Kitchen appliances are big and responsible! Here are 15 kitchen appliance storage ideas from my previous kitchens to the latest version to give you some ideas on how to organize your kitchen appliances.
Storage of kitchen appliances
I think most people have a love-hate relationship with their kitchen appliances. Yes, they are fantastic for saving time and for convenience food (slow cooker! rice cooker!). It would be very difficult for me to make breadcrumbs without a food processor = essential.
But they’re also mostly large in size, so they’re not the easiest to find storage solutions for. When you use something every day, it’s easy to justify counter space so you have easy access, but you might not want to look at something you only use a few times a month on a daily basis.
My previous kitchens have ranged from tiny (my first apartment, which had no kitchen storage), small to medium-sized (mid-sized houses, where I used overflow space), and now quite large (see my current kitchen tour here )!
I’ve also owned a number of devices over the years. Since they take up a lot of space, I tend to stick to the very basics that we use most often. (Sometimes I wish I still had my juicer and InstantPot, but both were given away in previous moves.)
I’ve used counters, cabinets, other rooms (the dining room), the basement, and a corner of my garage for appliance storage in the past.
Currently, here’s what we have:
- On my counters: blender, toaster oven, coffee maker and tea kettle (behind closed doors)
- In the kitchen cupboards: slow cooker, rice cooker, immersion blender, food processor, mixer, microwave
I love having a high quality blender that matches the kitchen 🙂
Here’s a list of ideas for kitchen appliance storage ideas to keep your kitchen functional and your counters clutter-free.
15 kitchen appliance storage ideas
These ideas go from the most expensive and custom to the most DIY and creative 🙂
1. Butler’s Pantry
The luckiest have a neat little butler’s cupboard off the kitchen where small appliances can be out and out of sight! It’s the best win-win. This was actually on my wish list for our kitchen remodel, but unfortunately we didn’t have the space for a true butler’s cabinet. That’s okay though, because most of us can only dream of an appliance room!
2. Appliance garage
But what we ended up with is an appliance garage! Appliances sit on the counter for easy access when the doors are open and tuck neatly inside when the doors are closed. We originally envisioned putting the blender and toaster oven in there and having the coffee maker out in the open, but we realized one day after she moved in that it made a lot more sense to have the coffee bar inside the cabinets and have the toaster. and take out the blender. Underneath the garage is a drawer to store your coffee along with other bar tools.
You can see the toaster oven that lives next door, out on the counters. We use it every day!
3. Built-in
When you can’t put it behind closed doors, build it in! Our microwave is hidden in the island in an area that is not visible unless you are in that part of the kitchen. I like having it within easy reach because I’m too short to take hot things out of a microwave that’s over the range!
4. Kitchen cabinets
Most people have their small appliances in the kitchen cupboards. The bulk of ours is stored at the end of our cabinetry in easy pull out drawers. Even this custom design is a bit tricky!
Food processor, waffle maker, pot, rice cooker.
I had planned to put the stand mixer in the cabinet but realized we didn’t have anything in that cabinet under the sink after we moved it and it was a perfect height match. So that’s where he lives! I’ve seen some nice mixer popups on pinterest, but we don’t use ours enough to warrant something this fancy.
5. Lazy Susan Corner Cabinets
Before our renovation, we had appliances (and cookware) in the corner cabinet with a lazy Susan. The advantage here is that it is movable and these cabinets are often larger to accommodate larger or wider appliances.
6. Open the shelves
While we don’t have any appliances on our shelves, if you have wall space and some nicer appliances like a vintage toaster, this would be a great way to display them and keep them within arm’s reach!
7. Utility Shelves
I have seen many kitchens with utility shelves as a storage solution for appliances. Or if you had the wall space for a piece of furniture like a cabinet with shelves, it would be great to keep appliances out of sight as well. Use my DIY burlap curtain tip if yours is glass front!
8. Deep drawers
Of course deep drawers also work well for storing small appliances such as a coffee grinder or blender. We have our smaller stuff in the top pull-out drawer in the cabinet I mentioned above, along with Cuisinart parts and pans.
9. In The Pantry
Those lucky enough to have a walk-in closet probably store some gadgets in there. I’ve seen some beautiful photos of cabinets with custom shelves to fit the unique shapes of different appliances. We keep a few party accessories on the top shelf, but as you saw above, most of our appliances are in the kitchen now that it’s bigger.
10. A rolling cart
If you have the space to roll up a cart, you can roll it out when it’s baking time! Casters are great for appliances that are extremely heavy – like the Kitchen Aid! Here is one which is cheap and modern.
11. Pegboard Storage
If you have a small kitchen appliance that can be hung, a peg or these kitchen wall hooks from IKEA are a great way to get it off the counters. Think cheese graters, hand beaters and the like. The kitchen I grew up in was filled with antique cooking gadgets that my mom used!
Check it out in the background of this 90’s Halloween photo of me as a punk rocker!!
12. Hanging Shelves
This suggestion is slightly skewed towards pots and pans, but I had a hanging grill in one of my previous homes and it was great! I loved it. Not only were pots and pans easily accessible, but they were also easy to air dry.
13. A buffet
In our pre-renovation home, we used this long sideboard in the living room for appliances. It was easy to get in and out with the big, wide doors, and it was just a few steps from the kitchen. The dining room is a great place to store overflow appliances.
14. Shelves in the basement
This is a corner of my basement in my previous home where I had wooden shelves that served as a closet. While it wasn’t ideal to walk down stairs for appliances, these were all ones I didn’t use on a daily basis. And I had them in easy-to-carry wire containers so I could bring them up without pieces falling out.
15. The neighbor’s house
I’m not kidding! If you have something that you can only use a few times a year, borrow it! Two neighbors could easily share a waffle maker: ) I gave my neighbors my InstantPot on the condition that I might ask to borrow it once a year (I haven’t asked yet though!).
