I found a compact ladder a couple of days ago at Home Goods for 39.00. I also needed one for my kitchen cabinets but wanted one that I could hold on to which does make it taller. It's only 1 and 7/8 inch wide at its widest at the bottom. I was curious to see what the price was online but was unable to even find it anywhere. It feels very sturdy.

Sadly this is 32 inches tall. But, if you can change the space height - Ours is Williams Sonoma. Love it. Compact Ladder W&S

This is how we stored it in our last kitchen. The new kitchen will house it in a sheet pan storage thing.

Very clever storage solution, nightowl! That ladder looks nice, but is indeed too tall for me. It would work if I decide to store the step ladder outside the kitchen. Still looking....

We have the W-S step ladder that nightowl linked. DH popped off the rubber feet, cut a few inches off each leg, and then slid the rubber feet back on, so the ladder would fit in a "standard" height cabinet in our island. I can reach everything I need to when using it (except the stuff on top of the cabinets themselves!), and only rarely wish it was the original height. We do have the taller version (kept in a room down the hall), as well as the this version, not cut-down (in MB closet) if I really need the added height, which again, is rare.

Love this ladder! It's super-lightweight, and super-easy to open/close.

clever!