How to Get More Counter Space
The counter is an essential part of any kitchen, it’s where food is prepared, vegetables are chopped, and your most-used appliances are kept, but it’s often cluttered and impossible to work on, especially in a smaller kitchen. 5-Minute Crafts will show you great ideas to keep the mess off the counter.
1. Replace the knife block.
A knife block might seem like the best option for storing knives, but it takes up precious counter space and can become unpractical since it holds only a certain number of knives with a predetermined shape and size.
Replace it with a magnetic knife holder on your backsplash. Besides keeping your counter free, it will allow more freedom when purchasing other knives, as they’ll all get a place! Just make sure to get the right size for the number of knives in your kitchen.
2. Install a kitchen rail.
It’s easy to accumulate a large number of utensils that just lay in jars and take up precious counter space. A kitchen rail is a clever way to use the backsplash area for that. It has its origins in restaurant kitchens, but its simplicity and efficiency will work in any kitchen.
Add as many S-hooks as the kitchen rail space allows, then hang utensils, pots, and pans. Anything that can be hung can be placed here, clearing up counter space as well as drawer and cabinet space.
3. Put in shelf risers.
While shelf risers are made to add an additional shelf to your cabinets, giving you different levels of storage out of the same space, they are valuable on your countertop as well.
Follow the same principle as you would inside cabinets. If you need to keep jars, plates, ingredients, or spices on your counter, minimize the space they occupy with a shelf riser. For example, keep smaller jars under it and spices and utensils on top of it.
4. Hang up your fruit.
Hanging fruit baskets make productive use of vertical space while clearing up your counters. They typically consist of a bowl or several that hang from a hook.
Hang a fruit basket below a cabinet or from the ceiling and enjoy the benefits: a tiered option stores more fruit than a single counter bowl, it keeps fruit at eye level so you never lose track of fresh produce, and they prevent fruit from staining your counter if it spoils.
5. Add a lazy Susan.
If you have plenty of cooking oils, salt, and spices lying around on the counter, try installing a lazy Susan.
Collect and organize your items on the lazy Susan — taller items, like bottles, go in the center; and shorter items, like spice jars, can be placed closer to the edge. This allows for full visibility of your items and more organization.
6. Get a cutting board the size of your sink.
Cutting boards need counter space. Here’s an idea for making clever use of a space that’s not usually associated with cutting boards.
Get a cutting board that’s slightly bigger than your sink and place it on top of it. It won’t take up counter space and it effectively creates an extra counter on top of your sink. If the sink and chopping board need to be used at the same time, place the board on top of the stove, creating extra functionality in an existing space.