The Best Things You Can Do for Your Kitchen for Less than $100 This Year
Do you love your kitchen 100 percent and not want to change a thing? If so, you might be one of the lucky few. Most of us have a least something that drives us bonkers, and that something is usually storage. If you could address this one thing and spend under $100, do you know what it would be? We have a suggestion for you.
If you are concerned about kitchen storage, turns out, you are not alone. According to the Houzz 2018 Kitchen and Bath Study, clutter is at the forefront of our minds. When asked what they obsess over in the kitchen, 75 percent of homeowners said decluttering kitchen surfaces, 66 percent talked about putting stuff away, and 49 percent said recycling. All three of these things trumped other kitchen activities, like cooking, washing dishes, or making coffee and tea.
When your cabinet storage just isn’t everything it could be, one of the smartest things you can do is install some savvy space-saving products: pullout waste bins, utensil and dish organizers, and under cabinet drawers. You’ll gain square inches you never even knew existed before, and everything will be right where you need it. Here are few of our favorite additions:
Under Cabinet Drawers
A typical lower cabinet is 24-inches deep, which means that stuff can easily get lost in the dark recesses back there. And who wants to pull out everything just to access the one thing you actually need? Kelli Foster says these pull-out shelves are a total game changer. (See: The Best Thing I Ever Did to Organize My Pots and Pans.) Now, instead of blindly reaching into a jumble of nested and stacked cookware, she can easily see and reach all of her pots and pans. You can get two 20-inch wooden ones (designed to fit a 24-inch cabinet) from Home Depot for about $60. Wire versions are also available from The Container Store.
Buy: Hampton Bay Kitchen Cabinet Pull Out Drawer, $31 each
Drawer Organizers
No matter what your drawer size or dimensions, there’s an organizer tray to corral the contents. Above, pro organizer Kristen Ziegler uses a $9.99 one that specially fits her IKEA kitchen drawers, but there are tons of them available from other places. This expandable bamboo option is a best seller on Amazon, but also check out The Container Store, or make your own. Use one for your flatware, spices, and even your junk drawer.
Pullout Trash & Recycling Bins
If there’s no good spot for your garbage and recycling, or you’re just sick of looking at an overflowing mess, consider converting one of your cabinets into a pullout station. Not everyone is enamored by this solution, but Rachel installed one in her kitchen and loves it. She used a sliding kit from Amazon, which cost about $90. For an additional $16 on Amazon, you can also mount the door to the front of the unit, so it slides out too —instead of opening on hinges. She even has a great tip: put a container of baking soda near the wall behind the bins to absorb odors.
This post originally ran on Apartment Therapy. See it there: The Best Thing You Can Do For Your Kitchen Under $100 This Year