Five ingenious ways to maximise kitchen storage

For a kitchen to work properly, it's not enough that it should just look beautiful, it must function beautifully as well. For Charlie Smallbone, founder of Ledbury Studio, this is the key to a well-designed kitchen. And the element at the heart of a practical kitchen? Good storage. Here, Charlie offers his five top tips for maximising kitchen storage.

HOW TO MAXIMISE KITCHEN STORAGE

With the kitchen coming under increasing pressure to perform a variety of crucial roles such as family dining, relaxing, working and entertaining, a good layout and adequate storage are more important than ever.

1. A HANDY BREAKFAST CUPBOARD

Start your morning right with a breakfast cupboard. Serving as a handy spot to stash your toaster, kettle, coffee machine (or anything else cluttering up your worktop), it will keep breakfast paraphernalia out of sight and out of mind until required. The other benefit of a breakfast cupboard is that everything you need is close to hand with stacks of storage, from shelves and door racks to cupboards and drawers.

For more kitchen storage ideas, see:Kitchen storage ideas to ensure a clutter-free space

2. CUSTOMISED DRAWERS

Forgo kitchen cabinets for drawers. They're easier to access and can be pulled all the way out to reveal what's inside. This means no more scrabbling at the back of a cupboard to find what you need. Use deeper drawers for storing bulky pots and pans, and reserve shallow drawers for cutlery and cooking essentials. Add bespoke drawer inserts to ensure items are stored in the most efficient way and to suit the specific items you like to cook with.

3. OPEN SHELVING

Open shelving in the kitchen is a great way to showcase pieces you're proud of and to keep cooking essentials close to hand. The beauty of shelves is that they slot in almost anywhere, regardless of how shallow or narrow the gap. If you are planning on including a kitchen island in your scheme, integrated shelving works well for discrete yet stylish storage.

4. GLASS-FRONTED CABINETS

If you want to put certain pieces on display but still need practical storage, why not choose glass-fronted cabinets? They can be used to make a focal point with your best glassware, for example, but everything inside will stay clean and ready to use.

See:An interior designer shows us how to create an organised kitchen

5. AN ORGANISED LARDER

The genius of a purpose-built larder or pantry is that you can kit it out to perfectly store the foods you like to eat. A combination of open shelves, different-sized drawers and compartments will give ample room for all your tins, packages and bottles. And by including shallow shelves on the inside of the door, you make great use of what would otherwise be wasted space.