HOME IMPROVEMENT : A Few Tips on How to Create Kitchen Space

Think alterations rather than additions when working to conquer the storage problems in the kitchen and pantry.

Need a few good ideas? Better Homes and Gardens Country Kitchen Ideas magazine offers these tips:

* Customize drawers and cabinets with plastic-coated wire baskets, shelves and cutlery trays. Replace fixed shelves with pullout trays. (The hardware to make these changes is readily available in hardware and home-improvement stores.)

* Stash items where they’re used the most. Utensils used at the sink, such as knives, should be stored in a drawer near the sink.

* Duplicate often-used items, such as measuring cups and spatulas. Keep one set in the baking area, another set near the range.

* Cutting boards and marble pastry slabs can sit on a wooden track inside the top of cutlery drawers. Cut a marble slab to fit a refrigerator shelf to keep it cool and ready for pastry at the same time.

* Stemware racks and cup holders make the most of the upper space inside a cabinet partition.

* Dividers help organize storage in deep drawers or in cabinets, such as the one above a wall oven.

* Build an appliance garage into the space between counter and cabinet.

* Store spices on narrow shelves along the back splash.

* U-shape shelves that hug the walls in a broom closet need be only 3 1/2 inches deep to provide storage for cans. The wall surface in a back entry could hold a series of narrow L-shape shelves.