Kitchen Cupboard Organization: Pop-Top Shelf

We have a lot of very tall bottles in our collections of liquor, oil, and vinegar, and we have to admit that this is a novel way of making room for them in the cupboard! What do you think?

We spotted this at PointClickHome, where it's one of their suggestions for ordering your cupboards. Their point is that if you devote a whole cupboard to really tall bottles, you may not have room for a second shelf. But if you cut a hole or install a little swinging trapdoor in an upper shelf, then you still have an upper layer.

Have you done anything like this to make more room for tall bottles or containers in the cupboard? Do you think this is practical?

• See more: Order in the Kitchen

(Image: PointClickHome)

Comments (10)

Brilliant!

posted by SparkerShop on July 15th 2009 at 4:57pm
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Someone has to explain to me why they didn't simply adjust the shelf. This seems too clever by half.

posted by coggs on July 15th 2009 at 5:01pm
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Erm, nahh. I agree with coggs: adjusting the shelf seems better. And, you'd have to tilt each bottle back in order to pull it out, no?

posted by missblake on July 15th 2009 at 5:08pm
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It looks like a pain to take the bottles out. How can you possibly expect someone that's already half drunk to maneuver around that shelf thingie?

posted by Comicgeek on July 15th 2009 at 5:12pm
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Love the idea, but the execution needs work. I think it would've been better if half of the shelf flipped back in such a way as to be flush with the back of the cupboard. That way you can put the bottles in without any awkward maneuvering. Or better yet, if your cabinets are sufficiently deep, a built-in wine rack-type thing that allows you to store the bottles on their sides.

posted by slowdown on July 15th 2009 at 6:28pm
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I too like the idea but don't think it looks easy to get bottles out with the sides still in the way. Why wouldn't you make it so that they part that flips up, flips down instead to hold the other part of the shelf up - you could even have extendable legs if need to reach the bottom of the shelf below.

posted by fmktjod on July 15th 2009 at 6:44pm
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The setup makes it seem like those bottles will only be there temporarily.

But most people probably keep stuff in the same place in their kitchen. If that cabinet is where they always put bottles of stuff, then the little shelf door will almost always be up.

posted by wunami on July 15th 2009 at 8:12pm
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i agree with the comments above - it would just be easier to A. adjust the whole shelf or B. remove the shelf entirely and replace it with one of those shelf "tables" that takes up half the space

posted by Supergaijin on July 15th 2009 at 8:58pm
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On a tangent note, I saw a picnic basket that had a flip up square so that a wine bottle can peek out the top of the basket. Reminds me of this picture.

posted by kdb on July 16th 2009 at 12:53pm
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I keep tall bottles under my kitchen sink, where there are no shelves. I also keep my pots and pans there. Much better than struggling with too-small cabinets.

Cleaning supplies are in a bucket on the floor of the linen closet.

IMO, the space under the kitchen sink is the most poorly-used space in a kitchen. We think we're supposed to keep 409 and junk under there.

Clean it out and make better use of it. You will be amazed at the results.

posted by ohjodi on July 16th 2009 at 10:09pm
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