Everyone Owned It In The 80s — Now It's The Portable Organizer We Want For Our Kitchens

When kitchen space is at a premium, every square inch of added storage can be a welcome addition. Sure, you can spend a fortune on renovations, installing expensive new cabinets and countertops to upgrade your kitchen. But homeowners and renters looking for a simple, cost-effective way to organize their kitchens might find inspiration in a once-popular kitchen staple from the 1980s: the microwave cart.

The 1970s marked the beginning of the microwave era, when just about every home would add one of these game-changing appliances. As microwaves became more popular, dedicated microwave carts offered a convenient place to keep them, often with a drawer and cabinet doors concealing extra storage. For a home already crowded with a refrigerator, dishwasher, oven, and various other appliances, not to mention plenty of avocado and rust-colored Tupperware for all the Tang a family could drink, these carts offered an easy hack for secretly adding more storage to a kitchen.

Available from just about any big box or home improvement store, these handy rolling storage carts can be picked up for as little as around $50. Savvy secondhand shoppers can even find these retro 1980s kitchen staples at thrift stores, estate sales, or online marketplaces. Besides offering room for your microwave or toaster oven, they also typically provide just enough space to store your pots, pans, and other small appliances. And because many have casters, they can be rolled around the kitchen whenever you need to rearrange your space.

Whether your microwave cart has a nook designed to nest appliances in or a flat surface intended to set your microwave on, these mobile utility carts are perfect for repurposing into home coffee stations. The upper level of your microwave cart is an ideal spot for housing your coffee bean canister, coffee grinder, coffee maker, and espresso maker. Inside the top drawer, stash your coffee mug collection along with other smaller items like sweetener, sugar, powdered coffee creamer, and stirrers. The larger cabinet area is a great spot to stash your extra bags of coffee beans, coffee filters, biscotti, paper napkins, and other necessities. If you're more of a tea drinker, there's plenty of room for all of your favorite Celestial Seasonings boxes and honey. 

Microwave stands also make fantastic bar carts. Stash your prettiest barware along with your cocktail shaker and stirrers, decorating your bar cart with a fresh bowl of citrus and other lovely accents. The lower cabinet underneath should provide plenty of space for bar essentials like liquor staples, grenadine, and other mixers. The best part? It's easy to relocate to a more prominent spot next time you've got company coming over. Whether you're serving morning coffee or evening cocktails, a vintage microwave cart can bring some nostalgic charm and much-needed storage to your entertaining space.