Kitchen space saving ideas before I drown in clutter whilst cooking the dinner?

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Something odd has happened to DH of late. I have been whinging about how crappy our blender is for over a year. Lo and behold a new blender was delivered yesterday and a food processer and a toaster and a fancy kettle.

*And a whole truck load of food, mainly beans I have never heard of, but also copious amounts of tinned fish and tinned beans that I have heard of.

The problem is my kitchen is teeny. I have no worktop left because it is taken over by fancy gadgets and tins of fish that won't fit into the teeny cupboards because of all the beans.

Alls I wanted was a blender and one singular tin of sardines. Also what does one do with harricot beans?

Can't help with the space issue but I think you bung haricot beans into soups and stews. They're naked baked beans, aren't they?

Is there space on top of your cupboards? Could you get some plastic boxes like these and put stuff you don't use very often in them?

Also have you an end cupboard you could then hang a folding step stool on so that you could then reach the stuff on top of the cupboards?

is there space on top of cupboards for tins?

The cook books, dog meds and foreman grill are on top of the cupboards. I could move the cook books upstairs with the normal books. That would make more sense than taking the toaster upstairs. Dog meds could be moved somwhere.

Can you attach anything to the undersides or insides of cupboards? I have kitchen roll suspended under a cupboard instead of sitting end-up on the counter, coffee capsules in a holder inside a cupboard door, plastic bags hanging inside another door, binliners and rubber gloves hanging off the inside of another door, it all frees up space either directly on the counter or indirectly inside cupboards and drawers so you can get stuff off the counters into the drawers etc. Also a hanging rail over the sink with hooks for all the utensils (spatulas, ladles etc) that used to be in a pot on the counter.

I also chucked out the cheap crappy china and started using the decent stuff for everyday, liberating a cupboard where the expensive wedding present stuff used to live. By doing all this, plus ruthlessly decluttering drawers and cupboards, I have managed to accommodate a slowcooker, coffee machine and Kenwood Prospero on the counters I thought were too full for any of it.

I don't know about the haricot beans though.

link for things to do with beans

you want Boston Baked Beans they are aces.

Oooh, yummy that chicken stew one looks nice. Now all I have to do is be organised enough to remember to get the beans out soak the night before the beans are doomed to live in my cupboard forever more

I have some fold out extra shelves from Lakeland inside my cupboards. Gives you an extra shelf which is great for tins and cans.

Do you have a table and chairs in the kitchen? We have hardly any kitchen units but replaced two of the chairs with a pew. The pew has a lift up lid and we keep all of the tins, pasta and cereal inside it.

Howden's do drawers that look like kick boards, so you can slide them out from the kick board area and keep big roasting dishes, baking trays etc in them.

Where did you get the pew Vashti? We've been considering the bench option.

Our neighbours gave it to us. They'd had it in their coal shed for a few years and not used it for anything.

Sorry, I know that is not helpful if you are looking for one!

They have some here though (have bought other stuff from this place and it has been built well):

www.scartop.com/pinefurniture/categories/Kitchen-Furniture/Benches/