Kitchen cabinetry is not just about building storage, but having the right solutions for different products and tasks. There is a lot to choose from. Here’s a look at some options to create the ideal storage for your unique situation.
Getting a new kitchen designed is very exciting. And while choosing the colours and finishes is the fun part of designing, what our customers look forward to most is a kitchen where everything is exactly where they’d like it. It could be having a deep drawer for all the baking trays and accessories or an elaborate spice drawer. Or a display cabinet for the beautiful crystal glass acquired on their travels.
Achieving the right mix of cabinets, drawers and shelves can be quite tricky. The right type of cabinet also needs to be in the right spot. ‘Store it where you’d use it’ is our motto when it comes to organising the kitchen. Here, close collaboration between the designer and the customer gets the best results. The customer knows what they want, the designer has the product knowledge to make the right recommendations.
Base cabinetry
These are some important cabinets to add to the base:
- Deep pan drawers: These are drawers, but are deep so they can hold all the pots, pans and skillets that are so much a part of the modern kitchen. To know how many you need, a good indicator how much is in your current kitchen. Take stock and estimate if you need one or more deep pan drawers. Classify them by type – a separate deep drawer for cake tins and cookie trays is very handy if you are a keen baker.
This image has three types of drawers – deep pan, a shallower one in the middle and a cutlery drawer on the top.
- Tableware and cutlery drawers– These are a must-have. One for tableware and another one for kitchen utensils. The silver can be under the island benchtop for everyone to access and the utensil drawer can be within easy reach near the cooktop. Divide and conquer is the way to do it – make sure you add inserts to keep it all organised – like we have at Zesta Kitchens.
- Pull-out cabinets: With the base cabinets, you should not have to reach for anything. Pull-out shelving keeps everything within easy reach. And if you can have a shelf for different uses – Tupperware, kids’ lunchboxes and baking ingredients – retrieve and return becomes a breeze. Use every small bit of space you have. A small pull-out cabinet near the cooktop containing oils and sauces used in cooking is a great idea. Here’s one we did for a customer recently.
- Pull-out dual bin system: You don’t want to be tripping over an unsightly bin in the kitchen. A waste system with a separate bin for recyclables is a must. Discreet, convenient and easy to use. This one is from a client’s Hampton style kitchen. It blends completely into the base cabinets.
Overhead cabinets
These usually comprise shelves that can be used to store everyday coffee mugs, glassware, dinner sets etc. Here’s a display from our showroom. A glass cabinet allows you to display items, also bringing in lightness and visual relief. An open shelf with the option of adding in a cabinet that swings up are more options. This is great to store extras. Again, take stock of your current kitchen to help you decide.
Pantry and wall cabinets
If you can dedicate a wall for cabinets and a corner for a pantry, that’s ideal. Here is a simple pantry we did for a customer recently. It makes a hard-to-reach corner very useful. The concealed lighting, well-arranged shelves makes it easy to fetch ingredients while cooking. Items are in a single file for better visibility.
If you have got a larger kitchen, here’s a lovely Scandi inspired Zesta Kitchen. Despite being an entire wall of cabinets – the styling makes it discreet and meets the storage needs of a large family. The cabinet also has a full-sized pull-out pantry, right across the food preparation area. Also, the choice of high-gloss cabinetry allows the light to reflect.
At Zesta Kitchens our designers are very experienced with maximising the storage capacity of a kitchen. They can help you choose the right solutions and then position them well for the best flow and efficiency. If you are considering a new kitchen in 2018, come have a browse in a kitchen showroom closest to you. You will see options you had not considered before and one of our team members can book an in-home consultation for you.