That's just plain freakin silly! I only have 1 kiddo (bless you!), but 2 dogs & 2 cats & I am sweeping like every 2 days!

I have seen awesome broom closets between the fridge and the wall. No space for that with my mondo fridge now, but Love that idea. It's like a pull out system.

My kitchen is by far not a big kitch, but I have a lot of cab space, especially in my pennisula. I don't have a formal pantry, but quad cabinets on a seperate wall that act as a pantry. Just enough space for everything I need to store & the right size for my u-shape. I wouldn't mind a big walk in pantry, but in this plan this works real well.

We used a "tall" at the end of a cabinet run near the back door and next to a pull out trash (to the right side in the pic linked). It holds a broom, dustpan, dustmop, rag mop, sponge mop, a mop bucket and a Swiffervac! Wow, I didn't realize how much stuff is in there and there's plenty of room. We put an outlet inside it for the Swiffervac to recharge. This works for us. It doesn't have any pull out mechanisms (just me!) HTH.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Just be careful that your "tall" is "tall enough". I got a pantry to use as a broom closet, but unfortunately, there's a fixed shelf about 2/3 of the way up that makes it too short for my favorite broom. One of these days I'll have my carpenter cut that darn shelf out (I don't care about voiding the warranty - that pantry is held up by a wall and another pantry -- it's not going anywhere)

Thanks to all for your ideas.

Anyone else?

Hi,

This is an issue we will be considering also as we work through the design phase of our kitchen. We have such a small amount of space that I really don't want to take up what precious little we have with brooms etc. BUT, they are important to have handy (and we don't even have kids).

What we are thinking of is storing stuff at the top of our stairs to the basement which is just a quick reach away from our kitchen. I was thinking of a wall mounted strip that you can slot the brooms into to hang them up or something with hooks.

This will probably work for us as it's out of sight but still within easy reach but will not take up space in the kitchen that I'd rather use for other stuff.

Also check out the 'Elfa wall rack' on the Container Store website. We have one of those installed on the wall going down to the basement and it's handy for surplus kitchen stuff.

Here is a link that might be useful: broom organizer

Although we have a large kitchen it has a lot of odd angles therefore difficult to incorporate a pullout pantry which I really wanted. The kitchen is very open and there is a hallway running beside it with a closet with some very ugly bifolds so I am going to slide 2 Ikea 15"x 80" x24"deep (fit perfectly) cabinets in there, finish with trim and 2 of their cheapest doors which I will paint same colour as the walls. One cabinet will be a pullout and serve as a pantry and the other will be a broom closet.

I did pretty much what Biner suggests with my Ikea cabs. Only difference is that my pull-out pantry and broom closets are 15" x 64" x 24". With the shorter height, I placed 3 uppers atop the pull-out pantry and the one broom closet below to create a surround for my fridge. The broom closet is between the fridge and the wall. In it, I'm able to store 2 brooms, 2 dustpans, a mop and pail, and a folding step stool. Plus, I have an upper shelf in the closet where I store many cleaning supplies!

Hi,
I copied the following from the IKEA fans website a few months back. I love the ingenuity...
{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

So now you can tell your contractor it does not take a lot of space to make a broom closet, lol.
HTH

I love the Ikea ideas. We talked about doing something similar but decided on a 12" tall cabinet. We put an outlet on the side for charging a hand vac and flashlight. We are putting a set of hooks for keys and hooks for the dog leashes on the side. I will probably put a small note board onthe inside of the door. There is room for a step ladder -- important with cabinets to 10 ft ceilings, a broom and dustpan. For now, the mop is staying outside and that seems okay.

I would really look for a way to incorporate a space for a broom and dustpan in the kitchen. I was so tired of having to run outside tothe garage or trip over laundry on the floor (that's probably my next project -- solve the laundry room issues) and to the far end of my laundry room to get a broom. If you make things easier to use, you will use them more easily, more happily and more often.

Hmm, we're not doing one, but there are some people at www.ikeafans.com who have done broom closet pull-outs in 9 inches--those are modifications to the standard Ikea cabinets. That seems like a reasonable allocation of space for something that gets so much use. We're putting ours on the inside of the door to our laundry closet, which is near the kitchen.

Catherine

Catherine, that's a great idea. I've been wondering where I can put my broom et al, as I didn't allocate any cabinet space for that. My laundry area is on the far end of the kitchen, behind double doors. Never thought of using the back sides. Good for a hand vac, too. Thanks!

OMG...What great ideas!!!I can't wait to show them to cab guy on Tuesday.Thank you all!!!

Another change to the plan even before I see the revised plan he wants to show me. Oh well...

dianalo...Is you cabinet 6"or 9" or something else?

Keep those great ideas coming.

Hi Tobokat,
Glad those pix helped. Unfortunately, those are other people's kitchens, so I don't have details. I found them at the IKEA fan's website, so they may still be over there with more info.
If I had to guess, I would say 6" rather than 9"...
HTH

This is for dmlove:
We had the same problem with the fixed shelf in the broom closet. Here is how we made the cutout, to allow for the tall broom and mop handles:

dianalo...Thanks for the info....I'll check there.

dianalo...I checked the website and guess what I found out?
The space set aside for these pullouts are only 4"!!!I'm sure we can set aside 4" without taking up too much counter space.

Thanks to all who contributed. Great ideas are abundant on this forum.

Tobokat: Is it possible for you to link to the place on the Ikea site where you found this information? I can't locate it.

Wow! 4" is even better than I thought!
I am so glad this worked for you. I may not be a great inventor, but I am good at finding things, lol.

needanap, THANK YOU....that is a brilliant solution!

These are such great ideas. I wish I had seen them earlier. I'm having the same problem, but our cabinets are already in and we have no place for a broom or dustpan. I have two kiddos under 3 so, I am sweeping constantly. I was looking online for some sort of broom that comes apart that I could store under the kitchen sink, but I haven't seen anything. If anyone knows of one, please let me know. We have no pantry and only one very small coat closet on our first floor.

On a related note, I thought I had seen some pictures on this forum of a step stool that could be stored in a toe kick drawer. That would also come in really handy.

cimbronemama,
How about a swiffer? Not exactly a broom, but a similar function. If you object to the disposable cloth thingies, you can substitute a microfiber towel (they have them in the automotive section of Target) and wash it.
Catherine

Hi,
I think this is the link someone was asking for. It is to a 4-inch broom closet pull-out--made modifying IKEA cabinetry. (Ikeanfans is one of the most entertaining websites I've ever seen, just because I'm amazed at how creative people are with IKEA stuff.)

Catherine

Here is a link that might be useful: Ikeafans 4-inch pull-out broom closet modification

needanap: Great idea! I bet the cutout also keeps the broom & mop in place...no falling over or other problems keeping them upright!

Now, I need to check to see if I can add a broom closet somewhere in my kitchen! (Also loved the tray cab w/shelf...another idea to ask about tomorrow!)

Catherine...I want to thank you so much for beating me in providing the link to ellene because I was going to have to admit that I have no idea on how to do it.Sad but true.

Could you provide me with the appropriate steps to accomplish this task? You can call it:Providing Links for Dummies.

Thanks so much

To carry on the Ikea theme - I have another awful little closet with bifolds just beside the back door (next to the kitchen) that connects to the garage. I would like a landing space here for mail, keys, gloves, scarves etc before they get dumped onto the kitchen counters. I would also like to have a charging station here as well for all the cell phones/palm pilots. I thought I would slide an Ikea shallow base cabinet with 3 drawers in here with a countertop to match the kitchen and above that the standard 18" space topped with an upper cabinet with doors. DH is going to run electrical for the charging station and un undercabinet light. By the way the Ikeafans site is full of fabulous ideas. I found that site before deciding on cabinets and was convinced that Ikea was the way to go. The cabinets are beautiful and very good quality, reasonably priced and if one is so inclined, easily customizable.

If you're remodeling your old kitchen and its still there with all your stuff still inside, I would recommend opening all your cabinets up at once and stand back and take in for awhile just how much stuff you really have. Then start mentally moving items into your new cabinets one by one and see if you come up short. I sure did!

I think that one of my best storage ideas was to keep all of my pantry items that are used a bit at a time under my main prep counter. I mean things like oils, vinegars, spices, baking powder, all purpose flour, etc. My pantry is a few steps away, but it contains things that I tend to use a whole package of at once - things like dried beans, canned tomatoes, etc. We also keep foods there that are used right at the table, like cereal, snacks, etc.

Here are a couple of pics of my island. Drawer fronts will be added in the future, along with a few more drawers and the prep sink. This of course brings up one of the best kitchen storage ideas ever - as many drawers as possible in your lower cabinets, preferably designed so that they don't eat up a lot of space with the drawer glides, etc.

tobocat,

I'm not very good at computer things, but I'll give it a try. (By the way, I use an apple, but I think the directions should be the same for a pc.)

1. Go to the webpage you want to link.
2. Highlight the address for the webpage (in the box at the top of the screen).
3. Click on edit, then copy.
4. Come to the forum and open the post you are responding to.
5. Go to the "post a follow-up" form and put the cursor in the "Optional Link URL" box.
6. Click on edit, then paste.
7. Your link should now be in the "Optional Link URL" box
8. You can type in a name for it in the "Name of the Link" box if you want, otherwise the webpage address shows at the bottom of your post.
9. Put your cursor in the message box and type your message.

10. Post as usual.

Alternatively you can just include the webpage address in the text of your post and people can cut and paste it.

This doesn't work quite right with an initial post for some strange reason. You have to hit preview and then you can add the link in the corrections.

Hope that helps,
Catherine

Hey, that's my broom closet above :) It's one of my favorite kitchen things along with our over the fridge wine glass cabinet

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Kitchen set on Flickr

Oops - over fridge wine cabinet

Here is a link that might be useful: How-to for wine glass pullout

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We are getting IKEA Nexus Birch cabinets and at the end of a nearby hallway I'm getting a Nexus Birch wardrobe --PAX series (tall, to the ceiling) with the same handles as the kitchen cabinet and fitting it inside for central vac hose, brooms, etc.

Here is a link to the type of step stool we keep in our toekick drawer. It's great for our 4 year old to help in the kitchen and we don't have to have the old unwieldy, always-falling-down, taller step stool that we used to keep in the kitchen. We got ours at Ace Hardware. I've seen them elsewhere lately but now I can't remember where. Maybe Bed, Bath & Beyond??

Here is a link that might be useful: Folding Step Stool

I had a few extra inches planned between my refrigerator and framed entranceway so that the refrigerator door could open fully. A panel was supposed to cover it. I never would have been able to do something really useful with the few inches as I didn't need a pull-out that big right next to my doorway.

After the sheetrock was put up, we discovered a few more inches! I remembered that someone on this forum had a cabinet mounted sideways next to the refrigerator so that it opened out. I kind of used that idea but the cabinet opening is on the other side of the doorway. So now I've got a recessed custom built-in cabinet in my tiny mudroom. The cabinet depth is the door frame and "kitchen filler space". The filler space is covered by a small panel and I think of it as my reclaimed/found space!

jayne

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Our best idea in a small kitchen was to take a junk drawer, put a power strip in it and added all our chargers (phone, tools, pda's). Now they are all tucked away and I don't have wires everywhere. I love it!

We put bench seats in on our breakfast nook. They hold all of the bulk items that we buy and really make up for the fact that we do not have a walk in pantry.

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