Planning storage before you plan doors

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Door style is the decision everybody wants to make first, and it is the one that changes least about how a kitchen actually works. What changes everything is where things live, and that is decided by the carcase behind the door.

A useful way to start is to walk the room and group what it has to hold. Dry goods and tins want a tall run with shallow shelves, because a deep pantry shelf turns into an archaeological dig. Pans and mixing bowls want deep drawers near the hob. Everyday plates and glasses want to be within a step of the dishwasher, at a height that does not need a stretch. Tins, foil and wrap want a narrow vertical space that would otherwise become a dead filler panel. Once the groups are written down, the cabinet widths almost choose themselves.

Corners are where a plan is won or lost. A blind corner base cabinet swallows whatever goes into it; a diagonal corner unit with a rotating shelf gives the space back but costs the run some width. In a tight kitchen it is often better to end a run short of the corner, fit a narrow tray cabinet or an open shelf, and keep everything reachable rather than fight to use the last cubic foot.

Height is worth as much thought as width. The band between the worktop and the wall cabinets is the most used space in the room and is often given over entirely to nothing. Shallow shelving, a rail, or a wall cabinet dropped lower than habit dictates all recover it. Above the wall cabinets, a closed run to the ceiling stores what is used twice a year and stops the dust shelf that an open top creates.

Bars, closets and entertainment centres follow the same logic. The question is never how many cabinets fit, it is what each one is for, and a plan that can answer that for every opening will survive the years of use that follow it.

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