Convenient and Space-Saving Cabinet Organizing Ideas

Tis the season for spring cleaning and the time to organize all the things!! — so we thought you’d enjoy these tips and dreamily organized cabinets. Plus, stay tuned for some related tutorials

Time to Get You Home Back In Order: Four Common Organizational Challenges Solved

By Laura Nicosia of ShelfGenie

Under the Sink

BATHROOMS

The small area under the bathroom sink can be difficult to access because of the obstructions found there (pipes, disposals, water lines etc.). It also is an area that is used daily with a lot of wasted space. Reclaim that space with the use of glide-out shelving and attached risers.

Custom built shelving and risers use the lost space around the pipes, creating additional storage. The wide lip of the glide-out shelves also act as a “handle” that can be reached without bending down. With a gentle touch of a finger everything under the sink will slide out into the light where the items can be seen and retrieved. Frequently used items can be kept on the riser while taller items store well on the lower drawer.

THE KITCHEN

Think about how often the items under the kitchen sink are used. Because this area is used repeatedly every day, a permanent solution to gain access is one of the most beneficial additions you can add to your kitchen. If space allows, a pull out trash receptacle can be installed by attaching the cabinet door to the new Glide-Out. Prep work can be done with the trash drawer extended and the cabinet door stays clean.

Another option is the installation of a riser – a “second level” to a lower pull out shelf attached by a mounting board. The riser is custom-sized to fill the open space in front of or to the side of the pipes and disposal and maximize the storage space. By pulling the riser out of the cabinet, the bottom drawer comes out too, bringing your stored items within easy reach.

The Pantry

Fewer areas are more frustrating to use than a drywall pantry loaded with food. It is equally impossible to reach items all the way in the back until it becomes a mystery as to what’s actually stored back there. Because of this, people tend to overbuy food items they already have and amass a pantry full of old canned goods. All of these problems can be solved with the installation of a custom pantry system.

Glide-out shelving allows for all the various clearances needed to store pantry items. Less commonly used bulk foods are placed on a drawer located at floor level along with cans. Shorter items can be placed in drawers that are spaced closer together at eye level where labels are easily read. The cans are organized in rows by type so the owner knows what is there and when a replacement is needed. When new items are purchased, simply pull the row forward and place the new ones in the back for instant rotation. By placing pantry items in drawers custom-designed according to height, wasted space is avoided and all the items are visible when the drawer is pulled out.

The Tupperware Drawer

Similar to the pantry, another serious pain point for most clients is the cabinets where they stores their plastic containers. These items seem to multiply and never stay where they are placed. It is easy to keep this area under control with the addition of deeper pull out shelves.

A 5-inch deep drawer helps to keep these lightweight items from sliding off the back of the drawer and a moveable divider creates the perfect place to store the lids upright along one side. With the lids secured by the divider, all the container bottoms can be nested on the other side of the divider. This system is easy to organize and easy to maintain.

Appliance Storage

Large heavy appliances are among the most difficult items to store. They take up a lot of space and their weight makes them difficult to move. No one likes unloading the mixer in the front of a cabinet to reach the waffle iron in the back, then re-loading everything again. In this cabinet, the existing stile makes removing the appliances even more difficult. A stile is the vertical piece that extends from the top to the bottom of a cabinet where the doors close. Most people find them annoying because the stile makes it so difficult to remove the items stored in the cabinet-especially large items like appliances and skillets with long handles.

In order to install pull out shelves in this cabinet, the stile was removed and attached to the left cabinet door. When the doors open, the entire width of the cabinet is available and the pullout shelves are installed to accommodate the taller items on the bottom shelf and a second pull out shelf above this for the more shallow items. The result is increased storage and access to everything in the cabinet.

Laura Nicosia is the owner of ShelfGenie in San Antonio, where she helps her clients with the design and installation of custom designed shelving solutions in the home.-

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