Innovative kitchen storage ideas for Indian homes

Sunita Vellapally Sunita Vellapally
Interiors, Seventh Sky Architects Seventh Sky Architects Classic style kitchen
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Kitchen storage can be quite complicated in any home as there are so many things to organize, whether it’s utensils, groceries, appliances or cutlery. When the kitchen is being designed, usually, the cabinets get the most importance. While they play a significant role in hiding away the clutter, unless the interiors of the cabinets are planned well it can be quite a challenge to keep it neat. Therefore, when one is designing the home, it’s essential to plan kitchen storage by including drawers and racks within the cabinets.

Besides this, accessibility to items within the cabinets should be easy. One can consult a professional kitchen planner or an interior architect for kitchen organization ideas. However, not everyone wants to give the kitchen an expensive makeover. Installing simple storage racks is one among the cheap kitchen storage ideas that one can utilize. A professional can also advise you on the dos and don’t to make the storage within the kitchen cabinets more accessible.

We’ve put together this ideabook to provide tips and inspiration for designing simple and effective kitchen storage solutions for Indian homes.

The role of cabinet doors in improving kitchen storage

Among the decisions one needs to make when designing kitchen cabinets is whether to have a single door or two doors. Of course, the size of the cabinet will determine the design. In general, a cupboard with a width of up to 24 inches can have a single door. For cupboards that are wider than 24 inches, two doors are recommended. The problem with an extra wide cupboard is that it will need a central post to provide support, and the post will hinder access to the kitchen storage. One can look at alternative designs such as cabinet doors that swing upwards or even a garage-style rolling shutter over a large cabinet.

When one is looking for kitchen storage ideas for small kitchens, a glass door on the cabinet is an excellent solution for making the area seem lighter. The disadvantage of a transparent glass door on the cabinet is that everything within it needs to be neatly arranged as it is always in view.

Don’t neglect the inner side of cabinet doors for kitchen storage

One of the small kitchen ideas that professionals use for kitchen cabinets is including pocket shelves or storage racks on the inner side of the cabinet doors. It’s an excellent solution for storing smaller items such as spice bottles.

Kitchen storage ideas for corners and edges

In any kitchen, especially those with L-shaped or U-shaped layouts, access to the storage in the corners near the wall can pose a challenge. A shelf alone won’t suffice as one will need to bend and stretch into the cabinet to access items that are in the deepest part of the corner. Fortunately, modern kitchens come with cleverly designed pots and pans storage racks, including those that are perfect for corner units. These include a carousel system, which is like the lazy Susan placed at the centre of round tables, or a swing out system that brings the inner part of the cupboard closer when the door is opened.

For kitchens that have curved island counters, designing curved doors is an efficient way to optimize space and prevent it from being wasted.

Designing shelves for kitchen storage

The advantage of custom designing the kitchen is that one has control over small details such as the height between the shelves. While one can install fixed shelves that are customized according to the size of one’s utensils, it’s best to opt for flexible shelves that can be easily adjusted to accommodate almost any size of pots and pans.

Baskets are another great idea for offering flexibility in the kitchen storage. They can be moved around quite easily and be used to store anything from crockery to fruits and vegetables. Another idea with baskets is to install them for storing perishables that need to breathe.

Cabinet inserts for efficient kitchen storage

POISE Modular Kitchen, Poise Poise Kitchen units

Among the ideas for improving the accessibility of kitchen storage inside cabinets is to install wire pull outs that make it easy to reach items stored at the back. However, the cons of wire pull out racks is that once it is loaded with things, the cabinet becomes quite hard to open. One can get around this by having separate pull out units for the upper and lower level shelves.

The quality of the wire also affects the working of pull-out wire racks. Therefore, a more reliable alternative is wooden drawers that are easier to operate. Drawers are quite versatile as one can even design them with two tiers to optimize the storage in the kitchen, besides making it easier to organize things within cabinets. Dividers are another option for keeping the interiors of drawers organized. They are especially useful for arranging cutlery.

Using the backsplash for kitchen storage

One of the neglected areas for storage in the kitchen is the backsplash. However, they present an alternative to kitchen cabinet storage ideas for pots and pans. All one needs to do is to fix rods with hooks on the backsplash or under the cabinets over the counters. Pots, pans, mugs, gloves and kitchen cloths can be hung from the hooks.

Another idea for vertical storage on the backsplash is to install a magnetic board on which metal spice bottles or knives can be stored.

A pantry cupboard for kitchen storage

In any kitchen, a pantry cupboard is an invaluable solution for storing ingredients, especially non-perishable items. However, the design of the cupboard should ensure that the items are all easy to view and access. That way, there’s no risk of storing food that is way beyond its expiry date.

How to plan kitchen storage?

Before planning the cabinets or the type of inserts to install within them, it’s essential to get an idea of the various things that need to be stored in the kitchen. Of course, certain items such as cooked food and perishable products will be stored in the refrigerator, but other than this, before designing kitchen storage, we recommend making a list of cooking ingredients stored outside the refrigerator, cooking equipment and utensils as well as items used for serving food. This list will give a basic idea of the area to be allocated to each category as well as the height of the shelves.

Besides this, don’t forget about the accessibility of the various items stored in the kitchen. For example, the pots and pans storage rack or cooking ladles should be close to the stove so that one can easily reach them when cooking. Similarly, the spice rack should be close to the stove. Cooking ingredients that aren’t used too often can be placed in the pantry cupboard in the corner of the kitchen. While the principal idea of designing kitchen storage is to keep the area neat and well organized, it should also ensure that the work flow in the kitchen is smooth. While one can use DIY solutions such as wire racks to expand or organize the storage, these are short term solutions and will only add to clutter in the long term. We recommend consulting a professional kitchen planner for help with designing efficient storage in the kitchen.

Which of these kitchen storage ideas is your favourite? Leave a comment.

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