Kitchen Storage Hacks

"Kitchen" by jen robinson is licensed under CC BY 2.0

If you have a small kitchen in your apartment, it’s important to get the most efficient use out of the space you have. The coffee pot alone takes up valuable space that could be used in food preparation. To take advantage of the space you have, try following some of these hacks from Apartment Therapy.

1. Pegboards, more like awesomeboards

Pegboards are a utilitarian's dream: They can hold just about anything with the right hooks, can be made as big or as compact as you'd like and can be arranged throughout the year as your storage needs change. How do you keep your kitchen from looking like someone's workshop in the back of a garage? Consider painting it a bold color, and really pay attention to how you arrange elements on the board; make it more like an art display.

2. Tension rods

Why we're not all using tension rods in all the places I'm not sure, but if you haven't yet experienced the organizational wonder of these cheap and handy tools, you should experiment. From keeping your cutting boards from looking like a pile of scrap wood to creating a cozy little space for your cleaning supplies to hang from, your use of tension rods in your kitchen is limited only by your own imagination.

3. Mounted magnetic knife block

Get a heavy duty magnetic block to mount and forever save your counter tops from those standing knife blocks that always seem to take up so much space and kind of always look like they need to be nudged to a slightly different angle. Want to get even more handy? Make a double magnetic knife block and use that side of the refrigerator.

4. Storage on wheels is a go

Hey if you have room for a larger rolling kitchen cart, then you know the pleasures of having mobile storage. But don't discount the helpfulness of smaller rolling storage shelves and carts that can fit in weird nooks, be pulled out when needed and pushed away when finished with.

5. Above-the-cabinet storage

Don't decorate with dust-catchers in the small space you might have above your kitchen cabinets; use that as extra storage by incorporating some uniform, enclosed, sparsely spaced baskets or boxes to hold the stuff you need but don't need all the time (we're looking at you light bulbs, batteries and tools).

6. Drawer dividers are delightful

If you're not using drawer dividers yet, consider changing course. Taking an afternoon to add a few bought or DIYed drawer dividers to your kitchen drawers will make them go from "almost junk drawer" to "Martha Stewart would be proud."

7. IKEA's array of affordable organizing tools for small spaces

Take full advantage of the products IKEA offers when it comes to hanging, storing and displaying. Done neatly and with intention, you can cover nearly every vertical surface in a tiny kitchen to add storage to your space without sacrificing style.

8. Pantry risers, small shelves and lazy susans

If it seems like a lot of work to get nit-picky and organize even your smallest spaces into even smaller compartments — well, it can be. But the extra space you'll gain won't just mean you can stuff more stuff into your space, it'll (hopefully) mean you won't forget about cans of food for months at a time (because you can't see them).

What small-space tips do you have? Share them with us!