The European Kitchen Storage Staple That IKEA Needs To Bring Back To The US

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Retrieving things like spices and dry goods can sometimes seem like you're playing a game of Jenga in your pantry or cabinets — something that can be both time-consuming and super frustrating. Having a few organizing essentials or affordable IKEA items in your kitchen or living room can make your space seem more organized and curated. There was one item that was sold years ago from the company's FORHOJA line, which seemed to be the perfect solution for organizing those daily cooking essentials, such as flour, sugar, and salt.

The product was a wall-mountable cupboard designed in a horizontal cabinet style that was popular in mid-century Europe. In American IKEA stores, it was last seen in 2003. Apparently, these cupboards are still around in many homes in places such as Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden, according to Reddit users familiar with the style. One unique feature of the cabinet was the glass chutes with handles that filled the row-styled drawers. This made it easy to quickly grab items and put them back in place. With this storage solution, there are no stacked plastic containers on the counter taking up space and no need to pull heavy sugar bins from the pantry.

When this product was available, it was a simple and budget-friendly way to organize your kitchen. However, since IKEA has bid farewell to the FORHOJA cupboard stateside, consumers can only hope with crossed fingers it's brought back one day to help provide order to cluttered pantries and countertops. Though there doesn't seem to be a similar item offered by the retail giant currently, you can choose from a host of products that create the same convenient wall storage option for your dry goods.

If you're looking to free up precious counter space to create room for your pantry staples, there are other options that provide the same European-style minimalist design matched with exceptional functionality. For example, the mountable storage cabinet organizer by Gdrasuya offers a similar solution. The transparent acrylic front makes it easy to locate your daily go-to items and keep track of goods that may need replenishing. It only offers one main storage compartment, but you can add multiple containers for your dry goods or stack small containers and even canned goods inside the space.

Or consider opting for a dry food dispenser, such as this three-compartment option by Xilei. These dispensers are great for conveniently storing everyday things like cereal, dry beans, rice, coffee beans, or sugar for easy access. You can also mount them on the wall to save counter space for those other bulky items, including appliances and knife blocks. Dispensers like these are effective at keeping your dry goods fresh, too. Mounting them on the wall helps keep goods safe from hungry pests like flour and grain beetles, which like to nest in pantries and can contaminate food.

Another storage solution, Amada's floating shelves, give a minimalist look to your kitchen wall while providing a great way to store your everyday ingredients. Today, many floating shelves come with wall-mounting kits that make for easy installation. Once they're mounted, you can add spice jars, large utensil holders, or your most frequently used items to keep your kitchen organized without needing to throw anything out.