The narrow gap beside a refrigerator looks useful until something is actually stored there. A bottle near the front is easy enough to grab. Put the same bottle 15 inches back and five inches of width suddenly feels a lot less clever.
That is the problem with treating a skinny gap like an ordinary shelf. The space may be there, but most of it is reached from the wrong direction.
A 5-inch rolling storage cart changes that. Pull the handle and the shelves come forward, bringing the items at the back with them.
The cart is 16.7 inches deep, but there is no need to reach that far into the gap. Pull it forward and the back of each shelf comes out past the refrigerator. Three metal baskets give bottles and packages their own narrow shelves instead of leaving them lined up on the floor.
A similar gap between a washer and dryer can take laundry supplies off the top of the machines or another nearby shelf. But the opening between two appliances can be deceptive. What looks empty from the front may not stay empty farther back.
Make Sure the Whole Gap Is Usable
Five inches on the product listing does not mean a five-inch opening is enough. The cart still needs clearance to roll without rubbing against an appliance or cabinet.
A laundry-room gap can narrow where you cannot see it from the front. A hose or cord behind the machines may leave plenty of room at the opening but stop a 16.7-inch-deep cart halfway in.
The cart is 34 inches high and only 5 inches wide, and the manufacturer does not recommend using it in an open area. Its proportions make more sense tucked beside an appliance or cabinet than standing alone.
Once the cart has enough room to travel, the awkward part of the gap is no longer the back. Pull the handle and whatever was sitting 16 inches away rolls forward with the shelf.
