As necessities of life go, food is right up there with oxygen and call display. Consequently, we need a lot of it on hand at all times, which can lead to challenges when it comes to organization and storage. One solution involves the creative use of kitchen cabinet doors to help improve efficiency and reduce clutter.
With our busy lifestyles, you simply don’t have time to be constantly searching for a certain ingredient or guessing at what’s in the pantry. From here on, thanks to the versatility of kitchen cabinet doors, you don’t have to. By developing a system and structuring your kitchen accordingly, you can bypass the frantic food hunt and rest easy, secure in the knowledge that you’ll always know what you have, how much you have and where you have it.
Slide, Store and Savor
Are you constantly rummaging through cupboards to find those last few potatoes for Sunday dinner? You can make life easier with baskets that slide out of a lower cabinet for easy access. If you’re already doing kitchen renovations, just include this in your plans.
Otherwise, you can remove kitchen cabinets doors and install the hardware or have a custom designer do it instead. In their “procrastination speech”, your parents may have warned you not to let things slide, but this is one time where it pays to ignore them.
Dare to be Shallow
Most of us won’t give shallow people the time of day, but a shallow pantry is worth making time for. Sure, it limits the capacity of the space, but it also makes it easier to use by forcing everything to the front. In an instant, you can open kitchen cabinet doors, grab what you want and take note of what you need.
For even more efficiency, try to group similar items together when you can. Done correctly, the shallow approach can lower your meal time stress and keep you from going off the deep end.
Stay on Track with a Rack
One advantage of limited space is that it forces you to be resourceful and find a better way of doing things. That includes making elements of your kitchen do double duty wherever possible.
For example, kitchen cabinet doors can moonlight as spice holders when you mount a rack on the side facing inward. Not only are the spices easier to reach this way, but it also gives you more room to work with in the cabinet itself. “Off the rack” might have a negative connotation, but “on the rack” has nothing but upside for your food storage concerns.
Modular Magic
Because we tend to see the rooms in our house as separate entities, we rarely think of taking something that works in one room and applying it to another. That’s a shame, as we miss out on some real opportunities.
A case in point is the modular system used in a bedroom closet. While it’s excellent for organizing shoes and socks, it’s equally adept at coordinating items in your pantry. Also, since it leaves everything looking orderly, you can even opt for clear or frosted kitchen cabinet doors to show off your inspired approach.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed with your kitchen food supply, try these ideas or experiment with some of your own. Seeing the fruits of your labor can be gratifying, and it won’t take long to trade stress for success. And if worst comes to worst, you can always arrange a food fight and start from scratch. Your cleaning person may curse you, but the kids will love you forever.