Home Buyers: Tips for Maximizing Limited Kitchen Storage Space

Kitchens and garages are often carefully scrutinized when shopping for a home. Why? My theory is that much of the home’s storage space is located in the kitchen area and in the garage.

Considering the scarcity of basements in our region, storage space claims an even higher spot on an Arizona home buyer’s list of requirements. As a matter of fact, I regularly run into buyers, my wife included, who have even suggested that lack of pantry space specifically, would be an absolute deal-breaker.

So what can you do when your home-buying budget or the available homes for sale, dictate that you choose a home with a modest kitchen, a pocket pantry or less-than-adequate storage in the cook’s domain? Organization and a little creativity can find you pleasantly surprised at how much usable space is available in your kitchen.

Tips for Organizing a Small Pantry

If you don’t have the luxury of a walk-in pantry closet, then creating an organization strategy is a must in order to avoid buying products you already have or throwing away products that expired because they were forgotten about in the way-back.

Follow these steps to put your small pantry in order for a more efficient kitchen and more productive trips to the grocery store.

– Take advantage of vertical space. Embrace stacking, tiered and hanging storage organizers to take advantage of every inch of space and still be able to see and access items. Consider these suggestions from BuzzFeed.

– Invest in clear storage bins for dry goods and baking items. You’ll be better able to see everything you have if it’s taken out of its original packaging and transferred to a clear container. Stackable bins will also help you fit more items in your pantry cabinet and keep products fresher as well.

– Label away. Labeling goes hand-in-hand with your clear storage system so you can quickly identify the contents within each container. Be sure to add a purchase or expiration date (if the item came with one) to your label as well. Attractive re-writable labels are available a minimal cost from Amazon and other popular on-line retailers.

– Use turntables. Install a turntable or two to group and store similar items, such as canned foods or spices. Also a low-cost item, turn tables allow you to view and remove cabinet contents without disturbing everything else.

– Use bleacher-style shelving. This type of storage unit is great spaces and baking ingredients, but also work well for larger items, like soup cans. Tiered shelving allows you to see what’s in the back row, which helps prevent back-of-the-closet syndrome… or the dreaded funky food disaster.

– Utilize doors. The inside of cabinets and pantry doors provide a treasure trove of underutilized storage space. Get an over-the-door hanging shelf unit to store even more items. You can also mount a row of hooks to hang dish towels, aprons and oven mitts. House Beautiful offers 15 brilliant suggestions for adding storage space to cabinet doors.

– Add a bookshelf. You can instantly add additional storage space in your kitchen with a traditional bookshelf. Use it to hold pots, cookbooks, dishes, canisters of frequently used cooking ingredients, etc. Inexpensive assemble-it-yourself bookshelves can last an unlimited amount of time and can be purchased in a wide variety of wood grains and colors.

Remember, you don’t need a large space for an effective pantry – just good strategy!