other simple ideas such as racks installed on the backsides of cabinet or pantry doors, pegboard, and magnetic knife strips. Hooks on the back of cabinet doors can hold spatulas, measuring cups or hot mitts. Mount shelves on the sides of cabinets to hold cookbooks or racks for kitchen utensils. And, lastly, use Lazy Susans. These hardworking kitchen items help you find what you're looking for fast, keep your cabinets neat and they're so much fun to spin.

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