10 Things You Should Stop Storing In Your Lower Cabinets
The kitchen has various storage compartments. How you organize your kitchen depends on where you put your kitchenware, food, and cleaning supplies, which can sometimes end up cluttered. Parts of the room are self-explanatory when figuring out where to put things. For example, the pantry stores food, while the upper cabinets typically hold dishes, glasses, and mugs. You might use one of the cabinets to store medicine, vitamins, and a first-aid kit. The lower cabinets are where it can get tricky to place items. You don't want to overcrowd them to where you can't find your favorite pan. On the other hand, stocking unnecessary appliances can take up room that more essential things might need.
The best way to organize your lower cabinets is by taking everything out and starting fresh. According to blogger OXO, starting from scratch can help you visualize what you need to throw out, relocate, and keep. OXO offers a handy guide for organizing any kitchen cabinets. From labeling to categorizing objects, planning is ideal for determining where you want your most used items. The lower cabinets usually hold pots, pans, or heavy appliances, but there could be a few things folks store in them that they shouldn't. We've compiled a list of products you should stop storing in your lower cabinets to make room for items that are used daily.
1. Food items
Avoid storing food, such as packaged food or oils, in your lower cabinets because they can be forgotten and go past their expiration date. You don't want to deal with an ant army if they make their way inside the food. Instead, place the items in upper cabinets or shelves, so they're easy to reach.
2. Non-cooking supplies
Hiding cleaning supplies, trash bags, or dish soap containers in the lower cabinets take up space that could be used for other appliances used daily. You can store extra supplies under the sink or in a separate supply closet to organize everything in one place.
3. Linens
If you enjoy switching out tablecloths daily or have linen napkins, placing them under the cabinets can get them dirty with stains, mildew, or dust from other items. Of course, you'll have to wash them regularly to keep them clean, but if you store them in a linen closet, they'll be kept in better condition.
4. Appliance accessories
It can be easy to hide accessories for specific appliances in the lower cabinet, such as blades for the food processor or food slicers, so they don't take up drawer space. However, they can get lost or pushed behind other pots or pans. Putting them in a bin on top of a shelf makes them more accessible.
5. Paper bags
Since we've transitioned from getting free plastic or paper bags from the grocery to taking our own to prevent paying 10 cents, we've accumulated many bags over the months. Unfortunately, storing them underneath can damage them from water or other appliances, so keep them organized in a supply closet or your car so you don't forget them.
6. Stand mixers
We can all agree that stand mixers are beautiful and extremely handy, but they're super heavy to carry. So, putting them in lower cabinets can cause harm to your body if you continuously pull them out from underneath and place them back. Instead, find unused space on the counter and display the stand mixer.
7. Any type of tray
Let's face it, we don't bake cookies or have a dinner party every night, so storing trays underneath the cabinets is unnecessary. There are different places to store bakeware in the kitchen, but serving trays can be kept in a clear bin in the garage to open up space in the cabinets.
8. Stacked appliances
Stacking pots, pans, and lids seem like a good idea, but pulling them out is frustrating when you need a specific one. You have to take out the entire pile, unstack them, then stack them again. Try stacking only two things, get rid of unused pots or pans, or hang a few pans on the wall.
9. Harsh chemicals
We mentioned cleaning supplies should be placed under the sink or in a supply closet, but harsh chemicals, like bleach, must be stored in the garage. It's better to use them when needed but not kept around for kids to find and play with.
10. Hardly used appliances
Everything that's stored in lower cabinets should be used regularly. For example, if you have a waffle iron, popcorn machine, or ice cream maker you use once every four months, you might want to store them in the garage or donate them. Then, you'll have more room for frequently used items, which won't look cluttered.