Make your kitchen more efficient with these 5 innovative storage ideas

If you fancy yourself an amateur chef, you’re likely interested in systems to make your home kitchen more efficient. Whether you’re regularly hosting dinner parties, spending hours testing complex recipes, or love whipping up a quick, tasty dish for the family, a well-planned kitchen layout can make the cooking process significantly easier.

New Zealand importers and distributors, Enko Smart Systems, know how valuable intelligent kitchen design is to cooking enthusiasts.

“Enko’s mission is to bring global function and innovation to New Zealand kitchens and cabinetry,” says Cameron Whitehouse of Enko Group.

“We review and analyse the New Zealand market, kitchen designs, and usage trends to find needs and requirements, then look for solutions we can source from around the globe.”

With a keen understanding of the kitchen design market and the needs of New Zealand home chefs, Cameron Whitehouse shares five innovative storage ideas to make your kitchen more efficient.

One: customise for your cooking style

“It’s all about you, your specific storage requirements, how you and your family cook and entertain, and of course, your personal wish list!” Whitehouse explains. 

Though it is important to follow the recipe instructions, every home cook has their flair. 

“Any NKBA kitchen designer will tell you that kitchen cabinetry should be designed around you and your needs, as everyone has different cooking regularities, styles of food and prep, and different pots, pans, utensils, and small appliances.”

Rather than take a one-size-fits-all approach, Whitehouse recommends customising your kitchen storage solutions. To ensure your custom cabinets enhance kitchen efficiency, he offers the following advice:

“Before embarking on any custom cabinetry project where storage space is key, take the time to create a list of the key things you want the space to achieve. This includes the dimensions of any unique appliances or collectables you need to make allowances for and the heights of anything you want to store in drawers or shelving.”

Two: make the most of corner storage

Corner storage can be challenging when not designed properly, and as a result it is often overlooked. This is a significant waste of space, especially in small kitchens. To make the most of your corners, an intelligently designed cabinet is a must.

“A well-sorted corner cabinet could be the missing space you need to take your project from ‘that will do nicely’ to ‘oh wow, that's amazing!’,” Whitehouse says.

Of course, as most poorly designed corner cupboards end up being an inaccessible void, accessibility is a major consideration.

“Often, it’s not about maximising storage space. A simple shelved corner cabinet may have more area and volume, but it can be almost impossible to access. We get the best feedback on the Fly Box Corner Unit because you can either open the unit halfway (like a drawer) or simply keep pulling for the rear baskets to come out of the cabinet — a game changer for easy-to-access corner storage.”

Three: utilise high cabinets

If you have high ceilings or extra space above head height, high cabinets can be a great way to maximise available space.

“Just because something is out of reach doesn't mean the storage can’t be used. The revolutionary Karlo unit from Enko is designed so that high storage can be pulled within reach in one smooth motion — perfect for above the pantry drawers or in overhead cupboards. With open scullery shelving now very common in larger kitchen projects, the beautiful Karlo unit doesn't need to be hidden behind a door, you can make it the star of the show!”

Four: don’t forget drawers

“Drawers have proven to be the most efficient storage system in the cabinetry environment, both in their organisational capability and the access you can get,” Whitehouse explains. 

Drawers can be easily organised through segmentation, and, unlike cupboards that tend to leave a lot of ‘headroom’ above stored items, drawers are incredibly spatially efficient. Because of this, Whitehouse recommends using as many drawers as possible.

“As a bonus, drawers lend themselves well to the contemporary, minimalist, symmetrical cabinetry layouts, so they fit very well with many design styles.”

Five: narrow cabinets are a hack

There are many kitchen staples — both appliances and food products — that store better vertically.

“Some things need to be within reach of certain kitchen areas — think under the stove oil, vinegar and spice racks — so we recommend taking advantage of narrow cabinets. There are plenty of options to take advantage of the narrow spaces that a design might present, from 150mm broom and cleaning storage to wine bottles and narrow pantry units. Challenge your design to make sure you have used all the narrow vertical space available to you!”

If you’re interested in specifying an Enko kitchen system for your home, contact Enko today.

“With so much research and evaluation being done online, we relish the opportunity to chat through your project and your needs. We look forward to making your storage wishlist a reality!”

Learn more about Enko Smart Systems.