Storage Gadgets to Consider for a Modern Kitchen

Finding a discreet area to place your bin in your kitchen can be challenging. That’s where pull-out bins come in. These discreetly tuck away your waste and recycling materials inside cabinets, maintaining a streamlined appearance and more floor space.

There are two popular types of pull-out bins. The first one is when the bin is attached to the door/drawer front. This mechanism makes it easy to dump the garbage, especially when your hands are full.

The second type is a more budget-friendly option wherein the bin is mounted to the floor. While this choice is economical, it comes with a minor trade-off in terms of convenience—first, you open the door, and then you pull out the bin.

This storage has become popular with more people trying out new recipes. Now, you don’t have to store your spices in a cluttered cabinet and sift through jars and bottles when you need them—instead, pull out the spice rack and easily access all your spices, sauces and oil!

The pull-out spice rack is typically placed on the side of the cooktop. They come in set sizes: mainly 150, 300, 450, and 600 millimetres. You can add dividers to separate your spices or create compartments. You can also choose a semi-spice with a towel rack to put away your towels after clean-up.

The pull-out pantry helps you better organise your kitchen with the space you have. Traditionally, the common pantry has shelving that makes reaching items at the back hard. The decision lies between the efficiency of accessing things or having a place just for storing these things. The traditional pantry would work for people with a small kitchen that requires storage space to stack items.

On the other hand, if you have larger kitchens with a lot of storage space, the challenge lies in order and accessibility. The pull-out is ideal for accessing all your cooking items easily. This gadget would also work for those with a minimalist approach to life who don’t need to overstock on items but convenience and accessibility.

Drawer in pantry

Instead of getting a pull-out pantry, you can try adding drawers inside the pantries. The mixture of shelves and drawers provides a middle ground between a pull-out and traditional pantry solutions. These drawers offer a variety of functions, such as:

• Lower side of drawers for bulkier goods
• Fixed shelves for appliances or items
• U-shape Shelves for better accessibility
• Fully adjustable shelves for items that are less frequently used

We have an extensive display of pull-out pantries at our KIND Kitchens showrooms. With our designers’ industry knowledge, they can recommend the ideal storage solutions during consultation.

The kitchen can become chaotic when items are haphazardly piled on top of each other. This inefficiency makes it challenging to keep track of what you have, leading to duplicates and unnecessary purchases. To address these challenges, here are some clever storage solutions:

Kidney Units

This “kidney-shaped” unit is placed in a “blind” cabinet: a corner space between two walls. It’s often characterised by its L or U shape, with one side accessible from the front and the other tucked into the corner, hidden from view.

You’ll need to open the cabinet to use it, revealing the trays arranged within the curved space. This way, you eliminate the need to reach the corner or struggle to find what you need.

Lazy Susan Units

This type of pull-out corner unit has a more circular shape that can spin around inside the cabinet. We recommend the shelf-mounted units as it’s more efficient and space-saving than the traditional stick-in-the-middle units. The traditional Lazy Susan can be a space waster if the corner cabinet is larger than the spinning disks, which it usually is.

For the shelf-mounted units, you can put your usual items onto the spinning trays and still use the remaining shelves as additional storage. Depending on the leftover space on the shelf, this often underutilised area can be optimised to store many items. One good use is to store backup cleaning supplies while keeping the current ones on the spinning tray.

Corner Baskets

You can generally slide them out with this storage unit when accessing full-sized baskets. Corner baskets have divisions between them, creating individual compartments within the baskets. While this design allows you to use the entire space more effectively, it might fall short of offering a high level of organisation.

LED lights transform storage areas from dim and mundane to brilliantly illuminated spaces. It also comes in various colour temperatures, allowing you to create the desired ambience (from warm and inviting to cool and energising). Lighting adds an element of aesthetic flair while showcasing your dishware and glassware.

LED strip lights can be installed along the edges and inside shelves for cabinets, under—wall cabinets, and island counters. LED strips are often used to provide light for dark areas and/or provide highlight to features.

While using LED lighting, it’s crucial to remember the mantra “less is more.” Avoid flooding the space with excessive illumination. The goal is to enhance without overwhelming.

Servo drives are electrically powered systems that enable cabinet doors to open and close at the press of a button. It helps eliminate the need for physical effort, whether dealing with more oversized doors or heavy items stored within, like fridges.

Like servo drives, auto push-open gadgets enable cabinets and drawers to open simply with a gentle nudge. This feature is particularly beneficial when your hands are full or amid a cooking frenzy. Both these gadgets ensure doors shut gently, preserving the integrity of your cabinetry. You can add these gadgets to both your wall and floor cabinets.

Whether you need these two gadgets depends on individual preference and lifestyle. Their necessity depends on how you envision and use your culinary space. Our designers at KIND Kitchens can help you create intelligently made spaces that balance functionality, aesthetics and cost.