This Overlooked Cabinet Space Solved My Small Kitchen’s Biggest Storage Problem

Row houses aren’t known for their spacious kitchens. I can count on one hand the number of homes I’ve seen in my neighborhood that boast luxuries like a kitchen island or a full pantry (unless they’ve blown out the walls in the entire first floor — a conversation for another day). My house is no exception. When we renovated our 1990s kitchen in an 1890s home, we didn’t have much room, literally, for creativity. The previous owners had optimized the space in a way that made sense. Short of moving windows and walls, the galley floor plan worked and was going to stay as-is. 

With room for dishware, cookware, and even a coffee appliance garage, I had no real complaints. My husband, on the other hand, had one non-negotiable addition: a wine fridge. But there was nowhere for it to go, as we needed all the other cabinetry for true necessities. This conundrum led us to the most clever use of space in our kitchen: a small wine fridge installed above our washer and dryer closet (again, optimized space here!).

The idea hit us (or hit my husband, rather): What if we leveraged that awkward cabinet just below the ceiling line for a wine fridge? The cabinet’s storage space was relatively large but too high to access on a daily basis. So I couldn’t imagine any use for it beyond Costco-level back stock, and we’re not people who shop in bulk. It was basically sitting empty anyway — this seemed like a win-win solution.

The location of the washer and dryer below meant electric wiring already existed in the area. And while my husband likes to think of himself as a wine connoisseur, the reality is that we don’t drink often enough to need access to the wine fridge on a daily or even weekly basis. Tucking it out of the way worked for our needs; if anything, it was ideal. It wouldn’t take up valuable space within the core of our kitchen, yet it would be there when we needed it. And it made great use of an awkward nook.

Sourcing the right size wine fridge proved to be the most challenging part of the project. Many wine fridges are meant to be installed into walls, but our size constraints and the need for a horizontal layout limited our options. After searching high and low, we found a wine fridge that fit out specifications, and it was installed with a frame that makes it feel like an integrated piece of cabinetry. It might not be big enough for serious wine drinkers’ collections, but it’s great for storing the occasional bottles we pick up while traveling.

We do have to use a small step ladder to access the wine fridge, but we use that ladder to reach anything that’s in the top level of our cabinetry anyway (that was my non-negotiable during the renovation — take the cabinetry to the ceiling!). And I can even convince myself that there’s an element of library ladder appeal each time I reach up to select a bottle.