I have several small kitchen cooking appliances (2 crock pots, 2 electric skillets, large mixer, etc.) that I don't have room for in my kitchen cabinets. Just wondering if anyone has any cleaver ideas on where and how to store these while not being used.
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Works for me. Went to Home Depot, bought a big
2 door storage cabinet. Put it my garage.
Now all my big platters, small apliances that
I don't use often, bread machine, extra coffee pots,
all those hundreds of cake pans and pie tins we
somehow accumulate, have a home, and my
cabinets are not loaded. You would be surprised
how much I can put in it. Even some seasonal
decorations. Cost less tha $100 and worth every
cent. IMA3
To eliminate clutter in the kitchen drawers, I keep the large cooking spoons, ladles, spatulas... in old dishwasher silverware baskets on my kitchen counter along the wall. Hey, that dishwasher cost a lot of money and it's still being used, even if only the non-motorized parts!
I also hung 2 metal chain baskets from the ceiling and put some of the cluttering misc. items in there. Helped to tidy things up a bit. Stuff like the gravy strainer, the pasta strainer, accumulated mail for son who no longer lives at home because he was transferred to another city, ... on the outside of the baskets, I have S hooks from which metal mixing bowls with loop handles hang. Had my Dh add a hook that is very sturdily attached to the ceiling for these baskets because they are so heavy.
No, it's not cute nor pretty, but it gets the job done. This is a working kitchen that prepares nutritiously balanced meals, not a take out food type of family.
My only repetitious extravagance was owning 2 Farberware Open Hearths. This is for when the BBQ runs out of gas (usually when it's raining and I am in a hurry). One is in the attic and the other in the kitchen. I bought 2 because I didn't know that these were still available (found 'em on ebay) and one is a replacement for the other as each came with different accessories. My main concern was burning out the heating element. So I got a replacement element and some other stuff for a little bit more than the cost of just the element.
Bought the 3 tiered baskets at Wal-Mart and Bed, Bath & Beyond. Have seen them at K-Mart also.
I was raised up north, where all homes had basements and attics with usable space, which was great for added storage. For the last 27 years I have live in a southern state that has little top soil and mainly rock, so few homes have basements and little attic storage. (We know a family that built their new home with an extra room just for storage.) Our home doesn't even have an attached garage. Storage space is at a premium. I cook all meals at home, can, have several appliances, and it is extremely hard to find space to store them. One of everything is NOT an option. Just yesterday, I was canning and using two dutch ovens, a large 12 qt stockpot, and my large pressure canner. I've gotten creative in my storage of these items. We built cupboards in our utility room. We also have those shelves that attach to the door back for added storage.
You can use the space under your oven if you have one, or you can also put pots and pans under your bed or store in your closet, think outside the box. Just because we have been taught kitchen stuff stays inside the kitchen, it doesnt have to , we can store our stuff any place we have room. Put your thinking cap on and I am sure you can think of some place that you have space that is not in the way.
I use my linen closet for backup kitchen storage. Towels are stored on a baker's rack in the bathroom and sheets are stored on the top shelf of bedroom closets. The linen closet holds all my extra stuff--including the Crockpot!
Thank you all for the wonderful ideas! Now I can "think outside the box" and find somewhere else in the house to hide these large appliances!
I once owned a book called The After Work Entertainment Book. The author stated that one should carefully cull all extraneous items from the kitchen. she said a person only needs one of everything. After all, who can use more than one spoon or knife at a time?! She warned to be careful about small appliances. Most of them are not needed if you have a good stove and a good cookware. One frying pan, one Dutch oven, and two sauce pans.. one smaller than the other. I say think about it and dispose of what you absolutely do not need.
Put the flatter items into a plastic bag or flat plastic box and put them under beds?
I like the post about clearing out the excess!
If you can, put a big entertainment center (with enclosed shelves like you'd put a tv in) in the hallway just outside the kitchen and fill it with apliances, pantry goods...
Comment about the limit yourself to "one of everything".
I've tried that and it only works if you are hand washing. If using a dishwasher, all the stuff is just sitting there, unusable, waiting for the washer to be full.
i have hung most of my frying pans on the only spare wall in my gally kitchen. i drilled holes and put in the molly things and screwed in the screws. it isnt a proffesional job but it works for me. i have been able to clear out a whole drawer. now i am thinking about the mixer and bread maker. they might just go into my hall closet.
In my house, the previous owners installed shelves in the closet beside the outside door in the kitchen. Since this door is only used by the family to go out to the yard, we keep all out coats and such in other closets, so this closet is now a pantry. It works really well for items such as crock pots, canning pots, etc. Other items that are used seasonally, like canning kettles, are stored on shelves in the furnace room in the basement. Louise, Nipawin, Canada
Go to a used office supply store and you can buy large, tall cabinets for about $20 - $40. Take them home and spray paint them if they need it. Put them in your garage, basement or utliity room. They make great storage for crock-pots, electric skillets or any large items you only use on certain occasions.
Pat from Illinois
Our house is situated on a lot with a hill. The front of our house is level with the upstairs living area. There is a second area below it with a sliding door going out to the back yard.
There are stairs on the main floor level going down to the lower level. On the lower level underneath the stairs an area has been closed off with a door, and shelves were installed on the back side and along the two sides. I store canned goods and other food items there. It could also be used to store whatever you wish.
I found a perfect solution if any of you are planning a kitchen.Everyone loves my kitchen. The fridge stands next to a built in microwave above, and a built in oven below.
Opposite on the counter is a gas range top. I have a drawer under the oven, and a huge space under the range top. I could go on but you get the main picture.
I think if you own your home, you could put a pot rack hanging from the ceiling and free up valuable cabinet space for your crockpot and so forth. I saw in a magazine one time they took an old wooden ladder bought at a flea market and outfitted it with s-hooks and hung it from the ceiling with chains. You would have to hang from the ceiling studs, obviously.
I store unused or frequently used items in the basement in a corner where I have made a fairly large pantry area out of concrete blocks and lumber. I keep my canned goods there (I buy by the case) , along with extra crockpots, canner, blender, extra mixer and holiday items. An opposite wall holds papergoods, school supplies and bathroom items that I stock up on when they are on sale.
I keep my baking pans in the oven, I rarely use the oven for baking as I have a hard time getting full pans in and out of the oven. I keep my kettles and frying pans in the drawer below the oven.
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