Looking for some space-saving hacks in your kitchen? These simple tips will help you get the most out of the room you’ve got!
We certainly don’t live in a tiny home but for our family of five, we’re constantly short on room for everything. There are only so many cupboards in a small kitchen. And an endless array of water bottles…
Children have their own big chests of drawers but the hand-me-downs always cause an overflow. And there is never enough room under the kitchen sink.
On my own quest to make my life easier, I came across quite a few hacks. And some of them made a real difference.
They might seem like hardly worth mentioning but I’m telling you: #4 still puts a smile on my face every time I empty a trash bin. So without further ado, here we go with 5 wonderful space-saving hacks:
#1 Freezer space
You might find yourself short on freezer space more often than you dare to admit. But there’s an underrated space-saving hack: freezing food flat. Once frozen, food can be stacked like books which makes it easier to find what you need.
Simply fill a labeled freezer bag, press out all the air and close it. Now lay the bag flat on the counter and distribute the contents evenly inside the bag.
Place it on a baking tray or cutting board and freeze for 2-3 hours. Once frozen, remove the tray and stack them like books. As a bonus, your food will also defrost much quicker.
Note: If you want to avoid single-use plastic and reduce trash, go for reusable silicone freezer bags*.
#2 Space-saving hacks for cabinets
It seems like a great idea to have kitchen cabinets mounted all the way up to the ceiling, doesn’t it? In reality, though, this room is hard to use. And corner cabinets are another example of something that just sounds great.
A wonderful way to use this space is a Lazy Susan. These rotating trays can be placed on a hard-to-reach shelf and then filled with whatever you want to reach faster.
Sippy cups or mugs, coffee and tea supplies, snacks and spices. All it takes are a few turns to reach what once was lost.
Another great space-saving hack is using fabric boxes in your cabinets. They store lots of small parts like baby bottle supplies, snack containers, lids or sippy cups. No more worries that one wrong move lands the cabinet contents in your face.
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Heavier kitchen supplies can be stored in big plastic boxes in the lower cabinets. Instead of trying to find something while kneeling on the hard kitchen floor, you pull out the box and get what you need.
And then there are these little extra shelves that you can place over your stack of plates or hang from the shelf above. They enable you to store things in an area of your cabinet which would otherwise go unused.
#3 Space-saving hacks for water bottles
Empty water bottles have a tendency to topple over at the slightest touch. And they often require a tall shelf space. Enter, magazine holders!
You can either lay them flat on top of each other or turn them on their backs. Either way, your water bottles will find a stable home. Now you can easily grab the one you need without causing an avalanche.
#4 Trash bins
I used to have a spot for all of my trash bag rolls right there under the sink. Until I came across this super-useful tip:
Keep each roll INSIDE the bin, underneath the new trash bag. No more running around looking for the right size. And it saves space under the sink where I would store a bunch of trash bag rolls.
Note: The only bin where I don’t use this system is the really messy trash in the kitchen.
#5 Saving space in your closet
It’s not as geeky as you think to fold laundry Sheldon Cooper style, using a folding board. It comes with two space-saving perks: All your shirts share the same dimensions and thus use up less space.
If you add just one more fold they can be stored like CDs in a drawer organizer. Marie Kondo made this popular: You easily find the one you need without causing the pile of shirts to collapse.
Another plus for a folding board is that kids love using it. So if you haven’t thought of getting a laundry folding board (or making your own), you might want to reconsider. It definitely saves more space than the board requires for storage… 😉
So, there you have it – five seemingly small space-saving hacks for your home. What I enjoy most, though is how such simple little things can make life just a little easier and a lot more joyful.
And seriously, I smile every time I change a trash bag! I hope there is something here that will have the same effect on your everyday life:
Doing something menial with a smile. The world needs more of that.
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