Want to Add Functionality to Your New Kitchen? The Kitchen Accessories Can Help!

One of the greatest joys of remodeling your kitchen is finally having all the storage space you need. To make all of that beautiful cabinet space even more functional should be a primary goal of your remodeling project.

Maintaining peak functionality in your kitchen is all about layout, accessibility within your kitchen triangle and other work zones, ease of use, and having what you need at your fingertips so you can focus on creating delicious meals for your family. Kitchen cabinet accessories can work to maximize your kitchen's layout and functionality. For example, having a roll-out spice rack near the stove can put all of the ingredients you need within reach as you are crafting your family meals.

Today, manufacturers are creating a wealth of cabinet accessories that can make your time in the kitchen more efficient, more productive, and a lot more fun!

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Here are some of the top kitchen cabinet accessories to consider when remodeling.

Cabinet Accessories for the Functional Kitchen

Designing your kitchen is one of the most enjoyable elements of a kitchen remodeling. Today, you can take your design to the next level by examining how you'll use the space and adding cabinet accessories to keep your kitchen organized and more functional.

Here are some homeowner favorites.

• Roll-Out Pantry Cabinets

Pantries are one of the most requested items from new buyers, and homeowners planning a kitchen remodeling project. Adding a roll-out pantry cabinet for dry goods, cans, and jars can boost your efficiency when preparing meals. There are several different pantry styles available, including:

• A Chef's Pantry that consists of layered shelving units that swing-out.

• A Wall Cabinet Pantry combines a door shelf with interior shelving

• A Roll-Out Pantry is convenient when placed near your refrigerator and adds versatility to your workspace

• A Pull-Out Pantry can be positioned close to the appliances to maximize the storage of food, cookware, and food storage containers.

When stocked with the essentials, and properly placed within your kitchen design, a pantry can increase the functionality of your kitchen.

• Pull-Out Base Cabinet Storage

These are an excellent option for a smaller space. It can act as a micro-pantry to store cooking essentials close to workspaces. Pull out Base cabinet storage can be configured to store and organize cookware, like large pots, pans, and lids, or hold trash and recycling bins. In a more compact space, a roll-out spice drawer is great for the cook in the family. Positioned near your stove or in the island, it keeps cooking essentials within easy reach.

• Extendable Appliance Storage Shelves

Another great accessory is an extendable cabinet shelf concealed in the base cabinet. Perfect for keeping appliances like your favorite stand mixer, or food processor out of sight. When needed, simply open the door, extend the specially designed shelf, and you're ready to bake! Adding a storage drawer for attachments makes it convenient to use.

• Corner Carousel Shelf Cabinet

Corner cabinet storage can be awkward, difficult to access, and end up being home to the forgotten tools of your kitchen. Carousel shelves (also called a “Lazy Susan” or “rotating shelf”) can bring new life to awkward corner cabinets. Rotating shelves can make it easy to find items in corner cabinets, making them useful and adding functional storage to your kitchen.

• Corner Cabinet Accessories

Sometimes, you may not have the space needed for a Lazy Susan, Don't worry, today there are other innovative solutions to maximize your corner cabinet space. Some of the popular options include:

• Hinged corner turnout shelving: Shelves are shaped and sized to custom fit in a corner base cabinet. Attached with glides, you can easily pull-out the shelf to access the contents.

• “Magic Corner” shelving: These are hinged shelves on glides that are custom fit to your space.

• Blind corner pull-out shelves: This is a great option for smaller kitchens where a rotating shelf will not fit.

PRO TIP: The humble upgrade to the Lazy Susan, the Super Susan, is slightly larger and more functional than the original. In comparison, the fancy “Rev-a-shelf” corner units are perfect for retrofits, but not necessarily worth if if you are starting from scratch.

• Towel Rack Pull-Outs

You need towels in the kitchen for moving hot trays or cleaning up. An excellent cabinet accessory is an optional pull-out cabinet with towel racks. It's the perfect solution for storing towels and provides easy access for cleaning up the mess.

• Waste Basket/Recycling Bin Cabinets

This is one of the most popular options homeowners request with their remodel. It's a convenient way to keep your kitchen clean and organized, and all you need is an 18” or 21” base cabinet to fit a double pull out.

• Drawer Storage Accessories

Base cabinets outfitted with large deep drawers are the perfect place to store pots, pans, and lids, baking dishes, and with wood organizers for dish storage, even your fine china. Cabinet accessories can help you keep your drawers organized with moveable dividers, knife block and cutting board pull-outs, compartmentalized dividers, cutlery organizers, and more. You can create the perfect drawer storage to keep your kitchen functional.

• Under Sink Cleaning Storage

This is another homeowner's favorite that can make cleaning up a breeze! This accessory keeps all of your cleaning supplies in one central location and comes with a slide-out feature to make finding the right cleaning product easy. It's also removable so you can easily take the caddy with you to any room in the house for easy cleaning.

When planning your kitchen remodeling project, you'll have many decisions to make, from flooring to fixtures, countertops, cabinets, lighting, and flooring. Take the time and work with your kitchen designer to plan the functionality of your storage by adding cabinet accessories that are designed to make organizing your kitchen to the next level of functionality.

This article was updated by Abe Degnan on 3/8/21.

If you live in the greater Madison, Wisconsin area and are planning a kitchen remodeling project, give the experts at Degnan Design-Build-Remodel a call at (608) 846-5963. Our award-winning design team can help you to design your kitchen not only to meet your aesthetic needs, but we can also help you create the ideal functionality to make meal preparation fast, fun, and much more manageable!