Losing kitchen cupboard space

Vickie made a comment about losing valuable cupboard space in the kitchen. We did consider the loss of cupboard space, but ultimately came to several conclusions:

1. Most of the cupboard space we lost was being used for food storage and paper goods storage.
- the food storage got moved downstairs once we got the food storage shelves organized
- the paper goods storage could easily be stored in several other places: above the fridge and in one of the remaining cupboards that had also had food stored inside

2. Some of the space was used for our pyrex dishes.
- after moving all the food storage items downstairs, I had room for the pyrex in one of the cupboards above the counter

3. There's a massive waste of space above the fridge (see above pic).
- we'll be building a cupboard with a couple shelves above the fridge to better organize the stuff currently stored there and to make room for a few other things.

4. I will probably build a simple open cupboard to place on the wall between the bay window and the door.
- if I do this, I'll put my Fiesta ware in the cupboard. The rainbow colors would work well in an open cupboard. Not sure how easy it would be to actually get dishes in and out of it though, since it's above the counter and I'm short. Thoughts?

5. The cupboards are poorly designed, like most I've seen. I have plans to add pull out shelves at various heights in all the lower cupboards and the pantry. This should allow for a much more efficient use of space in the cupboards and make it easier to find things without having to pull everything out of the cupboard.

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Since our kitchen isn't overflowing with storage, taking out the hanging cupboard has forced us to be more efficient with what we put in our cupboards. Do we need it? Do we use it regularly? Can we get rid of it?