Someone recently asked for details on how we organized the beach house kitchen — a space we photographed and filmed last summer — and when I went to send the link, I realized we never actually wrote the post. So these photos sat on the camera for months as my tan faded and our warm beach memories slowly drifted away (current status: toes in Ugg slippers because it’s freezing!).
After readers enjoyed a look inside our Richmond kitchen cabinets years ago, John and I had fun documenting the beach house kitchen in detail. Last summer was the first time we used this kitchen for more than a weekend, so it was a great chance to test layouts, adjust storage, and make the space actually work for everyday life. When the pantry is full and dishes and appliances are used daily, you notice what’s efficient and what needs tweaking. We made a series of improvements that felt helpful, so here are the highlights and practical tips we learned while organizing the beach house kitchen.
If you prefer video, we filmed a full cabinet-and-drawer tour. It took a few attempts to capture it all because it ran long, so the final cut has a casual, off-the-cuff feel. For readers who can’t watch right now, here’s a concise guide to how we arranged the main kitchen zones and why each choice works well.
All main base cabinets in the kitchen (except the sink cabinet) have three drawers. The cabinet immediately left of the stove is the busiest. The top drawer holds flatware and knives, the middle drawer stores plates and bowls, and the deep bottom drawer keeps pots and pans. This configuration was chosen to streamline dishwasher unloading: when the dishwasher is open, one person can stand in one spot and put away dishes without walking across the room or bending to reach upper cabinets.
Stacking plates and bowls in drawers works surprisingly well. We’ve used this method for years — inspired by family practice — and have never had a chipped or broken dish. Soft-close deep drawers make it easy; a grippy drawer liner can help prevent shifting if you’re concerned about movement.
A clever detail we used in the pots-and-pans drawer is the shallow hidden drawer that some cabinet systems offer. It nests inside the larger drawer and provides an extra 5″ shallow space for small pans or lids, preventing you from digging through a deep drawer to reach frequently used items. We also use a second one elsewhere for cutting boards. These hidden drawers are an efficient way to add storage without losing access to the items below.
The island features a custom pullout trash solution. Standard built-in pullouts didn’t fit our 15″ base, so we converted a tall drawer front to conceal a hardware-store trash can, securing the can to the drawer bottom so it won’t move or rattle. It’s sturdy, easy to clean in place, and keeps trash out of sight while working well in a narrow footprint.
One of my favorite drawer zones is the island “drink station” next to the sink. It stores cups, mugs, and drink mixes in a compact spot, keeping daily beverage items handy. Inside drawers I mix and match containers — leftover bins, a rectangular dish for packets, and an old velvet organizer for tea — proving you don’t need matching systems to be organized. Use what you already have to save money and reduce clutter.
Below the drink drawer we store kitchen and bath hand towels as well as microfiber cleaning cloths and reusable bags. Grouping related items together keeps the sink area functional and tidy — and yes, there’s a method to the apparent chaos, as I demonstrate in the footage.
On the stove side, we maintain a dedicated tool drawer system in every home: a small junk drawer for pens and batteries, a middle drawer for miscellaneous repair items, and a bottom drawer for painting supplies. Keeping frequently used DIY supplies in one accessible spot at the beach house prevents trips to the shed and helps handle quick fixes when guests are around.
The cabinetry along the back wall by the door was originally intended as pantry space. Those cabinets are 15″ deep and have two drawers each, designed for boxes and bags. Instead, they’ve become versatile storage for extra vases, candles, pet food, and hot tub supplies. They remain useful while staying visually integrated into the kitchen design.
One cabinet sits close to the door trim, so the bottom drawer stops a few inches shy of fully extending; however, it still opens enough to access the entire shallow drawer space comfortably. Cabinet sizing constraints meant choosing a 30″ base to avoid awkward fillers, and in practice the drawers are functional and accessible despite the trim interference.
The walk-in pantry continues the shallow-drawer approach with counters for prep and drawers for snacks, breads, and dry goods. We prefer to unbox single-serve snacks into open bins so they’re faster to grab. One drawer holds morning routine items — a convenient “mommy drawer” for vitamins and daily staples.
Shelves around the fridge use baskets turned 90 degrees to double storage capacity. This simple rotation lets us fit two bins per shelf where one had previously sat, making room for bulkier items like paper towels, cereal boxes, and large cleaning bottles.
If you want to see the full tour, including the fridge opened Cribs-style, check out the video we filmed — it shows each drawer in motion and demonstrates the organizational decisions. Hopefully these tips give you practical ideas for making drawers and shallow cabinets work harder in your own beach house kitchen or small-space kitchen remodel.
Now I’m off to look through other photos and videos lurking on our camera that I thought had already been shared.
P.S. For more on how this kitchen came together, we shared progress updates and lessons learned in previous posts and a podcast that covered what we got wrong and how we fixed it. Also, this post contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.