I totally get you with your pet peeve for lids. My boyfriend gave me a fancy le creuset for Christmas, it looks so lost among all those other random misplaced lids.

As for the sliding silverware holder: we fixed ours with our friend duct tape. Make a couple little loops, stick it under the holder and press down firmly into the drawer. Ours hasn't moved an inch since we moved in in September.

What I absolutely can't stand on our kitchen:
-Too many appliances and too little counter space. The juicer constantly has to be moved from the top of the fridge for every use, the food processor doesn't have a real home either.

-I wish we had more drawers for spices. We only have two drawers in our kitchen. One is taken up for silverware, the other one is for aluminium foil, cling film, skewers, some food processor attachments and ziplock bags. And my spices are all over the place. Help?

-our drying rack doesn't quite fit into the draining board. The rack always moves around and it's driving me crazy.

For me the biggest problem is cooking dinner that is nutritionally balanced and interesting enough for my 18 month old daughter. It also has to be something the hubster and I can eat. Preferably it should take a short time to prep and cook.

Freezer avalanches upon opening the freezer door. Finding a good, affordable knife sharpener. Getting the kitchen cleaned up within a reasonable amount of time. Remembering cooking instructions for favorites instead of having to consult the recipe repeatedly.

(P.S., I don't get the obsession with "perfect match" sets. Functional is good. Reasonably coordinating is good. Perfect match? Life is short and landfills are overflowing. I'm not saying this shouldn't be anyone's priority. I'm just saying that it isn't mine.)

I agree with Alex.piros on the spices. I am considering moving them to the pantry instead of crammed in a cupboard.

I also detest the mangled mess of food storage containers. I have a drawer full of loose lids and tubs, who knows if everything in there has a mate.

I don't like dishwasher soap that leaves a white film on the inside of my coffee cups.

I also dislike hard butter on bread (toasted or not).

I get irked each time I use cling wrap because it only really wants to cling to itself.

I have enough cupboard space to store pots with their lids on - yay!

Wow, I usually am a positive thinking happy lady....hmmm who knew I had this brewing?

I have a cooktop and an oven underneath it. The people who installed the oven cheaped out and installed a wall oven, where the door opens to the left. This would be fine if the oven were at eye height. But since it's not, I have to either bend in half or get a Hobbit to see if my cookies are browning. It's hilarious to talk about, but not so much fun in real life.

I can't figure out where to store my potatoes and onions. I live in a small apartment and there's no cool area anywhere, and no room in the fridge.

For one possible spice solution - we put our most used herbs and spices (and olive oil and vinegars) on a lazy susan on our counter and keep the rest in the pantry/ cabinet.

I wish I had more counter space to leave out small appliances - also I wish I had more pantry space for those small appliances too!

I wish I could keep our pantry organized over time, but that seems impossible.

I wish I could convince my partner to get rid of some of our mugs and her travel cups; I purged a lot of extras this pas year, but not enough for my liking.

I wish I used many of my cookbooks and cooking magazine recipes more - and relatedly - didn't get into food cooking ruts so often.

Definitely looking for a smart way to store spices, but also how to keep track of how much I have, what I'm out of, etc.

We have a glass cooktop, and I keep getting conflicting advice as to what type of pans to buy. Some say All Clad, others say I need the pans which are ground on the bottom, confusing! I could also use some ideas on how to keep the cooktop clean so it doesn't end up with buildup on the burners.

I live alone, and I'm obsessed with cooking with fresh herbs. The issue: I can't always use them before they go bad! I'd love to see more info on creative herb dishes (beyond the typical pestos, and freezing in olive oil).

For knives, professional sharpening plus a daily hone with the steel should keep them sharp enough. I get mine sharpened at the farmer's market once a year or so.

Honestly, this seems like a stupid problem, but it drives me insane. I hate that I don't have a TV in my kitchen. I like to do my grocery shopping and major food prep on Sundays, but that means I have to give up watching football. If I watch the game, then I end up behind on my kitchen projects.

I also dislike it when my silverware moves and despite using organizers and drawer liners, it hasn't helped. The fact that my drawers all stick doesn't help either.

TV in the kitchen - my "when i'm rich" dream! Until then, NPR must do:)

I have a tiny kitchen and solved the spice issue by putting metal strips on the wall and using those tins with magnetic bottoms. I can easily access them when cooking.

Peeves: storage space. No pantry. I use the garage.

It also drives me crazy that my silverware holder slides around in the drawer. I've been meaning to find something (small block of wood?) that's the size of the empty space that allows it to slide to shove in there, but never get around to it. Love the idea to use duct tape!

I hate the greasy grunge that builds up on all horizontal surfaces -- especially the top of the fridge, the top of the range hood, and the top of the spice bottles in the spice rack on the wall!

I live in an apartment with old cabinets that have all wooden parts, including the drawer runners. Everything in the cabinets below the drawers is constantly covered with sawdust, so even clean things need at least a rinse before they can be used. Any good ways to eliminate or minimize this that a renter could do? It makes me crazy, and cuts back on the usable storage space that I have.

Also, there is no vertical storage in my kitchen for cookie sheets, heavy cutting boards, or the pizza stone. Everything has to be stacked in the drawer under the range, and it's really hard to get things in and out. None of the other cabinets or pantry shelves is tall enough for me to put things on their sides. Any other ideas?

And a problem I think is unsolvable but still makes me crazy -- all the water that sits on dishes in the dishwasher and doesn't dry during the drying cycle! I would love a buzzer at the start of the drying cycle so that I could run in there and knock off all the water before the drying starts!

counterspace: i only have a working counter space that's about 16" wide and a short, round, roughly textured table with a lip that makes it impossible to clean. the counter is only about 6 feet long but it has a double-bowl sink that's unnecessary. the other side of the counter is taken up with the drying rack, fruit bowl, cutting board and miscellaneous food leftovers that don't get refrigerated.

sink: low water pressure and the rim of it slopes backwards to the wall, so there's always a pool of water up by the faucet that never goes away.

storage: there's a big storage shelf, but it's 18" wide and about 36" deep, so i can't access half of it and only store things that i NEVER use back there.

cats: my boyfriend has three older cats, and he never trained them to stay off the kitchen surfaces, so no matter what i do, they're always standing on the table or counter, or climbing on top of the fridge and shelves

bikes: we store our bikes in the kitchen because it's the only convenient spot in our house, but that takes up a lot of floor space that could be used for storage

appliances: no where for these. food processor gets brought out only when necessary, and can only sit on the table due to plug/counterspace constraints. mixer and immersion blender are easier to find space for, but the coffeemaker is dragged between a chest-height shelf and the table when using. broken coffee grinder needed to be actuated with skewer, and it's new replacement's cord is so short, i can't set it down while it's plugged in. no room for a stand mixer at all.

stove: stove is good, but there's no vent fan, so everything in the area is covered in grease splatters that are impossible to remove

Sponges: stop using them. Use dishcloths. I own 2-3 for every day between laundry loads. (Do laundry every ten days, own 20-25.) When I use one for something icky, I put it aside and get a clean one. At the end of the day, I hang the used cloths over the faucet (and over the edge of the sink, if I need more room). In the morning, I take out a clean cloth. Yesterday's cloths are dry and go into the laundry. A whole batch of dish cloths makes no difference in my laundry loads. Initial investment is small for cloths from the dollar store.

Butter. Keep a covered butter dish on the counter with 2-3 days' butter. This is safe in all but the hottest weather. At least, I'm still around to tell about it.

A family member in the dairy business said that butter does not spoil if left on counter. I have been doing it for years and no problems. I leave a small amount out at all times. There are some cool little crocks--maybe French in origin...where butter is stored in this manner.

My dad was a dairy engineer and insisted that we keep the butter dish OUT of the fridge, so I've spent my life eating warm butter. Sur La Table has "butter bells" that are kind of awesome and worth checking out for tabletop soft, but cooled butter in case you have guests who dont' want warm butter.

Lids!!! I hate them all!! The ones for pots, the ones for plastic containers, the ones for glass jars....they're like socks in the laundry...somehow always separated from their partners.
I need ideas for these. For containers, I'm starting to keep them covered with their lids, but then it makes storage difficult....

Counter space! I can either prep OR clean up OR put an appliance out to use. So I end up with cutting boards that go over the sinks to extend the counter space and have also been known to pull open a drawer and put a cutting board or bowl of ingredients on top.

Fridge organization!! I have awesome veggie keepers that keep them fresh longer, but they take up a lot of space. And if I put veggies in those crisper drawers, they become cold, slimy compost because I forget them.

How do you organize a fridge? Leftover area, cheese area, veggie takeover, condiments, eggs, drinks.....AAARRGGHH!!

Standard kitchen counter height is too tall for my petite stature! I need to stand on a step stool to get the proper leverage when slicing or chopping.

oh...and pantry organization in small kitchens too. What to keep in there and what to put in the coat closet...or under the bed...or in the linen closet?

I grew up with a mother who kept the butter in a cupboard. I can't imagine any other way.

A TV in my kitchen? No, agreeing with whomever said NPR.

My biggest pet peeve is my glass stove top. I freakin' hate it. It cooks unevenly. The down draft is worthless and it's impossible to keep sparkling.

My biggest cooking issue is getting everything to the table hot. I have terrible timing for that. :-/

My kitchen is about 1/3 the size of a kitchen that would be labeled "small." Everything is smaller than it should be--the counter space, the fridge, and oven. And everything pours out of all the cabinets when we open them. Can't wait to move!

We also have only 2 drawers (silverware in one, potholders in the other) which drives me batty.

Storing plastic tubs and lids so they're organized but also accessible without unpacking the whole stupid cupboard.

The greasy/dusty film that gets on everything.

Having some of the country's hardest water and having to pre-wash all dishes before running them through the dishwasher.

Not a real pantry. I have a large cupboard where everything is stored and it is often open at your own risk.

A small range. I dream about the day I have a full size range.

I also have to agree with the greasy grime that gets all over. I love the idea of floating shelves in the kitchen, but hate the idea of all my dishes covered in that greasy grime.

I have an Ikea pot lid rack that hangs on the side of my last cabinet. Love it. Then I keep my pots nested inside each other in a big drawer.

As for glasses, we have mismatched cobalt blue glasses. I like the look. But just in case I couldn't find replacements fast enough, I bought a case of cobalt glasses from ebay at $2 per glass including shipping. I keep it in the basement and I grab a glass out of it if one breaks in the kitchen, or if we're having a lot of people over. I think as long as the glasses have major elements in common (height or color or pattern), mismatching is charming.

I hate the top of my fridge - it just collects ugly things (yogurt maker, lunch boxes, jars waiting to go to the basement) and looks terrible. It gets dusty, too.

I wish I had a place to sit in my kitchen. I've proposed adding a small table and chairs to the side, but my husband is an architect and we have a hard time agreeing on decor/furniture sometimes.

Alex.piros, we keep our spices in a large basket above the fridge. They don't take up cluttered visual space up there (all you see is the basket).

And the appliances? I HEAR YOU. Actually, we just received three more for Christmas and I have no earthly clue where they'll be stored!

Margi - glass stovetops: make a thick paste of baking soda and water and scrub with a sponge or paper towel. Rinse and wipe clean. It's kept ours looking nearly new for years!

Most of our kitchen issues were solved when we remodeled, but a few remain...

Keeping up with the dishes (no dishwasher, boyfriend hates doing dishes)
Fridge & freezer organization
Mold in the silicone of our under-mount sink
Dull knives, no idea where to get them sharpened locally. No kitchen stores, no farmers market service, shipping them out is super expensive.

My biggest pet peeve is storage-related. We have too many appliances and gadgets!

We're lucky enough to have a well-appointed kitchen, but there is just NO room for the fun kitchen gifts we've received over the years. Two crockpots, a panini maker, a bread machine, blender, Cuisinart, pasta roller, waffle maker, French press....where do they all go?! At this point we have more gadgets than food in the small pantry!

As other commenters have posted, we keep a few days' worth of butter in a covered glass butter dish on the counter so it's always room temp & easy to spread. :)

My biggest kitchen pet peeve right now is appliances because a lot of them are out on the counter because I don't have anywhere else to put them. The food processor and its accessories have a home in one of the cupboards but the blender and stand mixer have to sit out, which maybe wouldn't bother me that much except we also have 2 french presses (1 small, 1 large) which don't have a home, the coffee grinder, the kitchen scale, and a super tall vase all sitting on the counter in that area too.... I think I do a pretty good job of efficiently utilizing my cabinet space but I think I'm going to have to do a very thorough clean-out/re-org to try to get some of this stuff off my counter because it's making me crazy!!!

When my mom redid her kitchen she got on of these installed in one corner:
http://www.ikeafans.com/galleries/images/1/large/1_IMG_7874.jpg

But I live in a rental so that's not really an option....

Okay, so mine is really small compared to these ... But ... I have a kitchen that is really, really "out of style" in many ways. It is the hated golden oak and I see so much about people who are updating and tearing out their dated kitchens that even though I don't mind this one, I almost feel like I should hate it. Honestly, the layout works pretty well ...

But I feel like we moved I to the space in a rush 3 years ago and never really took a second look at how we use the space. For instance ... The drawer for silverware is placed EXACTLY where you naturally want to stand to prep anything. So if I am slicing something and DH needs a spoon, I am in the way. And vice versa.

We have frequently used stuff, like dog and cat food, in the corner lazy Susan that's kind of annoying to work with. Right next to that we have a cabinet with cereal and chips that are accessed once or twice a WEEK (pets eat 2x/day).

I feel like I need to re-orient the whole space ... I'm just not sure how to lay it out more intelligently (or less stupidly).

For things with lids, I store the lids on whatever it is that uses them. They take up more space but, honestly, I think most people have more pots/pans/tupperware than they actually need. How many leftover do you really need to store? Most of my containers sat in my fridge way past due date - now I have to clean the fridge out regularly in order to have tupperware. I also do my dishes more often to make sure I have pots and pans to cook with.

I think I've seen it where, instead of a silverware holder set in a drawer, someone used small slats of wood to divide the entire drawer in to compartments for different utensils. Hopefully that helps!

I am reading these and am becoming increasingly thankful for my kitchen! I have plenty of storage and counter space, however old and dated it is, it's still totally functional. My pantry needs an organisational overhaul, and I would kill for a french door fridge (whoever decided a freezer on top was a good idea needs a slap) and a gas stove would be awesome. I decided to leave the doors off my upper cabinets off and have found it makes me keep things much more organized, plus I have some nice looking kitchen things that I don't mind having on display.

Oh yeah...Dishwasher! I hate washing dishes.

my biggest kitchen issue is i live in thailand. so, that comes with some problems. my kitchen is amazing though.

*fridge is way too small (shorter than me). & this sucks b/c i'm vegan & in america, i got by using one or 2 days a week where i would prepare a weeks worth of chopped up fruit & veg. so a small fridge makes it near impossible.

*water is not drinkable so washing produce is a pain.

*no oven. one day i can afford a toaster over.

*can't buy most of the ingredients for recipes & if i can find them they are $$$ & imported. i mean, a can of beans would run me the same cost as 3 or 4 dinners.

*i have no silverware drawer, but a very deep drawer. so, i'm putting them in there. but it's not very neat.

Here in CA a number of the local supermarkets & butchers will sharpen knives for free, they view it as keeping the customer coming back. I suspect your local market/butcher would do this for you as well,maybe a nominal fee. Some of the old fashioned hardware stores might be willing to do this,too- some of ours have a fairly decent range of household goods. Hope this helps.

On storing lids: turn the lid upside down on its pot. the lid is stored, and now you have another surface to set another pot. Happy new year!

@annecychic, that's exactly what I do with my pots and pans. I also nest my tupperware (I keep it pretty pared down, a rubbermaid set and a couple of chinese takeout containers for freezing/giving away) and it all fits into one relatively small drawer. I also store my cutting boards, baking sheets, and muffins tins (nested, of course) on top of my fridge.

My biggest pet peeve is my tiny oven with only one rack. My 9x13 dish barely fits.

Other peeves definitely include the cascade every time I open the freezer, and definitely that greasy layer that accumulates so easily and doesn't want to be scrubbed off.

Oh my goodness, I've been waiting for a post like this... I have a tiny, tiny "kitchen" (more like a nook) in my studio apartment... The sink is microscopic. It's not that I mind being forced to do dishes constantly (there is no where to pile dirty plates), but I hate that I end up splashing water everywhere when I try to rinse. It gets on me, it drips down the cabinets below, it gets IN the cabinets and makes things gross and moldy... UGH. Other than that, I actually love the fact that I am still able to make amazing meals in such a confined place.

Melissa D, I love that idea about storing spices in a basket on top of the fridge. That would free up the counter space I use for oils and vinegars too. Now I just need to find somewhere for the whiskey to live.

I am lucky enough to have a washer, a full-size fridge-freezer and a lovely oven, but in my tiny kitchen that is at the expense of a lot of cupboard space. I got a food processor for Christmas and I have no idea where I'm going to put it.

To TheKitchn people: A post on the inside of your fridges and cupboards might be useful, if it hasn't already been done.

I moved into my boyfriend (now fiance's) house a few years ago, and he'd lived there for 10 years previously. It's definitely a bachelor-pad-type kitchen... nothing looks nice, nothing matches, things are thrown in drawers. Hardly any pantry space, all plastic food storage so I'm buying glassware and trying to surreptitiously throw the plastic out. It could just be laid out better, and we're looking for a new home now, so hopefully something will pop up. I hate that we have no space to store the nice serving dishes we're starting to acquire... they sit on the kitchen table with the juicer. It would be better if we could update everything like we'd want, but we're planning on renting it to college students, so it doesn't make financial sense. I have to cook in an ugly kitchen for awhile longer.

Also, since we're getting married, I have the food processor and kitchenaid mixer on the wedding registry... I don't want to buy it prior to the wedding (in case someone is feeling extra generous... also I am super broke)... but I find amazing recipes that require these tools, that I don't have... talk about a back-log of recipes!!!

This is a luxury problem, but it does get to me: I love to try new things--new to me foods, new recipes. After a couple of months of happy experimentation, I find myself with a jammed pantry and need to get creative in a different way--how to use up the odds and ends and bits and pieces. I need to find, or invent, some kind of ingredient index for myself to stay better on track with this kind of thing.

Melissa, I was thinking about putting the spices on the fridge. But then were does the juicer go? and the scale? and the big batch of protein powder my boyfriend doesn't seem to use up? You see the dilemma here.
I actually reorganized some of the spices. now the essential ones I use nearly every day are in a flat tupperware, so I can easily lift it up when the counter needs to be cleaned. and the tupperware also forces me to limit myself to really only the essentials. and the rest is in the cupboard above it in a seperate impromptu cardboard box with labels on it so I know exactly what's in it.

The freezer avalance is definitely on my list of pet peeves. I try to keep it organized with a couple of bins in there but things still get misplaced.

Also, I hate the fact that my granite countertop makes it difficult to notice when there are crumbs or other spills that need to be wiped up. I need to get down on my knees and look at the countertop at eye level to really see the mess. It just drives me bonkers.

What a great post! First, the advice: ditch the sponge. They are wasteful and hold in bacteria. Buy a scrub brush; they last a long time and get squeaky clean in the dishwasher! You will love it, guaranteed.

Now, my gripe: Space. Our house is ancient and apparently back when it was built people only kept five flipping items in the pantry because that's about all there's space for. Our cheap old fridge has 2 broken shelves and stuff is just crammed in there. Very depressing. I can't touch anything in the pantry or fridge without causing an avalanche.

The 3 (yes, three) larger fridges we ordered could not fit through the door but we have our sights on one more which is a bit too expensive for us right now. I would LOVE to hear suggestions for big, chunky wood or metal shelves that could hold lots of dishes and pantry solutions.

I want to convert my electric oven space to one that will work for a gas oven. I have no idea where to start!

I feel your pain. Some solutions:

I use an inexpensive over the door shoe rack to corral my pot lids. You can see it here: http://thepolymathchronicles.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html Works like a charm and one of my best organization ah ha moments ever!

I use an Emile Henry butter bell to keep butter soft on the counter but not going rancid. Love this as well, the butter is spreadable but not melted, and all I have to do is change the water every 3 days or so to make sure everything stays fresh. Toast is now a pleasure.

They make expandable silverware holders that you open to fit your drawer, but I find that a small piece of rug pad (the waffle weave kind) cut to fit will keep your existing item from moving around.

I take my knives once a year to a local place to get them professionally sharpened, and keep them well steeled in between. If you don't use a steel, it doesn't sharpen, but will keep your blade true between sharpenings. I don't have the energy to learn proper sharpening myself, and it makes me feel good to keep a local specialty shop working!

I find that i go home goods or crate and barrel outlet for glasses, since they are the most likely to break and I don't want replacing them to be a pain. You want at least the number of people that you are likely to have over to each have a glass. I go minimum 8 each of one large glass that works for non-alcoholic beverages and a shorter glass that works as well for juice, cocktails, or even a rustic wine glass.

Your sponge can last a very long time IF you throw it in the top rack of your dishwasher or put it through the laundry at least once a week, and definitely every time you use it for raw meat, poultry or fish cleanup.

I dislike the nesting sets of storage containers. Always having to remove the lid and the smaller ones to get the one you want. Most of the largers sizes are too large and even if you buy multiple sets the same size can never stack inside eachother nicely. Its just a pain to restack everytime.

I do love buying all my spices locally at a boutique spice store, the containers are great and you can by tiny bags to refill the glass jars when you run out. I had a very thin cabiner, deep enough for a bottle of pop. I put magnets on the bottom of the spices, metal on the inside of the cabinet and the door. My spices are out of the way, much easier than a fridge as it is a small space and they would fall off my hitting something or my dog would knock them down.

With the lack of counter space a cookbook rack and cookbooks were out of the picture, barely enough counter room for an 8"X12" cutting board. Above one of my stoves I placed a wood shelf with an edge for my tablet to see my recipes. I do have two but one doesnt work, but I use it to place hot trays to cool or to keep food warm in the oven as I finish up without burning.

I do splurge with my Eva Solo oil and vinegar bottles, placing them on little shelves with lips on the inside of my cabinets. I also do this with a magnetic knife bar too.

My major problem is my bulk food storage containers. I can see everything, dated and organized, but have a hard time grabbing what I need without moving every jar in front of them. Wine storage is also harder, definitely dont want Fido breaking anything.

We have two of these to store spices. Works well for all the smaller bottles. We have a lazy susan that holds oils, vinegars, and the larger bottles of things I use all the time and things that won't fit on the racks. http://www.amazon.com/YouCopia-Super-SpiceStack-27-Bottle-Organizer/dp/B002N3NTVY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1356970338&sr=8-3&keywords=spice+rack

Michelle in WA.....Method Smart Dish Plus...works well enough here in Tucson...almost as good as their regular dishwasher pellets and white vinegar. I very occasionally get a bit of white dust on one or two glasses (the ones with concave bottoms that catch water)...as opposed to everything being completely coated with it...BUT I don't have to lug those gallon jugs of vinegar up to my second floor apartment.

What a lot of great comments! About the greasy dirt that collects on top of the cabinets, I started using Windex after watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding (remember the father?).
Real Windex, not any knock off brand. It works like a charm and you can use that old kitchen sponge, then throw it away and buy dish cloths.

Not having a food processor (so many recipes use a food processor now days and they don't always give advice on what to do if you don't have one)

Pantry organization for bulk bin foods

Keeping a budget pantry stocked at all times

My biggest pet peeve is cleaning my stove -- and oven. And throw in the exhaust fan too.

I remember when my mother-in-law first saw our Wolf gas range -- her reaction was "how are you going to clean this thing?".

She was oh so right.

We managed to keep up with it when we had only one child, but then we had tenants.(When they moved in, they had one child, but they moved out with three. Not only did they have no time to clean, but their father-in-law, a trucker who used my gas oven as an indoor barbecue, lived with them part-time.).

We've never recovered from the tenants... we hired cleaners to clean the oven after they moved out -- it took 3 people 5 hours, and it is still not in the state we left it in.

I've tried searching for cleaners... I use Bar Keepers Friend for the enamel trays and the stainless backsplash, but have never found anything for the brass burner caps, but frankly, it all takes too much elbow grease... The tenants used barbecue tools to clean the inside of the oven (it appears that they just put the meat on the racks and let it drip, because the base of the oven has the worst damage.), leaving huge deep gouges. It all needs to be replaced.

Help.

Spice storage. I find that the spice I'm looking for is invariably right at the back of the shelf, and I have to empty the whole lot out each time.

Cleaning the heavy, cast iron stove grates. Wish I had chosen lightweight ones that fit in the dishwasher.

Re silverware: After storing mine in a drawer all these years, I'm going to get a couple of huge pots to put the lot in, and just leave one on the work surface, another on the kitchen table.

Re matching glasses: We probably manage to break a whole set every year, so I have resigned myself to mismatched, often vintage, glasses. It's inevitable when you have lots of guests and lots of people using the kitchen.

Re cutting board storage: Instead of one big board, I have lots of small, slim boards (wood and plastic). They take the same amount of space as a plate in the dishwasher, and are easily stored. Makes it easier for people to help with food prep if there are lots of boards, too.

Getting teenagers to the table when the meal is ready. Then getting them to stay long enough to help clear up.

Love my kitchen, except: the wall cupboards don't go to the ceiling, & there's no soffit. They just look like they'd been stuck up there, collect greasy dust, & provide a place for my athletic cats to perch, seeking what they might devour. Extractor fan is a recirculating one--no idea why, since the stove's on an outside wall. I'm going to do something about that.
Sagekitten--google 'sharpening/your city'. After I called several hardware stores & got nada except one that took a week I googled, & found an industrial sharpener that was happy to do my knives for 50 cents a foot. Got them scalpel sharp, too; just ask my right thumb. I was able to drop them off one day, & pick them up the next.
I have barmat under my flatwear container, & under the baby-food jars I use for spices. They never shift.

Silverware storage - none of my apartments have ever had a drawer big enough for a standard tray, so I bought the only baker's rack I could find in my area that had drawers and use little individual organizers to hold each type. Still not a perfect fit, though, and I wish I had something better. Even those expandable, customize-your-own trays are generally too long or too wide for my drawers.

Counter space - My first apartment didn't have a oven, just a cooktop, so I bought the best convection toaster oven I could afford to take its place. Although my current apartment does have a real oven and I do use it on occasion, I still default to the toaster oven because it's just so amazing - it cooks just about anything and pre-heats like lightning. However, this is a huge eater of counter space and I wish I had a better option for it. By the time I have that, the electric kettle, and the dish rack out, there's just not much left except for oddly shaped corners here and there.

Freezer storage - I never seem to be able to stack things well enough to keep mine organized for very long. Most of the organization tips I see are for side-by-side fridge/freezer combos, not the type that has the small freezer on the top. Shelving doesn't seem to help, and the plastic bins are IMO too expensive for me to want to risk trying them out.

I have too many lemon cookie recipes that call for lemon extract - and I have 3 different kinds falling off my trees! Can they be interchangeable, or modified? Just sort of hate to use extract (which is old anyway) when I've the real fresh flavor right here on the counter. Most recipes are calling for 2t of extract. Many thanks

The crumbs that leak out of the "crumb tray" on the toaster. Drives me bonkers!

I mean 50 cents an INCH. Still cheap.

STORAGE IN THIS STUPID RENTAL.

It's only for another four months. It's only for another four months. But the storage is ridiculous. There is no pantry. We have most of our food on an old TV stand crammed under the counter, the oils and vinegars and sauces and things are under the sink with the chemicals, we keep the potatoes in one of the very few cabinets surrounded by pots we can barely access, and we have to keep the spices and teas and flavourings and things, as well as bulky items like rice and cereal boxes, in a chest of drawers in the living room.

And it's not even an old building, or even a particularly small one! Australians, never buy or rent Meriton, they do not know kitchens, and I am literally counting down the days until we can move into our real apartment! (It's under construction. Under construction with real kitchen storage...)

Storage in a small kitchen is probably one of my biggest pet peeves. I hate untamed clutter! For one its an eye sore and two you are never fully settled until everything has a home. My husband and I just bought our first home and my hopes was making the small kitchen functional and user friendly. We have limited cabinet space but lots of possibilities. Does anyone have suggestions on how to make the most of what I've got and on a budget?

I dont know if this will help but for lids and those pesky pans magazine dividers are great for storing things upright they may give you a little extra space and something that isn't permanent that you could take with you to your new apartment. I swear I think I have seen this idea on Pinterest but it worth a shot.

Where do I start?
I hate that I have no bench space in my little kitchenette - water splashes everywhere when I wash the dishes and I have no space for a dish-rack.
Then there are my hotplates that take forever to fry an egg.. and the tiny fridge with a freezer that doesn't freeze anything or freezes the entire fridge!
No oven, no storage space save for a single shelf above the sink.
Space is the biggest problem. Not enough of a kitchen to put my own special touch, nor is it functionally well-designed. The worst of both worlds...
I am hanging on until I can move up and out of this suffocating, tiny rental!

My tea towels are constantly falling off the handle on the oven. I pick them up at least four times a day. But I have no other place to put them!

The layout of my kitchen is insane - the "artist" who "fixed it up" before I moved in put the oven right next to the fridge and under the only window in the room so it's impossible to add a range hood. So my kitchen is fairly often full of smoke from things like searing steaks. Ugh.

My kitchen floor (stone tiles) never looks clean even after scrubbing it on my hands and knees.

Our kitchen always feels grody, with nasty old linoleum floors and laminate countertops. The cabinets are really old and could use new hinges and paint. And the sink is pretty nasty, and the faucet has two handles (luckily the Kitchn is helping with the sink and faucet problems! Yay for contests!)

I always feel like I am cooking WAY TOO MUCH FOOD. I go to the store to get food and it doesn't get eaten in time, ever. We always have leftovers going bad. I need help with meal planning to fix this!

I love our butter bell, but we still don't use enough butter to really need much in it, and it will still go bad sometimes (especially when I haven't been using it for awhile so I'm not as good about changing the water...)

It would be amazing to have better storage: a vertical storage spot for cookie sheets, a real pantry, and not as disgusting of a "cleaning pantry". Our house is pretty old, and really needs the kitchen touched up!

Too little space in between my refrigerator and cabinets which means that getting my fridge out to clean it is a two person job. Practical solution is to get a little bit shaved off my countertop but the tricky part is finding someone who can do it in place since it is a granite countertop.

Forgetting what I have in my refrigerator. Solution is to shop for only a couple of days at a time.

Leaving upper cabinet doors open and then whacking my head on them when I stand up. My dream kitchen will have sliding doors on the upper cabinet.

You've got *two* drawers in your kitchen? I lost my second drawer when the rental company installed a dishwasher in our apartment. I would KILL for a second drawer ;)

I have the opposite problem, ilonastella - I'm far too tall for most counters. The ones at my mother's house were the worst, washing dishes always gave me a backache. My apartment is better. At least you can stand on a stool, that's not as hard on your back as stooping over!

IKEA sells grabby-rubber or plastic bar mats or drawer liners- not sure which one they are, but easy to cut to fit bottom of drawers so nothing slips around.

Annoyances: all counters are covered with tiles that go all the way to the edge, where there are rounded edge tiles that rise up higher than the rest of the counter before rounding down the front - wtf? To roll out a pie crust I have to take everything outside to the one kitchen-table-ish table we have. You have to put everything on them at least two inches in from the edge so they're not sitting at an angle on the sloped edges.

Other peeve is that the cupboards, although tall & go all the way to the ceiling, are also hung high and as a short person, I can only reach the first the first shelf and very front of second shelf, so yeah, there's a good amount of dish storage, but everything is effectively out of my reach. And there's nowhere to store one of those step stools you can kick around or a stepladder, so it's always a PITA to get anything I need out of them.

I have plenty of cabinets. They reach to the ceiling. You have to be Michael Jordan to store anything on the top shelves. The one over the fridge is completely empty. Luckily there is just enough space next to the fridge for a folding step stool, but even using it, the top shelves are over my head.

The pantry is a converted front coat closet that I installed elfa-type shelving in. But it also has to store my 3 sewing machines. Need to sew? Pull out the bowls that sit on top of the machines, etc.

Like a previous commentor, I also cannot store veggies in the refrigerator drawers. They turn into CSI evidence, since I always forget that they are there.

I like having my knives out, but the knife holder takes up too much counter space. Has anyone ever spotted those flat acrylic ones? Anytime I see them, you also have to buy the knives.

On the other hand,I love the fact that this little apartment has black granite counter tops, my last one had 30 year-old no longer white Formica counter tops. I would pour straight bleach on them.

I store my seven most used spices in a masala dabba on the countertop. That way there aren't lots of little bottles in my way and I have access to things I use everyday whenever I need them.

One trick I've found is using a dry, clean paper towel under my cutting board and drawer organizer to keep them from slipping around.

It should be mentioned that keeping butter at room temperature is only safe when it's salted. Unsalted butter should not be left out.

I store my most useful, biggest cutting board out on the counter, despite having almost no space. This is because most of my recipes require chopping vegetables or at least some garlic and when I occasionally do need to mix something in a bowl, I just put it right on top of the board. Whenever I'm done cooking, I just wash it by hand real quick and put it back on the counter.

I've got cabinets that are too tall for me, like quite a few people here and I store extras of my basics on the top shelf. I usually only need one box of pasta and maybe two cans of beans at a time, but I like having extras around in case I can't get to the store (it's kind of far away) or whatever. So I put the extras that I don't need right away up high and then only have to climb up the step ladder (which I keep in the hall closet) about once week and only if I run out of rice, pasta, or canned goods.

If you shave off small pats of butter and set them on the toast (fresh out of the toaster) -- maybe 2-3 pats per slice depending on how much you like -- and then give it, oh, 1-2 minutes, it will melt enough that you can spread it easily.

I had the same problem on spices and came up with a great fix - we are lucky enough to have a pantry in the kitchen, so we bought hanging organizers and put them up inside our pantry door. We didn't want to put holes in the door, so we hung them with heavy duty Command hooks. Now we've got all of our spices in one place and it opened up a ton of room. I found the organizers at the Container Store - very cheap and easy fix http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10000897&N=&Ns=p_sort_default|0&Ntt=spice+rack

Regarding spice storage, though it takes up a bit of counter space, I keep most of my many little jars of spices in a roll-top wooden breadbox; it holds a lot and they're out of sight. Short ones, tall ones, fat ones - they all fit in. The most frequently used ones are at the front. Sure, sometimes I have to unpack a little to get one from the back... but at least I know where it is! And the breadbox is rather handsome on the countertop.

I'm short, so cannot see what's at the back of the top cabinet shelves. I keep a text document on my computer's desktop with an inventory of most of what's in the food cabinets, and on which shelf - once it's done, it's easy to update. It's saved me from duplicating seldom-used items or from searching through all the cabinets because I know that somewhere I've parked a jar of honey. I don't include things that are used daily and always replenished (like cat food cans and cereal). But I'm a great impulse condiment buyer, and it's helpful to know I already own a jar of capers that I will probably never use.

I think I have a simple solution for easily buttering hot toast (I do it every morning.) As soon as the toast pops up, I run the end of a stick of butter (holding by the paper wrapper) over its surface. No need to apply pressure, the butter just melts in.