Spices: see them to use them
A spice cabinet only works if you can read every label at a glance — buried spices get forgotten and re-bought. The best solutions bring them into view: a narrow pull-out spice rack beside the range, tiered drawer inserts that angle the jars so the tops are visible from above, or shallow door-mounted racks. Locating spice storage right next to the cooktop, where you actually use them, is as important as the mechanism itself.
Trays and baking sheets: store them upright
Baking sheets, cutting boards, cooling racks, and serving trays are flat and awkward, and stacking them flat means wrestling the whole pile to reach the bottom one. The answer is vertical storage: a tall, narrow cabinet fitted with vertical dividers so each tray or sheet slides into its own slot and pulls straight out. A dedicated tray divider cabinet — often placed beside the oven or in a spot too narrow for much else — turns a perennial annoyance into a two-second grab.
- Pull-out or tiered spice storage located next to the range.
- Vertical dividers for baking sheets, trays, and cutting boards.
- A narrow tray cabinet in a spot too slim for standard storage.
- Door-mounted racks for oils, wraps, or extra spices.
Turning narrow gaps into useful storage
One of the quiet advantages of custom cabinetry is that leftover narrow spaces — the slim gap beside a range or refrigerator — become purposeful rather than filler. A pull-out pantry just a few inches wide can hold spices, oils, and condiments; a vertical divider cabinet in the same slim footprint swallows all the trays. Instead of closing an odd gap with a dead filler strip, custom work turns it into exactly the storage the awkward items need.
Plan it around how you cook
The point of all these details is proximity: spices by the range, trays by the oven, cutting boards near the prep counter. Planning where each awkward item lives — and building the specific insert to hold it — during the design stage is what makes a kitchen feel effortless in daily use. It’s a small part of the budget that pays back every single time you cook, which is why we walk through the awkward items deliberately when we design a kitchen.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the best way to store baking sheets and trays?
Vertically. A tall, narrow cabinet fitted with vertical dividers gives each baking sheet, tray, and cutting board its own slot so you pull one out without moving the whole stack. It’s ideal for a slim space beside the oven.
Where should spice storage go in a kitchen?
Right next to the range, where you use them. A pull-out rack, a tiered drawer insert, or door-mounted racks all work — the key is that every spice stays visible so nothing gets lost and re-bought.
Building or remodeling in the Treasure Valley?
Alderwood designs, builds, and installs custom cabinetry in-house across Idaho’s Treasure Valley. Tell us about your project and we’ll start with a design conversation.
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