Photo by Aaron Huber on Unsplash

by andrew lemieux, guest contributor

Modern kitchen cabinets are designed for beauty today, but they often could be more functional for storage purposes. If you're interested in using your space more effectively or enhancing the organization of your kitchen, these quick cabinet storage upgrades could be the answer you're looking for. There are countless types of kitchen cabinets, so utilize the combination of techniques and tips below that work best for your space.

Mount Organizers to the Inside of Cabinet Doors

This is an old tip, but it's one of the most useful when storing more in kitchen cabinets. Add racks for small items, such as spices, cookware lids, and cooking utensils, to the inside of your cabinet doors. These thin racks create an impressive amount of storage space and make it easier than ever to keep your kitchen items adequately organized. 

Install the organizers to prevent them from hitting the shelves or items stored inside your cabinet. When appropriately installed, many door organizers will allow your cabinet doors to close properly and enable your cabinets to function correctly. 

Use Tension Rods for Cleaning Supplies

Easily hang cleaning supplies in spray bottles from a tension rod installed inside your cabinets. If you have unused vertical space in one of your kitchen cabinets, adding a tension rod is a simple way to hang up spray bottles to keep them out of the way. Tension rods can be purchased from most home goods stores and are simple for anyone to install. Consider how much weight you will support with your tension rod upgrade, and select a rod designed to handle that weight. To be sure it will hold, weigh your cleaning supplies on a bathroom scale to get a quick weight. 

Insert Risers to Create More Shelves

It's common for cabinet space to be wasted on short items, leaving behind empty vertical space. You can double or triple the number of items stored within a single cabinet with help from risers. A cabinet riser is a simple insert that creates additional space by further dividing your cabinet space. Be careful to choose risers that match your cabinet style well and fit your cabinets' interior space for optimal results. 

Upgrade Lower Cabinets With Pull-Out Shelf Inserts

Image by Ganendrajati Widagdo from Pixabay

Reaching pots, pans, bowls, and other items tucked at the back of lower cabinets is a frustrating chore. You can make things far simpler by adding some pull-out shelf inserts into your cabinets. These clever inserts mount inside cabinets securely and create convenient pull-out storage solutions that give you access to items at the rear of your cabinet without all the stretching and reaching. 

The best inserts are designed with drawer slides that move on ball bearings. Our top recommendation is for metal grated drawers for easy maintenance, but they are sold in various patterns and designs. The shelf inserts come as single or dual-stacked shelves, allowing you to increase your storage. 

The shelf inserts are sold as flat open racks to meet any storage needs, but you can also obtain special-purpose storage solutions with racks meant for plates, mugs, bowls, or other everyday kitchen items. Choose the pull-out drawer units that best fit your storage needs and maximize all the space inside your cabinets. 

Add Hooks Under Shelves for Mugs

Photo by dada_design on Unsplash

If you have mugs and you aren't sure where to store them, you can screw hooks to the underside of your cabinet shelves for added space. Consider coat or hat racks as potential solutions for your mugs. Mount them under your shelves and carefully hang each mug by their handles to create the perfect storage solution. 

Be careful when mounting these shelves to avoid using screws that extend up through your cabinet shelves fully. You should also space your hooks so that your mugs can be removed and hung without interference. 

Upgrade Corner Cabinets With Carousels

If you've ever used a kitchen with a Lazy Susan, you're likely already familiar with this concept. Corner cabinets waste huge amounts of space. They are more challenging to dig through and a struggle to utilize efficiently. To eliminate this waste, install a carousel inside a corner cabinet. An appropriate set of carousels gives you ample storage space while making all the items easy to access. If you have standard corner cabinets, consider upgrading them using carousels. 

Hopefully, you're feeling inspired after reading through these simple cabinet upgrades. You've likely considered some of these storage hacks in the past, but the trick to getting the most value from your kitchen is combining these techniques to create space for everything you have to store. Plan where your belongings can go, and level up your kitchen cabinets to create the ultimate Zen organization experience. 

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