5 Things You Should Never Store in Your Lower Kitchen Cabinets

By ZOË ROSCOE Image Credit: Rustic Vegan/Unsplash

Lower kitchen cabinets are prime real estate.

They’re usually larger than upper cabinets and can therefore accommodate bigger items, and while they can be a bit tricky to maneuver within (the stuff in the back isn’t so accessible), what you store at your lower cabinets’ openings should be things you reach for consistently. Image Credit: Marek Chilicki/Gold Lens Photography

Here are a few things you probably don’t want to store in your lower kitchen cabinets:

Assessing what might not belong in these prized slots of space can help free up places to, ultimately, help your kitchen stay cleaner and run more smoothly. Image Credit: Esteban Cortez

1. Stand Mixers

Image Credit: Joe Lingeman Assessing what might not belong in these prized slots of space can help free up places to, ultimately, help your kitchen stay cleaner and run more smoothly.

Image Credit: Courtesy of KitchenAid If you have the countertop space to store your stand mixer, use it. If you’re not a regular baker, maybe you can find a shelf or counter somewhere else at home—closer to counter height—to store your mixer and spare yourself the back aches.

2. Blades and Accessories

Image Credit: Joe Lingeman Bottom cabinets aren’t an ideal place for blades that go on your mandolin and food processor or the attachments for your stand mixer. These kinds of small objects have a tendency to roll around or get lost behind bigger objects in your cabinets, and you really don’t want to be kneeling and reaching and fumbling around for things you can’t see that can cut you.

3. Food

Image Credit: Joe Lingeman Food that isn’t at eye level is food that will sit a lot longer before getting eaten. Keep ingredients like flour or oils in upper cabinets where they are easier to notice and won’t languish past their expiration dates.

4. Anything Stacked

Image Credit: Esteban Cortez Stacking things in lower cabinets is a perfect recipe for frustration. When you’re looking down on stacked items, all you can see is what’s on top and to get anything beneath it, you need to reach down and undo your setup.

Image Credit: Lana Kenney If you must store pans or pots stacked, go no higher than two items, max. Consider shelves to separate your lower-cabinet pots and pans or racks to file things like baking sheets and casserole dishes vertically.

5. Almost-Never-Used Appliances and Pans

Image Credit: Joe Lingeman Any small appliance that you use a couple times a year doesn’t belong in any cabinet in your small kitchen. This includes things like the ice cream maker you use once each summer and the large roasting pan you use at Thanksgiving.

Image Credit: Lana Kenney Try to decouple the idea that kitchen things have to stay in the kitchen. If you only access them annually, your special occasion appliances and kitchenware will be no less conveniently stored in a closet, garage, or under the bed.