I like to consider myself a pretty good home cook, so when it came time to working with the architect to design our new house, I knew that the one thing I need was a ton of kitchen storage cabinets to hold all of my gadgets and tools. My favorite unit in the entire space is my large corner kitchen cabinet that I use as a pantry. We added several custom organizational features such as a lazy Susan, can racks, and spice slots that makes storing everything a breeze. Even better, because we went with these country kitchen cabinets, there was a lot of room to play around with unique storage solutions like the see-through glass cabinets over the bar to hold our mugs and fancy wine glasses.

This is my absolute dream home, primarily because of their fantastic array of kitchen storage cabinets. The thing that drew me to this home was the spacious open floor plan with plenty of room for a huge chefs kitchen. High up on my list of must haves for the kitchen was a great pantry cabinet that would store all of my odds and ends for cake making (I like to consider myself a fantastic baker). As you can see, there are two large pantry units flanking the range and hood that provide ample room for storage of all of my baking material as well as dedicated areas for appliances and other food storage. Even better, we are going to equip those units with kitchen cabinet organizers custom designed by a local woodworker to house all of my icing tips, cake pans, etc.

The most important part of any functional chefs home is their kitchen storage cabinets. Without a space that is as functional as it is beautiful, you can't move easily and efficiently around and get the tasks accomplished that you are setting out to do. For example, I meal prep every Sunday in order to get ready for the week so I need a kitchen design that will allow me to get large back cooking done in a fairly short amount of time. For this reason, I made sure to design a floor plan that would allow me to move around the kitchen to access everything I need, while also providing a ton of counter space and areas to store appliances. My favorite part of the room is the 4-sided kitchen island cabinets that house the majority of my pantry items and cooking tools. I can access them quickly and easily without having to search all over.

I love the kitchen storage cabinets that they used to create this awesome teal peninsula island. The kitchen base cabinets to be built of the same Ratan material that you often see on island style furniture. This makes sense at it is clearly a bohemian beach home with lots of cool Caribbean elements like the exposed wood plank ceiling, open shelving, and large picture windows overlooking their beautiful landscape. My favorite part of the entire space is the technique they used for painting kitchen cabinets. It appears that the color was applied in a wash rather than with a brush, then distressed to give it that cool antique look. Although it looks super high-end, I bet it is something that I could achieve in my own kitchen, if I spent enough time doing some research on the technique before I got started.

I love seeing highly functional kitchen storage cabinets in a more unconventional and modern finish. So many of the kitchen organization elements that you see on the market are designed for more traditional or country style kitchens, but sleek contemporary designs require the same level of functionality. These gorgeous modern style units have a sleek and edgy design on the outside, but inside they offer a wealth of custom storage solutions that can accommodate anything from that annoying collection of pan lids that don't seem to fit anywhere else, to the dozens of spices that never really have a space. My favorite part of the design is the large kitchen pantry storage cabinet that can perfectly house all of the small appliances that would normally clutter up the countertops, but obviously have no place in this design.

When clients ask me how to even begin designing a new kitchen I always tell them to think long and hard about what they use the space for and then what their "must have" items are based on that list. For me (and most homeowners) kitchen storage cabinets are pretty high up on that list because there is nothing worse than an unorganized kitchen when you are trying to cook (especially if you are trying to be health). Whether you have a dedicated kitchen pantry cabinet or specific units that you think could handle your cooking staples as well as fresh items, it is important to determine if your design can accommodate everything you plan to store. In my first kitchen design project, I made the mistake of forgetting about that detail and by the end I realized that even though the space was beautiful, it certainly wasn't functional. You can accomplish this whether you have cheap kitchen cabinets or fancy custom units, as long as you plan carefully in advance.