A nifty $20 shelf riser transformed my messiest kitchen cabinet – now I can grab nested plates easily without hurting my wrists

My kitchen cabinets each serve a vital storage purpose, especially because we’re always in danger of having more items than we have space to keep, which is why nesting items together to make use of vertical space is vital.

But one thing I struggled with was lifting up those tall piles to grab something from the lowest layer. I have chronic pain and found it painful to lift multiple plates and bowls every time I needed something.

That’s until I found a nifty two-tiered corner shelf riser on Amazon and it became my favorite kitchen cabinet storage idea.

This corner shelf riser solved my storage woes

When you’re living in a tiny or compact home, or simply have a lot of stuff to organize and keep tidy, space-saving ways to use vertical storage is a top-tier idea.

In my kitchen cabinets, I fitted extra shelves to decrease dead vertical space and give me more surface area to store items. However where my plates and bowls were concerned, I needed something more specific to solve the inaccessible stacking issue.

That was when I added this cheap and cheerful two-tier shelf riser from Amazon, separating the nesting piles from each other, and it was a game changer. It means I can now still make use of all my vertical kitchen cabinet space whilst also having easy access to the bottom nest of dinnerware.

I also recently swapped out my heavier ceramic dinner service with beautiful, dishwasher safe melamine ones, and it’s been transformative for my pain and accessibly needs. It's also easier for my young daughter to manage.

Before using the shelf riser, I stored nests of bowls and various sized plates to make use of the vertical cabinet space. However, as I have chronic pain and weak, very-bendy wrists due to a genetic connective tissue disorder, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, heavy ceramic stacks were problematic.

It meant in order for me to get a dinner plate – the largest of my nested tower and at the bottom – I had to lift a stack of heavy pasta bowls and side plates first. It hurt my wrists every time and there were a number of dinnerware breakages as a result of my wrists giving way mid lifting.

Now, the shelf riser has fixed that and makes the best use of my vertical storage space.

What to shop

There are plenty of kitchen storage solutions I employ in my cabinets to make best use of the space I have. Here are three of my favorites for space-saving and increasing functionality of my vital cabinet spaces.

All prices correct at time of publication.

Next, learn what things tidy people always have in their kitchens.