7 Kitchen Storage Upgrades That Make a Small Toronto Kitchen Feel Twice as Big
In Toronto condos and older homes, the kitchen is rarely generous. The good news: how a kitchen feels has less to do with floor area than with how much of your cabinet volume is actually reachable. These are the seven upgrades our clients ask for most — and what each one really does.
1. Corner pull-out systems
The blind corner cabinet is where small kitchens go to waste space — up to a third of the cabinet becomes a black hole. A corner pull-out or carousel brings the entire contents out to you. This is the single highest-impact upgrade in most small kitchens.
2. Drawer-in-drawer
A deep drawer with a hidden shallow drawer inside: cutlery and utensils on top, pots below, one opening motion. It doubles the organized storage of a standard drawer bank without changing the kitchen's look from the front.
3. A dedicated spice pull-out
A narrow vertical pull-out beside the range — often in a gap as slim as 15 cm that would otherwise be a filler panel — holds every spice jar upright and visible. Clients consistently tell us this tiny cabinet changes daily cooking more than anything else.
4. Tall appliance garage
Counter clutter is what makes small kitchens feel small. A tall unit with a lift-up or pocket door hides the coffee maker, toaster and stand mixer behind one front, with power inside — clear counters, everything still in reach.
5. Under-sink drawers
The cabinet under the sink is usually a door opening onto pipes and chaos. U-shaped drawers built around the plumbing turn it into two tiers of real storage for cleaning supplies and wraps.
6. Lift-up wall cabinets
Wall cabinet doors that lift up and out of the way — instead of swinging into your forehead — make upper storage genuinely usable in a tight galley kitchen, and let shorter family members reach the top shelf safely.
7. Toe-kick drawers
The recessed space under your base cabinets can hide shallow drawers — perfect for baking trays, linens or a step stool. It is storage that literally did not exist before, at zero cost to your floor plan.
Which of these can be added later?
Pull-out inserts and some drawer systems can retrofit existing cabinets if the box dimensions cooperate. Corner systems, toe-kick drawers and appliance garages need to be planned when the cabinets are designed — which is exactly why a storage conversation belongs at the start of a custom project, not the end. Visit our showroom and open the drawers yourself; storage is something you should test with your hands.
Planning a kitchen or custom project?
Talk to the 51Wood team — free consultation, on-site measurement and a transparent, itemized quote.
