Does your kitchen provide you with enough storage? Is everything organized and easy to find when you need it? If you answered “no”, you’re not alone. One of top reasons for remodeling a kitchen is to improve its functionality and a big part of that is adequate and organized storage. There’s a lot you can do in your kitchen to maximize space with thoughtful, customized design options.

Here’s a list of 10 ways to maximize storage in your kitchen.

1. Build a custom pantry. Create a space for all of your dry and canned food items. Have your remodeler create drawers with pull outs to utilize every inch of space to make finding things easy.

1. Extend cabinet heights to the ceiling. You’ll be amazed what a few extra inches of cabinet height can do and it’s aesthetically pleasing as well.

1. Use drawers instead of doors on lower cabinets. Stop bending over and searching in a dark cabinet for a pot or serving dish. A drawer will allow you to actually see what’s inside.
2. Reserve one cabinet for pullout trash and recycling bins. Keep the mess hidden, but in a place that’s easy to access near your sink.
3. Install lazy susans in corner cabinets. There’s usually more space in a corner cabinet than those along the walls. Lazy susans give you the flexibility to get the most use out of that space and all it takes is a quick spin to find what you need.
4. Hidden spice cabinets. These are best placed right next to the stove for easy access.
5. Baking cabinets. Don’t forget all of those long and narrow items such as cookie sheets and cutting boards. Create a special cabinet space specifically for them with dividers to keep them organized.
6. Appliance garages. Stow your small appliances in a cabinet with a sliding door to keep them out of sight when not in use. These typically sit right below your upper cabinets on your countertop.

1. Cubbies. Open cubby storage works great in a wet bar or island to accommodate cookbooks, wine bottles, or decorative serving ware.

1. Open shelving. These are perfect for items you need fast access to or want to display such as wine glasses, mixers, vases, or dishes.