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Storage
in your kitchen island
An island can give you valuable space for both working
and storing extra items, and most people will agree that extra storage
is always a critical need in the kitchen. On the public side, take
advantage of shallow cabinets, installed back to back with deeper
cabinets facing the kitchen. Use these public cabinets for serving
items, napkins, cutlery, platters and other things that do not need to
be in the food prep area.
On the working side of the island, create plenty of room to store the
things that you need for the activity the island supports, because the
advantage of the island is also its biggest downfall. It is isolated. If
you are using the island for cooking, you will want your pots, pans and
spices to be readily available. The space under the cook top is great
for deep drawers where you can keep pots and pans. You may consider
hanging these things from an expensive pot rack, but these racks do not
hold the deeper pots or the lids, and they can get in the way of your
view.
If you are using the island for prep work, you will want to include
storage for knives and small appliances such as mixers and food
processors. You should also consider adding pop-ups, platforms that
swing out from behind a door in the island base, or appliance garages
for these items. You will also want convenient access to the trash can
in your island if it is being used for food prep. If the island has a
sink and will be used for clean up, you will want a place for dish
towels, detergent and brushes.
For children's storage ideas visit this site for
storage
cubbies
If you place a sink in your island, the under counter storage space will
be very limited, as it will if you install a dishwasher or oven. You
will have to plan more carefully to accommodate these things. The same
is true if you install a cook top with a downdraft fan, the machinery
for which will be stored in the cabinet below. One way around this
limited storage concern is to use the ends of the island. Rounded ends
are great for lazy Susans. Almost any island can accommodate open
shelving or even a shallow cabinet.
Resources:
kitchen guides |
kitchen webs |
kitchen suggested |
kitchen source |
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