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copyright ©1999-2006 |
now
w'ere cooking how
to make more space in your small kitchen by
Yee-Fan Sun | 1 2 3
continued from page 1 3 Case things out. Put in a bookcase. If your anal-retentive landlord has firmly forbade any holes in the walls, no need to give up your shelving dreams just yet: get yourself a bookcase or shelving unit. You can find ones to fit even the skinniest of spaces, and best of all, there’s no need to riddle your walls with any holes to put these shelves into action.
5 Get with the system. Invest in a wall rack or hook-and-rail system. Small kitchens tend to be mighty stingy on cabinet space, which means it can be a real challenge finding a place to stash your pots and pans efficiently. Fortunately, clever kitchenware designers have come up with all sorts of sleek systems for organizing your cookware out in the open. These generally involve either a sturdy wall-mounted metal rail or a big grid, along which you can attach hooks to hang up your saucepans and skillets, or organize your cooking utensils. If wall space is decidedly lacking, you can also find ceiling-mounted pot rack systems. Either way, these systems keep your cookware readily accessible at a moment’s notice, and look pretty spiffy to boot. 6 Hold ‘em up. Because cooking tools come in such a wide variety of shapes and sizes, I find it’s near impossible to get a drawer organizer that does a good job of storing my tools in a manner that’s both space-efficient and easy to access. Which is why I’m a big fan of the cooking utensil holder. Store your oft-used utensils upright in an attractive holder by the stove and you’ll find it’s easy to grab whatever tool you need – freeing up your drawers for stashing away other goods. 7 Seriously stacked. One of the keys to maxing out your storage potential is to think vertical. Jamming goods on top of each other in a precarious tower, however, has a tendency to make it impossible to actually get to anything when you need it. This, then, is when stackable storage containers can come in might handy. Stackable clear containers are handy for corralling herbs and spices and powders that aren’t used as often, or getting a handle on your vast selection of teas. Stackable bins, meanwhile, are a lifesaver for getting that scary area under the kitchen sink in some semblance of order.
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4 A
good hook. Hooks are fabulous for hanging up dishtowels, cooking
utensils, oven mitts,
potholders and more, getting them out of the drawers and off of your
countertops, so you can use those spaces for other, more important
purposes. Even better, hooks can be found for super cheap: buy packets
of the cheap screw-in hooks (sometimes called cup or mug hooks) for
next to nothing at any hardware store. Add them to the undersides
of cabinets, the insides of doors, the sides of countertops, wherever
you can squeeze them in.