Software
Houzz Logo Print
bonniebrownhair

How would you design lower cabinets to store small appliances?

4 years ago

Hi! We are planning a remodel of a small galley kitchen. I need to figure out a way to store small appliances that are only used occasionally (blender, stand mixer, juicer, etc.). These will need to be in the lower cabinets, as I don't want to sacrifice our already-minimal counter space for an appliance garage. (The toaster oven and coffee maker get to live on the counter, as they are used daily.)


How would you design the lower cabinets to hold small appliances? Would you do cabinets with slide-outs? Deep drawers? Regular cabinets? Our tallest appliances are 15".


We have about 47" width of lower cabinet space to devote to our small appliances, food storage (e.g. Tupperware), and at least one flatware drawer. Any suggestions for how to arrange this? Thanks!

Comments (18)

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    If you don't use those items that often, they don't need to be in the kitchen. I'd put them on a shelf in a linen closet or laundry room.

  • 4 years ago

    Can you stop by Home Depot or Lowe’s or a cabinet store and check out options?

  • 4 years ago

    My lesser used small appliances are in my corner base cabinet. It is a smaller cabinet than is standard for a corner, and is best used for not frequently needed things - my Foreman grill, food chopper, nutribullet, hand mixer, rice cooker/steamer, and tea thermos are all in there along with my largest stockpot, a couple of extra mixing bowls, and my protein powders.

    I favor drawers above all, otherwise, but it would have to be pretty deep to hold a stand mixer, maybe also the juicer, unless they aren't really tall, or can be stored on their sides. Also make sure that the glides are rated for the weight of those appliances.

    Ixnay to regular cabinets. Slide out shelves at the very least!

  • 4 years ago

    We used pull out wire shelves in a 24" Ikea base cabinet to store appliances like a food processor, blender, spice grinder etc. The toaster oven stays on the countertop.

  • 4 years ago

    What about cabinet above the fridge?

  • 4 years ago

    @sushipup1 We unfortunately don't have a laundry room, and our linen closet is teeny-tiny and upstairs. I do believe I'll have plenty of space for the appliances in the lower cabinets -- I just need to figure out the best way to design the cabinets or drawers so that they fit and are easily accessible.

  • 4 years ago

    @mdln Those are examples of appliance garages that use up counter space. Because we need to maximize counter space in our small kitchen, the appliances need to be stored in lower cabinets.

  • 4 years ago

    @Becky H That's an interesting idea. I had planned on putting either baking sheets or alcohol up there, but some of the less heavy appliances could go there instead. (I'd be afraid of lifting down my heavy mixer from that height!)

  • 4 years ago

    How about drawers? Or sliding open drawers in a cabinet?

  • 4 years ago

    I like pullouts, and I use my mixer at least twise each week.



  • PRO
    4 years ago



  • PRO
    4 years ago

    @bonniebrownhair The slide-out drawers would be your best bet! the regular cabinet storage might be troublesome in the future, bending over or squatting to pull them out might cause back problems in the future.

    An even better solution might be these lift-up fittings which convert the lower cabinet shelf into a workstation. You could check the appliance lift hardware mechanism from Hafele for the same!

    This particular one has the following requirements


    Internal Cabinet Width - Platform surface + (2 1/2”) 64 mm

    Inside cabinet height - (23 61/64”) 608 mm

    Inside Cabinet Depth - Maximum platform depth or (13”) 330 mm

    And it can take a weight of 13kg.



    I hope this helps!


  • PRO
    4 years ago

    IMO unless you are pretty strong the mixer needs to either be on a pullup maechanism in a lower cabinet or you need it to be left on the counter. As for the rest I have them in deep drawers in my kitchen even the toaster which I use once a day. OR the other choice is the pullout shelves in a lower cabinet. as shown above.

  • 4 years ago

    In 47 inches, you can have two shallow flatware drawers side by side with two levels of pull outs in cabinets below. Stacking Tupperware-type storage containers are more compact. The limiting factor is the height of the stand mixer. If its height makes it impossible to have a useful pull out drawer above it, then look around for alternative storage such as the bottom shelf in a china cabinet. I have seen careful alterations of upper cabinets to shave 1/8 inch off the bottom trim to allow the stand mixer to slide under the cabinets on the counterop. Keep an open mind about what goes where.


    You can make some mock ups of your 47" space by outlining the drawer and pull out sizes on a table with blue tape, then arranging your things in place.

  • 4 years ago

    I have two drawers for all this. I worked with a custom cabinet maker very carefully on the INSIDE dimensions of those drawers.

  • 4 years ago

    I have a blind corner Hafele pull-out for our waffle maker, blender, grill, past roller, but in your case I would probably use slide-out shelves. My mixer lives on the counter because I use it weekly.

  • 4 years ago

    I have some small appliances and covered casseroles/Dutch ovens on Lazy Susans in the lower corner cabinets -- sounds like that may not fit your scenario but throwing it out there anyway.

  • 4 years ago

    In my previous house, the bottom corner had a double rack lazy susan that I used for small appliances- toaster, blender, food processor, etc. I also had a bin in there that held the cords and extra cups for the smoothie blenders. I wish I had room in my current kitchen for something similar, because it was perfect for me.

    The mixer went in a separate cabinet bc it was too tall. Stupid mixers haha