Tall, skinny drawers. Be creative with otherwise impractical spaces. Tall, skinny drawers have become increasingly popular for their demonstrated utility. Install one on each side of your cooktop to store spices and oils. Or place one next to the sink for dish soaps and other cleaning supplies. Becky's Note: Put it next to the stove! Make sure there is one shelf tall enough for oil bottles, and then put the most commonly used spices in it as well - keep the rest of the spices in a spice cabinet somewhere else.
Drawer inside the trash drawer. Trash drawers are a well-known solution for organization within the kitchen. However, adding a drawer inside the trash drawer (where there is usually wasted space above the cans) is an inventive, hidden way to store things such as trash bags, oven mitts and hand towels.
Be sure to ask the designer to consider all of these things!
This is an island from Cedar Mountain Woodwrights. Just an idea for something similar where the main island would be at counter height, with a drop down smaller level made from the countertop material overhanging slab (table height) for Mom to sit in a regular chair; maybe enough room for two chairs?
If we need a custom built island with two levels, so that Mom can have her "I like to sit at my old pine table to work" area as part of the island, maybe these people would be a place to have it done? August 2018
Undersink storage. Another storage opportunity is the typically unusable area directly under the sink. Instead of putting a false panel on the front, consider installing a tip-out tray where brushes and sponges can be placed when not in use.
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