Yesterday's high kitchen storage post led us to the inevitable: shopping around for step stools. But once you have a step stool for reaching those high cabinets, you probably aren't going to have it out all the time. So, where do you store it in between uses?
These are four ways to store a kitchen step stool that are convenient and keep the stool out of the way when not in use. Plus, a few are so hidden that the owner is probably the only one privy to their whereabouts!
• 1 in Kevin Sharkey's kitchen, a Polder ladder is hidden away in a toe kick drawer.
• 2 This slim step stool has its own concealed cabinet at the end of an island.
• 3 Bar-height seating doubles as a step stool in this oak piece from Artists in Heaven.
• 4 There's always that space between the fridge and the wall, especially if your stool is as slim as this one from Williams Sonoma.
Do you have a step stool in your kitchen? Where do you store it when it's not in use?
Related: Good Product: Folding Step Stool
(Images: Martha Stewart, GardenWeb, Artists in Heaven, Not Martha)
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I have that very same Polder stepladder in the 1st photo, and use it a lot because we have kitchen cabinets to the ceiling (as well as to reach the highest shelves in our closets). When we renovated our kitchen we had a few inches to spare at the end of a floor cabinet run, so our conractor built us a custom cabinet, about 4-5 inches wide with a matching door, especially for storing the stepladder. It's one of my favorite details in the kitchen.
I store mine between the fridge and wall along with my swiffer. Perfect for easy access as I use it at least once per day. The trials of being short in a tall house.
I was just having this problem last night - trying to find a spot for our step stool in our new kitchen. It's bulky and doesn't fit anywhere. One of these slim step stools would be perfect!
I would love to have the one from Williams Sonoma but the Polder one is much more affordable ($109 vs $25). Love how it's stored in the second photo, great use of space.
Oh, I love all the slim cabinets for the step ladder. Nowhere good to put mine so it leans against the end of a counter and scares the dog when it falls over if she brushes by it.
I wanted to add, while I find my Polder stepladder invaluable, I've recently made another discovery--using tongs and other long kitchen tools (like the pointy two-prong BBQ fork) are *really* handy for bringing lighter, non-breakable items down from high shelves! Often saves me the stepladder-in-and-out.
Thanks to this post and all the reader comments, Polder has a new customer. We're in dire need of a step ladder for our new small kitchen so we can maximize vertical space, and the Polder model is the nicest foldaway model we've yet to find for a very reasonable price.
Why don't more kitchens have toe kick drawers?? What a neat idea!
Brooklynnina, I also use tongs or a long kitchen utensil to reach light higher items! I don't own a step ladder and usually use a dining room chair. My kitchen, dining room, living room are all open to each other. Thus my chairs are convenient.
My ever-trusty step-stool (I'm almost 4'11") has been with me through the past 27 years of apartment dwelling.
It is a little banged up, it's red paint is chipping, it's treads are worn, but it, and my handy garbage can with nodules to hook plastic grocery bags on are my oldest appliances (if they can be called that).
They were $ very well spent at the Third Ave. Bazaar. I miss that store and Lamston's too.
I have a single step Kikkerland, it is extremely compact and is stored in a 5" wide cabinet.
We have a big dog, and they're prone to bloat, so our stepstool doubles as his dinner bowl stand. (Raising the bowl makes them less prone to bloat.) It's WAY cheaper than dedicated dog bowl stands, plus it's a multitasker. He eats everything in about five minutes so there's never any conflict.
We have a hook on the wall in the kitchen.