11 Storage Tricks That Will Keep Your Counters Totally Clear
Because you've got cooking (not decluttering) to do.
Because you've got cooking (not decluttering) to do.
Hang cooking utensils right where you need them.
Crocks of spoons and spatulas can certainly be stylish, but they get in the way. In this Scandinavian-inspired kitchen designed by Susan Serra, a few choice utensils hang neatly over the stove.
Strap cutting boards to a cabinet door.
Slim boards stay tucked away (but won't stop your cabinet from closing) in this clever storage spot.
Dedicate a cabinet as an "appliance garage."
Your coffeepot, toaster, and even stand mixer will likely always command some countertop real estate. But if you can't ditch 'em, then hide 'em — and discourage the domino effect that starts with one out-of-place item and ends with a counter covered in clutter.
Stow cereal and snacks below the counter.
There's nothing that cramps your granite's style like a row of ripped cereal boxes. Designer Karin Edwards found a solution with a handy pull-out cabinet that still lets you admire the matching bins you got at The Container Store.
Give magazines a discreet home.
Unearth your favorite cooking mags from the pile of junk mail, and offer them a dedicated place in your kitchen.
Float shelves on the side of the cabinet.
Can you sense that we feel sorry for bare cabinet sides, just dying for a job? Here, floating shelves give kitchen accessories an easily reachable home.
Eliminate the need for a fruit bowl.
We admit this idea is a bit high-concept – but isn't it totally genius? Designer Mick De Giulio revealed the built-in "bowl" in our 2012 Kitchen of the Year. The stylish divot means you always have a place to hold recipe ingredients — and you can clean it in just one swipe of a disinfecting wipe.
Turn you backsplash into storage.
Ah, what can't the IKEA FINTORP system do? Here, it lifts produce and other odds-and-ends off the counter, and mimics the hanging knife rack nearby.
Choose an island with open storage.
This piece started its life as sideboard. But repurposed as an island, the shelves provide a place to stash cookbooks and extra tools, keeping pertinent items right at your fingertips but never totally out in the open.
Turn a pallet into a catch-all organizer.
A pallet's grid of slim slats provides a flexible storage station unlike any other — a magnetic knife rack can clip to a board, hooks can dangle in-between, and you can even leave yourself a note wherever you can grab some extra space.
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