There are many ways you can improve the look of your kitchen with little cost or work. Today, I’m going to show you a great way to update your kitchen’s look, free up extra cabinet space and add to the ease of use and organization as well. How can you do all of these things at once? Good question! Use pots and pans! I’ll explain.
Surely, you’ve seen pots and pans hanging on a rack or other implement in kitchens, often over kitchen islands, above the stove or on a wall in or near your kitchen. There’s a reason for this! It’s a smart, practical and economical idea for any kitchen, no matter the size.
Just Some of the Advantages of Hanging Pots and Pans
- Space – If you have a small kitchen, you are freeing up valuable space in your cabinets. Who doesn’t need more cabinet space? Not only does it give you more space but your pans will be easier and quicker for you to reach. No more looking in cabinets for that one perfect pan for what you’re cooking!
- Economical – Hanging your pots and pans is very inexpensive. In fact, it is a project that just about anyone can do in an afternoon with less then $100.
- Style – By hanging your pots and pans, you are adding style to your kitchen decor. You will look like a professional chef, a real foodie! Your pots and pans may be banged up or stained, but you can always switch around their placement to display the nicest looking ones most prominently.
Options for Hanging Pots and Pans
- Racks – Over your kitchen island, you can hang a rack that has hooks coming out of it to hang your pots and pans. You can buy these ready made at any home improvement store or make one yourself. Pot racks are available in many styles and materials, from stainless steel to bronze to copper to wood to wrought iron and more. They may come in a circle, oval, square or rectangle shape that should fit above just about any kitchen island or over any stove. Some even come with heavy duty chains with which you can hang heavy pots. The price range can be $50 all the way up to $200 or more depending on the material, size and intricacy of the design. Some racks may even come with integrated lighting fixtures, though, of course, these will be more expensive, difficult and time consuming to install.
- Shelves – Most book shelves are designed for a heavy load, so you can typically use a book shelf to either hang or set your pots and pans. A typical way to display your pots and pans on shelves is to add hooks to the bottom of the shelves to hand the pots and pans, then you can place cookbooks, spice jars or something else above them sitting on the actual shelf.
- Wall Hooks – You can also use a series of hooks attached to your wall to achieve a similar look. Some people even modify coat racks to allow the hanging of pots. With wall hooks, you can be as creative as you want, and its probably the most inexpensive way to hang your pots and pans. So, go ahead, get artsy with it!
You can run with this idea, and use racks or hooks to also hang your most commonly used kitchen utensils, like spatulas, spoons, tongs and all sorts of things. You can even find kitchen utensils which have holes or a hook in the top so they are ready to hang at some kitchen supply stores. Hanging your kitchen utensils is also a great way to free up drawer storage and also make your utensils more easily accessible.
Once you have your hooks, rack or shelving set up, what pots and pans look best hanging in your kitchen? Well, just about anything you put up will look fine, but consider these types of pans first:
- Copper or Copper Bottomed
- Stainless Steel (nice and shiny!)
- Cast Iron
These pans will make your kitchen look like a professional chef lives there!
DIY Pot Racks
Don’t want to spend any money on a pot rack, shelving or hooks? Have no fear, you do have other options. Use an old wood ladder instead, hang it over your kitchen island and screw in some heavy duty hooks. You can also build a rack using 2×4’s, just nail them together. Another option is to use pegboard. While it isn’t the best looking options, its insanely cheap and effective, plus, you can paint it! If you’re feeling ambitious, you can create a rack out of copper piping, which would look utterly sensational. Some people use things like towel bars and gates to hang their pots too. No matter which method you use to hang your pots from, make sure you make it strong enough to handle those heavy pots and pans! After all, you don’t want these heavy kitchen items landing on someone’s head or even falling and damaging your counter tops.