The Crucial Safety Step You Can't Skip When Storing Extra Pans In The Oven

Working in a small kitchen isn't for the faint of heart. Most of your time is spent maximizing what little space you do have — turning pantry doors into spice storage and using tension rods to help hang things, for example. As such, you may feel compelled to store items in the oven, as you don't use it all the time and because it takes up so much otherwise usable space. However, it's generally not recommended to store items in your oven without taking proper safety precautions. No matter how many sticky notes you leave for yourself on the oven reminding you to remove its contents, there is always the risk that you will forget about your oven tray, plastic containers, or other kitchen items and potentially have to deal with a fire or melted kitchenware. 

If you are dead set on using your oven for secondary kitchen storage, you'll want to use a control lock on your oven. A control lock prevents the oven from working until it's disabled, so while it doesn't directly remind you to remove your storage contents before use, it can prevent accidental activation or even serve as a backup cue that something is still inside. If your oven has knobs, some folks have even suggested removing them and leaving them in the oven so that you remember to clean it out before use.

If you can avoid it, you should not be storing items in your oven. Luckily, there are many potential spaces where your pots, pans, and sheets can take up refuge. Martha Stewart's go-to for clutter-free pot and pan organization is a hanging rack. Besides clearing up space in your cabinets, this method will also allow you to see which pans are where so you can more readily grab them as you need them, rather than having to root through the cabinet. You can also find pan organization tools at the dollar store, allowing you to store your pots and pans upright to maximize pantry space.

Sheet pans are a little trickier, though the space above your fridge might be a good option, especially if you use them infrequently. You won't need to install any fancy or expensive organizational tools, and you can easily grab them with the help of a step stool if you need them.