Not Cabinets Or Shelves: A Smarter Way To Add Vertical Kitchen Storage Without Clutter

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Of all the rooms in a home, it feels like the kitchen most often craves better organization. There are all sorts of extra storage ideas to free up space, but it can take some trial and error (and some creative thinking) to find the ideal setup. If you've tried various baskets, bins, and kitchen storage carts, maybe it's time to consider another approach. Inspired by professional chefs and commercial kitchens, an incredibly versatile way to add more kitchen storage is a speed rack.

If you've ever worked in or even peeked into a commercial kitchen, you might have seen these wheeled shelves being used to cool, store, and transport food. Also known as a bakery rack, bun rack, or sheet rack, a speed rack is a tall, narrow multi-tiered cart with slots that each fit a sheet pan. If there ever comes a time where you're baking or cooking large quantities for an event or holiday party, it can be handy for its traditional use. However, you could really use the versatile portable shelving for whatever you like in the kitchen. The shelf configuration is completely customizable, allowing you to add or remove levels to fit items of different sizes, from bulky small appliances and storage containers to shallow pans and dishes.

Speed racks are reasonably priced (costing around $200 or less), and you can find several options to fit different spaces, needs, and budgets. The full-size New Star Foodservice Commercial-Grade Sheet Pan Rack, for instance, looks like something you'd see in a professional kitchen, with space for an entire cabinet's worth of items. If you don't need one that large, the Hally Sinks & Tables Bun Pan Rack is half the height (and nearly half the price).

One of the biggest benefits of using a speed rack in the kitchen is its flexibility. You can put as many or as few sheet pans on the rack as you need and decide their height and spacing, making it an unconventional transforming organizer to maximize a small kitchen. Following the lead of a pro kitchen, you might use the levels exclusively for cooking accessories. Place items like spice jars, rolls of cling wrap and aluminum foil, stacks of baking pans, metal mixing bowls, and more on the sheet pan shelves. You can also place other bits like cookbooks, a basket for tea towels, pet food bowls, and decor on the sheet trays — really any items you might put on a kitchen shelf. Keep commonly used appliances, ingredients, and tools organized on the shelves, and pull the rack out to have everything close by your kitchen work station when you're ready to cook. Because the shelving is open and visible, it's also a great spot to place often-used items that might otherwise get lost in a cabinet.

Another major benefit of using a speed rack is that it doesn't require installation like cabinets or wall-mounted shelves. These racks are almost always made of metal, so they have a no-frills industrial look that might suit modern, minimalist, and eclectic spaces but could feel out of place in more traditional spaces. Since they're wheeled, you can move the rack out of sight if it doesn't fit the aesthetic, as long as you have the space. Choose one that fits your closet or pantry, and roll it out whenever you need it.