Although we’re well into 2017, we’re still paying attention to the trends predicted at the beginning of the year. When we look at top kitchen design trends for 2017, clever storage solutions definitely top the list. From the ingenious DIY creations to the farmhouse-styled elements to the built-in options offered by cabinet manufacturers, kitchen storage solutions abound.

When it comes to useful fixes to storage problems, it can be as simple as a magazine box attached to the inside of a cabinet door to provide storage for foil and wax paper boxes. Or it can be as elaborate as a pantry hidden behind barn doors. Kitchen storage can be as ad hoc as vintage baskets on a shelf or as well-designed as semi custom cabinets built exactly to your specifications to fit an unusual space.

Clever kitchen storage solutions using semi custom cabinets

Only visit Pinterest or turn to Google and you’ll find hundreds of clever kitchen storage ideas from the simple to the sophisticated. Below you’ll find only a handful of the many ideas we’ve seen that use semi custom cabinets to provide extremely efficient storage space:

• Check out the pullout bar in this kitchen, where a very narrow space has been cleverly converted into storage for liquor bottles using what we call a wall filler pullout.
• Adding transom cabinets adds storage, especially when you put transom cabinets above the kitchen window.
• When choosing your semi custom cabinets, have a bookshelf built in for your cookbooks. In this kitchen, the bookshelves are on the end of the wall, but they could be built in to any part of your cabinetry or even your kitchen island.
• Or use that awkward space to make a cabinet for your broom, mop and cleaning supplies, as in this example.
• Workspace that you pull out only when you need it isn’t exactly a storage solution, but it is a space saver—which is almost the same thing. As an added bonus, for those of us who are a little shorter, a roll-out baking area like this one puts the work surface at the right height for kneading dough.

Make storage solutions part of your semi custom cabinets

On our website, you can find all kinds of kitchen storage solutions you can include in your design when choosing your semi custom cabinets. You’ll find utensil organizers, wall-filler pullouts, pull-down drawers, wooden pegs you can use to organize drawer space, waste bin drawers, knife-block drawers, spice drawers and door mounts, even a bread drawer and a removable caddy that rolls out and can be picked up and carried—perfect for cleaning supplies!

Your clever kitchen storage solution might be something as simple as hanging coffee cups from hooks or wine glasses from a DIY-built shelf. But with all the functional ways you can add storage to your new kitchen with semi custom cabinets, it’s worth looking into your options for building in that storage from day 1—as cute as those vintage baskets might be.

Note: To make the most of your new kitchen, and to optimize the storage and functionality of that kitchen—even with all of these ingenious ideas—we still suggest you work with a kitchen designer who can help to ensure you’re using the space as efficiently as possible.