5 Brilliant Storage Ideas to Steal from This 124-Square-Foot Kitchen

You have a silverware drawer, a utensils drawer, a junk drawer—but be honest: How many more narrow drawers do you need above your cabinets? Why not use one of those spaces to stow a paper towel roll? The built-in look is sleeker than having a roll dangle from your upper cabinets, and it still frees up your counter space.

We’d all love to have an eat-in kitchen with its own breakfast nook, but that’s not always a reality. Sweeten’s contractors found a middle ground by creating a peninsula instead, then using the space under the table to fit in extra cabinets. Now four to six people can hang outnearthe kitchen, without being all up in the cook’s business. When people aren’t over, it’s blessed extra counter space for prepping meals. (Pro tip: Painting the wall navy helps make the peninsula feel like more of its own space, making the room seem a bit bigger than it is.)

A classic hutch is a great way to display your nicest dishware—without them getting as dusty as they do on open shelves—but it’s hard to sacrifice what’s essentially a fridge’s worth of space to a single piece of furniture. Well, here’s a smart workaround: Install glass-front shelves from the ceiling to your countertop that are half as deep as your counter. That way, you can still display your wine collection or thoseMoscow mule mugsfrom that summer you gotwaytoo into ginger beer, while still sneaking in a little counter space.

Nobody wants to stare at a microwave, and these days, you can buy plenty of drawer-style designs that get that box off your counter and largely out of sight—until the next Trader Joe’s frozen mac and cheese craving hits, of course.

Stop tripping around your trash bin. A pull-out cabinet—in this case, located right under the built-in paper towel dispenser—stows a wastebasket and recycling bin. This move frees up floor space, making it easier to get around, and best of all, it’s out of sight, out of mind...until it’s garbage day.