Kitchen storage catalogues are full of clever mechanisms, and a good number of them are solutions to problems nobody has. These are the ones that consistently come back as worth it.
1. A full-height larder
One cupboard, floor to ceiling, with shelves at the top and drawers at the bottom. It replaces four wall units and it means you can see everything you own at once. If you only do one thing on this list, do this one.
2. Drawers instead of base cupboards
A base cupboard makes you kneel down and reach into the dark. A deep drawer brings the contents to you. For pans, crockery and dry goods, drawers are better in every measurable way and the only cost is the runners.
3. A shallow appliance cupboard
300mm deep, at worktop height, with a door that lifts up and stays up. The kettle, the toaster and the coffee machine live in it, plugged in, ready to use, and the worktop stays clear.
4. A bin drawer near the sink
Two or three compartments in a pull-out, within a pace of where you prepare food. The most-used thing in the kitchen and the thing most often left until last in the plan.
5. Cutlery insert that fits the drawer
Made to the drawer width rather than a plastic tray rattling around inside it. It costs very little and it is noticeable every single day.
6. Plate storage as pegs, not shelves
Adjustable pegs in a deep drawer hold plates upright. Stacked plates mean lifting six to get the one at the bottom.
7. A proper spice arrangement
Either a narrow pull-out beside the hob or a shallow drawer with an angled insert. Both let you read the labels without taking everything out. A tiered rack at the back of a deep cupboard does not.
8. Under-sink organisation
The plumbing makes this the worst cupboard in the kitchen. A shaped pull-out that goes round the waste pipe turns it into real storage. It is inexpensive and almost nobody specifies it.
9. Somewhere for the recycling that is not the floor
Scottish councils give you several containers. Decide where they live at design stage, or they will live where they always live, which is beside the back door.
10. A drawer for the things with no home
Chargers, batteries, string, the good scissors. Every house has them and every kitchen ends up with a chaotic drawer. Plan one, divide it, and accept it.
Two that are not worth it
Pull-down wall unit mechanisms are expensive, heavy and most people stop using them within a month. And a wine rack built into the cabinetry dates faster than almost anything else in a kitchen.