If there’s one thing many homesteaders wish they had more of, it’s storage space in the kitchen.
A lot of self-sufficiency projects happen in this room, and finding the space for both your tools and garden bounty can get tricky—especially in older homes.
Short of a full kitchen renovation, what’s the solution?
The good news is that there’s plenty you can do to maximize your kitchen space from a homesteading perspective.
Keep reading to learn our 22 best kitchen storage solutions for homesteaders so that you can make the most out of what’s available to you.
1. Store Homemade Bread in a Bread Box
Baking homemade bread has a lot of advantages, but one drawback is that a lack of preservatives may cause your loaves to go stale quickly.
You can extend their shelf life by several days by storing them in a bread box instead.
This old-fashioned apparatus works to trap moisture in the loaf so that it doesn’t dry out and stays sliceable for far longer.
Just be sure not to keep your bread inside long enough to mold—otherwise, you might get spores in the bread box that could affect future loaves.
2. Use a Tension Rod to Hang Spray Bottles
Are your homemade kitchen cleaners starting to get out of control?
Take advantage of the unused storage space under your sink by placing a tension rod between the counter walls and hanging your spray bottles from it.
Instructions can be found at the Family Handyman.
3. Invest In Spice Gripper Clamps for Better Organization
Spice racks seem to be messy by default, but you can keep your kitchen condiments in place and utilize unused space on your cabinet doors with these spice gripper clamps.
Each clip comes with high-quality adhesive, but you can also screw them into place for extra support.
Prefer to store your spices in plain sight? Consider buying a set of magnetic spice tins and storing them on your fridge or a magnet mounted to the wall.
If you don’t know your spices by sight alone, consider labeling them on the magnetic side.
4. Install a Lazy Susan in the Fridge or Under the Sink
Lazy Susan’s are an excellent way to store things in tight cabinets, but there’s a lot more you can do with this spinning disk.
Consider installing one under your sink or even in the fridge for easy access to everything stored on it.
As a bonus, keeping one in your fridge should help prevent you from forgetting about the perishable food inside.
5. Store Reusable Water Bottles on a Wine Rack
Reusable water bottles are an excellent option for the environment, but they can get cluttered if you don’t have a good storage solution.
Consider utilizing a wine rack for this purpose. Most standard-sized bottles will fit without issue, and you’ll gain a simple way to store them in a cabinet without risk of them
6. Build a Wood Shelf with Underside Pot and Pan Rack
Bulky pots and pans take up more than their share of space. Keep things streamlined on an unused wall with this multifunctional shelf and pot storage system.
Store cookbooks or other kitchen decorations on top and hang your pans from the hooks below. Further instructions are available from HGTV.
7. Make a DIY Wire Rack
Are your utensil drawers too full to close? Take advantage of unused wall space (especially behind the stove) by setting up a simple metal rack.
You can attach anything to it that doesn’t fit well elsewhere for functional décor and easy accessibility. All you need is some wire mesh rebar and a few hanging hooks for a quick storage solution.
Find the full instructions at A Beautiful Mess.
8. Make a Homemade Pot Rack from an Antique Ladder
Are you looking to add some rustic chic to your kitchen? You’re in luck if you already have an antique ladder lying around.
Old House Crazy shares instructions for turning one into a DIY pot rack by hanging it from the ceiling.
You can cut the ladder down to size to ensure you use as much as necessary to fix your space.
Complement the ladder with the right hanging chain, and you’ll have an eye-catching centerpiece for your kitchen.
9. Get Creative with Your Knife Storage
Traditional wood blocks can be cumbersome. Streamline your kitchen organization with a hidden knife block that keeps your cutlery accessible for all produce prepping tasks.
You can purchase models that fit under your counter or mount a magnetic strip on the wall to hang them in plain sight.
Either way, you’ll appreciate the additional countertop space you gain in the process.
10. Utilize a Mobile Cart for Flexibly Storage
Are you forever short on pantry space? Add a rolling wire cart to the kitchen and you will have a mobile storage area for all your home-grown staples, such as potatoes, onions, and winter squash.
You can bring it out as soon as you’re ready to start cooking and push it back out of the way at the end.
This is a great way to utilize unused space between the refrigerator and the wall.
11. Turn One Shelf Into Two
Double the functionality of your shelf space with wire shelf risers.
This simple tool turns one shelf into two, so you have more space for dishware, pantry items, and whatever else you’re trying to organize.
12. Organize Farm-Fresh Eggs on the Counter
Anyone with a backyard chicken flock knows how cumbersome egg storage can become.
How do you ensure that you always eat the oldest eggs first?
This space-saving storage rack gets rid of the question, as you’ll add eggs to the top of the spiral so that the oldest ones roll down for easy use.
Cute, whimsical, and space-saving all in one.
Note: Fresh farm eggs don’t need to be stored in the fridge, so this egg rack is the perfect countertop accessory.
13. Invest in a Tea Bag Organizer
You couldn’t think of forgoing your favorite herbal tea, but all those boxes take up valuable space.
Keep things clutter-free with a tea bag organizer designed for display on your countertop or to be tucked away in a drawer.
Best of all, the cute design lets you assess all your flavor options at once.
14. Store Pans Sideways
Nothing makes a cabinet feel more cluttered than a jumble of pots and pans within it.
The secret to organizational success? An expandable pan organizer rack.
Designed to fit right in your cupboards, this innovative product lets you stack everything vertically to free up space and help you quickly locate what you want to use.
15. Hang Mason Jars Under Floating Shelves
You’re already stacking things on every square inch of shelf space, but did you know you can utilize the space under your shelves as well?
Hildablue shares instructions for attaching mason jar lids to the bottom of your shelves so that you can screw them in place for cute, secure storage.
16. Optimize Your Cabinet Doors
Keep your most frequently used cooking utensils (like spatulas and cutting boards) within easy reach in your kitchen by attaching them to the back of cabinet doors with an over the door organizer.
Not only will this free up space in overcrowded drawers, but it lets you find what you need within seconds of looking.
17. Prop Your Pan Lids on a Towel Rack
Don’t let pot lids take up valuable cabinet space.
A convenient solution is to install a towel rack rod over your counter, and then set the lids directly on it, handles pointing out. Instructables shares how you can build one yourself.
18. Dry Dishes Vertically
Are you sick of running out of space for drying your dishes? Put some underused wall space to use with a vertical dish drying rack.
Designed to fit over your sink, this rack will free up your counters and lets all water drip directly back into the sink.
19. Get Creative with Your Utensil Displays
Most homesteaders have an abundance of mason jars already lying around, so put them to use as an attractive storage option for your most-used utensils.
The DIY Playbook shares instructions for mounting jars to a rustic wood plank for extra bathroom storage, and you can adjust this plan to put one in your kitchen instead.
Prefer to show off your favorite vintage labels instead?
You can follow the same instructions to mount tins cans instead. Running With Sisters offers more visuals.
For an even more rustic vibe, you can use pallet wood to make a wall-mounted silverware hanger that’s tailored to your specifications. Instructions can be found at HomeTalk.
20. Store Frozen Goods in Magazine Holders
Have you filled your freezer with vacuum sealed-bags of garden produce?
Keep things organized and easy to assess with magazine holders turned on their side.
Not only does this make it easy to pull out what you need, but it prevents your products from collapsing on each other over time.
21. Utilize Ceiling Space for Produce Storage
Are you sick of homegrown tomatoes taking up all your counter space?
Store your produce more effectively with a hanging fruit basket. This three-tier option maximizes makes excellent use of vertical space and delivers an opportunity for creating eye-catching displays.
Prefer to mount your produce storage system to the wall? Consider a wire basket system instead.
22. Keep Your Cookbooks Out of the Spill Zone
The internet might be convenient, but for many cooks, nothing compares to paging through a dog-eared cookbook.
Keep yours easily accessible for hands-free reading with a retractable book stand.
Most are easy to mount under your kitchen cabinets so that they discretely tucked away until you’re ready to start cooking.
Optimize Your Kitchen For Homesteading Success
Your house may not have your dream homesteading kitchen, but there’s no reason to be discouraged.
There’s plenty you can do to increase its functionality with a few clever storage upgrades.
Following some of the ideas in this article for the best homestead kitchen storage solutions will bring you closer to maximizing your space without compromising on aesthetics for the best of both worlds without breaking the bank.
Related Reading – 15 Pantry Staples You’re Storing Incorrectly – How to Store Dry Goods to Save Money & Preserve Flavor
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