Greg Wall. (Submitted photo)
Steve Solomon. (Submitted photo)
The holidays have a way of revealing how much or how little space your kitchen has. Between holiday cooking, family gatherings and everyone reaching for something in the same cabinet, a small kitchen can feel even smaller. Adding square footage is always the best option, but let’s make the most of the space you already have. You may be surprised by how much storage is hiding in plain sight.
Recently, we surveyed customers’ top concerns when starting a kitchen renovation, and the number one answer was storage space, especially in older homes. Whether you have a galley kitchen in a row house, a historic home kitchen or something in between, space can be limited. The days of separate kitchens, pantries and dining rooms are gone. Now the kitchen serves as the central living area, hosting gatherings, homework sessions, an office, family dinners and, oh yeah, cooking.
When addressing this concern, start by looking up. Is there room above your cabinets? What’s there? A cabinet top or an empty bulkhead? Many older kitchens have 30-inch cabinets. Post-WWII kitchens typically used 12-inch, 24-inch, or 30-inch upper cabinets, often installed to fit 8-foot ceilings. In the 1980s, 36-inch upper cabinets became common as room designs evolved. But it wasn’t until the late 1990s, when open-floor plans and 9-foot ceilings became standard, that 39- or 42-inch upper cabinets were introduced to reach the ceiling and eliminate dead storage space.
If your ceiling height allows, upgrading from 30-inch to 39-inch cabinets can give you the equivalent of two to four more cabinet spaces without adding more cabinets or changing your kitchen’s footprint.
Another space-saving option is to use drawers. Do you find expired items at the back of your cabinets, or do you have 2 or 3 of the same can openers because they get pushed to the back? The appeal of cabinets is overrated; drawers offer more efficient storage. They allow for varying depths and slide out fully, eliminating the need to kneel or reach into dark corners. Everything is visible from above, unlike in cabinets, where items at the back are hidden.
Make the most of every inch of your kitchen space with a few more smart options. Pull-out drawers or sliding shelves can make deep lower cabinets much easier to see and reach items stored in the back. Narrow pull-outs can turn the small gaps beside appliances into useful storage areas for spices, cooking utensils, or other essentials. You can even put often-overlooked space to work by installing toe-kick drawers beneath your base cabinets. These drawers are an ideal spot for storing flat items such as baking sheets, cutting boards, or serving trays.
With the right planning, even a small kitchen can feel more spacious, organized and ready for everything the holidays and everyday life bring.
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Wall to Wall Construction, LLC is here to help. Contact us to start planning a kitchen that gives you more space, more function and more enjoyment. For more information, visit WallToWall.net or contact us at Info@Wall2WallConstruction.com or 410-788-3990.
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