This small detail helped make so much more of my tiny kitchen – how a humble ladder transformed the way I use my space

A white kitchen with a oak kitchen ladder .

Coming in at 5’2”, much of my kitchen revolves around what I can – and can’t – reach. I’m forever enlisting friends and family to help retrieve items, meaning a good portion of my already quite small kitchen lies underutilized, appliances exiled to the backs of cabinets and forgotten.

In any well-designed kitchen, smart kitchen storage ideas are a priority, but achieving them is often easier said than done. Even if you’re of average height, chances are there are a few areas that are beyond reach, and most of us are probably wasting all that high-up cabinet space. These areas are so underutilized, home to appliances we never use, and the mountain of plastic containers we never reach for.