The best small kitchen storage ideas are always about the details. You may only have one wall to work with, and only room for one small cart or shelf against that wall. So why not make it really stand out? By painting the wall directly behind this cart a dark blue-black, this storage solution suddenly becomes a stylish tableau all on its own. The colorful painting only adds to the charm.

Item: Vitamix 32-Ounce Dry Grains Container
Price: $144.00
Overall Impression: Not essential but extremely useful

A Vitamix is a hefty (yet worthy!) investment and if you've taken the plunge, you might now be wondering whether you really need to spend more on an additional Dry Grains Container. How different is it from the Vitamix's Standard/Wet Blade Container? Here's what we found... 

As if you need another reason to use a muffin pan besides, well, just making muffins! That should be good enough, we know. But we like it when our kitchen tools do double duty, and it turns out, the ol' muffin pan is quite versatile! Here are 10 other ways you can put it to good use in your kitchen:

Our four-legged friends may be happy to eat whatever food falls on the floor, but we know they deserve something a little better! Have you ever made homemade dog biscuits or pet treats? You may be perfectly happy baking them in the oven, but if not, you could always try this Pet Treat Maker from Holstein. It looks like a panini press or sandwich maker, but it presses out dog biscuits instead. (And yes, they're bone- and- paw-shaped!) 

Your parents may have slipped the occasional note or doodle into your lunch bag, but graphic designer David LaFerriere has taken it one step further, adding a new surprise drawing to his kids' sandwich bags nearly every day. He started snapping photos of the mini works of art and now has a Flickr set boasting over 1,100 photos!

Spring is in the air, finally! In celebration, I went looking for verdant and vibrant kitchen things in all shades of green. Here's to the end of dark, grey days and the beginning of a beautiful season — outside and in your kitchen!

Item: Bee's Wrap
Price: $14.00 - $17.00 for sets of three; $12:00 for XL bread wrap
Overall Impression: This is a fantastic alternative to plastic wrap!

Q: I live in a humid first floor apartment with poor ventilation and I cannot keep potatoes good for any amount of time. They sprout incredibly fast and get really mushy. Right now I keep them in a paper bag with a few holes punched in. The paper bag is in a wicker basket with onions. 

Looking for a fresh idea for how to store your pots and pans when you've run out of space in the cupboards? Repurpose a ladder as a pot rack! As far as small space storage solutions go, this is a nice twist on the more common wall or ceiling mounted pot rack or pegboard. It reminds me of this copper pipe utensil rack, but on a larger scale. What do you think? Would you ever try it?

What do you use to store your oil and vinegar? One reader sent us this really pretty setup he created for almost nothing out of Perrier bottles, which turn out to be rather good-looking, once you peel off the labels. Here's his rationale...