Although the footprint of this kitchen isn't changing, it is important to address as much on my wish list as possible and make sure everything has a place and fits. Some things I'd like to improve:
1. Countertop clutter
2. Difficult to reach places
3. Lack of knife organization
4. Unused blind corner
5. Lack of cabinet space
6. Our "possessed" over-the-range microwave
1. Achieving less cluttered countertops isn't too difficult, but without the cabinet space, it's tricky. One accessory that I've decided to incorporate is a pullout utensil drawer. Here's what it looks like with the link:
I'm hoping to utilize the bottom for sauces and larger spices. Of course, the greater challenge is compliance from other household members to put things away, but that's a whole other topic and I've yet to be successful in that matter!
2. Making things easier to reach is relatively straightforward. I'm mostly putting drawers in all the lower cabinets. I felt like one of the cabinets just looked better with drawers so in that cabinet, I'll add pullout trays.
One troublesome area is the shelf with all the tumblers. Between sports and other activities, we use these daily. I found a pullout I think will work well alongside a second pullout for the dogfood, etc. The first pic is the shelf. The second is the organizer I plan to order. Again, you can click on the picture for the link:
3. The third area of improvement is with our knives/sharp things. Because we are a licensed foster family, we aren't allowed to have a knife block on the counter and all "sharps" have to be locked up. We ended up just throwing all our knives in a drawer along with daily meds and vitamins (they have to stay locked up as well). You can imagine the danger of sticking your hand in there! And if you're needing a specific knife, forget it! There are plenty of organizers out there, but I liked this one because it holds more knives in a small space. You simply trim this to fit your drawer and drop it in! ...Yeah, a little ashamed to show this one...
4. Now for the blind corner. It was essential to use this space to fit everything. It's basically making up for the space the utensil holder is taking. I really love the Hafele Magic Corner 2. I feel it's the best solution out there. However, given the space constraints, it wouldn't fit, so I switched to it's cousin. Hafele's LeMans 50. The first listed below is the Magic Corner. The second is the LeMans. All of Hafele's products tend to be high quality.
5. Increasing the height of the cabinets. Because there is no space to expand the kitchen, I plan to go a little higher with the cabinets to add storage for things that aren't used often. The tricky thing here is not to go too high and overwhelm the space!
6. Finally, our "possessed" microwave. If you've been to my house, you know what I'm talking about. I've never seen anything like it. I purchased this microwave a few years ago and not long afterwards, the haunting began! First it would randomly "push" 3's and 7's throughout the day. It's very annoying because you could overcook things if you forget to press clear before putting your time in. (Shout out to Linda!) This progressed to the vent randomly turning itself on. (Usually on high so the whole house could hear.) Frequently it happens during the night so we wake up to it. What a waste of electricity. It didn't stop there. Not too long ago, after pressing a series of 7's it would turn itself on! Now that's getting dangerous! You'd wake up in the morning and it would be running with something under 77minutes and 77 seconds left! Yikes! Finally, yesterday, I couldn't turn it off so I had to unplug it. Now I'm desperately waiting for this remodel to begin!!
Coming up: CAD Designs!
Comentarios