kitchen remodeling quesiton

[kfeusse]

we are getting a new kitchen and I have been looking at catalogs for different cupboards and cabinets...pantry shelving and regular shleving...and I am having a hard time trying to figure out where I might put things...I mean..what kind of drawer, shelf, organizer etc for the following items...can you please tell me where you have your...

 

9 x 13 pans, muffin tins, bread pans, pots and pan, cooking utensils (in a drawer or on top of your counter)?, appliacnces like bread machine, KA mixer, toaster. What about big mixing bowls and plastic storage containers, casserole dishes?

 

Does my question make sense? My kitchen is small, so I really can't design and then figure out where things will go...I sort of want to have an idea as I am designing..

 

thanks.

[sbgrace]

I've got a small kitchen. I have all drawers in the bottom cabinets and a tall pantry cabinet (free standing) with pull out shelves. Those have been very helpful in best using the limited space. We did Ikea. I'm really happy with the cabinets.

 

I'll answer where I put things but I think what is best for you would be different than for me even if our kitchens were just the same. I prioritize space based on how frequently I use things and that might be different than you would do.

 

9 x 13 pans, muffin tins, bread pans, pots and pan--all in two of my deep base cabinet drawers.

 

cooking utensils--in a drawer; I used to keep them on counter but they get dusty like that so in the "new" house I went to drawers.

 

Appliances--I use different appliances but I have the things I use every day on the counter; the rest are in cabinets but I don't have a lot of appliances. I always kept the toaster above the stove because we rarely used it for example.

 

What about big mixing bowls--I have those in an upper cabinet with shelves; very accessible as we use them a lot

 

Plastic storage containers--I have those in an upper cabinet with shelves but less accessible as I don't use them as much

 

casserole dishes--base cabinet drawer

[kfeusse]

so you don't have any shelves on the bottom part of your cabinets? Not even with pull out shelves? May I ask why you did that? How big are your drawers? The ones where you put cooking things in (not small untensil drawers). thanks.

[sbgrace]

so you don't have any shelves on the bottom part of your cabinets? Not even with pull out shelves? May I ask why you did that? How big are your drawers? The ones where you put cooking things in (not small untensil drawers). thanks.

 

No shelves. The drawers are all different sizes. Here is a picture showing Ikea drawers of various sizes. Notice the pans in the bottom ones. One of my drawers looks like that inside (the finish outside isn't the same). http://www.cliffdwellings.net/kitchen%20drawers.JPG

Here is another example/this one has a smaller picture http://www.femaleways.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Organized-Kitchen-Drawers.jpg

 

All my big things are in drawers.

 

I love the drawers. With a shelf you can't get to the things in back easily. You can get to anything in a drawer. I found a thread about why drawers rather than even pull out shelves. http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg051536387519.html The main idea is why open a cabinet, pull out a shelf or similar, put the pull out back, close the door when you can just open and close a drawer. I was not sure what I would think but my sister convinced me to go all drawers and I'm so glad I did. I love them.

 

I wanted to add. I have a tall pantry cabinet (free standing) with pull out drawers and that thing holds almost all our food. It's made the small kitchen work.

 

I hope you are able to have some fun planning. The whole thing stressed me but it was unexpected and we had a lot of other stresses at the same time. I think I would have enjoyed it more under different circumstances.

Edited September 28, 2012 by sbgrace

[hellen]

I have an Ikea kitchen as well and store things the same way as the previous poster. Most of the items you mentioned are in drawers in the base cabinets. One holds all baking pans except for.the cookie sheets which I have elsewhere. I have a drawer dedicated to food storage containers and it is my favorite drawer. I love how organized it is compared to what I had before. Mixing bowls are in an upper cabinet.

 

It's a great idea to plan where you will place things. Taking the time to think about the function of your space is well worth it. I can tell a difference in the areas I spent more time considering.

[gardenmom5]

we are getting a new kitchen and I have been looking at catalogs for different cupboards and cabinets...pantry shelving and regular shleving...and I am having a hard time trying to figure out where I might put things...I mean..what kind of drawer, shelf, organizer etc for the following items...can you please tell me where you have your...

 

9 x 13 pans, muffin tins, bread pans, pots and pan, cooking utensils (in a drawer or on top of your counter)?, appliacnces like bread machine, KA mixer, toaster. What about big mixing bowls and plastic storage containers, casserole dishes?

 

Does my question make sense? My kitchen is small, so I really can't design and then figure out where things will go...I sort of want to have an idea as I am designing..

 

thanks.

My kitchen's not very big. (but it's not small either.)

cookie sheets, baking racks, tray's, large mixing bowls, etc. - full depth cupboard over fridge that has a shelf as well as verticle dividers.

pots and pans - wide base cabinet, two full extension drawer/shelves behind the doors. (second base cabinet for lids and stock pot)

utensils - drawer over pots and pans cupboard. lots of dividers to keep things easier to find. very frequently used items are in canisters (with no lids) on the counter.

KA - counter, bread machine - counter or pantry. rice cooker & deepfat fryer - base cabinet.

toaster oven - counter.

knives - drawer with knife divider. but dh bought a new set so now I also have a large block on my counter.

plastics - extra deep drawers.

I also have turntables in some cupboards. I have sticky spice holders on the inside of doors to hold our spice collection in alphabetical order with extras (for refills) on harder to reach shelves.

cupboards go all the way to the ceiling - I hate wasted space and If I could have afforded it I would have done the cupboards that don't have dead-space between each unit.

 

I don't have an island, but would consider a baker's rack over it with pot's and pans, utensils hanging from it.

Edited September 29, 2012 by gardenmom5

[Desert Rat]

we are getting a new kitchen and I have been looking at catalogs for different cupboards and cabinets...pantry shelving and regular shleving...and I am having a hard time trying to figure out where I might put things...I mean..what kind of drawer, shelf, organizer etc for the following items...can you please tell me where you have your...

 

9 x 13 pans, muffin tins, bread pans, pots and pan, cooking utensils (in a drawer or on top of your counter)?, appliacnces like bread machine, KA mixer, toaster. What about big mixing bowls and plastic storage containers, casserole dishes?

 

Does my question make sense? My kitchen is small, so I really can't design and then figure out where things will go...I sort of want to have an idea as I am designing..

 

thanks.

 

I've got a big kitchen but 1970's cabinets that are less than useful.

 

9x13 pans go under our range. We have electric.

Pots and pans are in a bottom cabinet that has a lot of dead space in the back. I put holiday serving plates, roasting pans, etc. in the hard to reach area.

 

Appliances like bread machines (I don't have a KA...yet) are actually stored in the garage because we don't use them much.

 

My every day mixing bowls are in an upper cab. The ones I don't use much are down below in another dead space cab.

 

My toaster is stored in a bottom cabinet that has very easy access. I don't like it living on the counter.

 

I have 7 large drawers and 2 small. 1 drawer doesn't work well. I use that one for seasonal tea towels. The other 6 drawers are as follows: junk (batteries, etc), baggies, silverware, kids cups, linens, utensils not used often. The 2 small drawers are knives and potholders. I have a crock of often used utensils on he counter.

 

I do have a lot of cabinets. They are just odd sizes with lots of dead spaces that you have to remove everything in front then rrreeeaaachhh back to get anything.

 

HTH

Edited September 29, 2012 by Kalah

[slackermom]

I worked out little zones in the kitchen.

 

The upper cabinets closest to the sink and dishwasher are for all of the glasses and plates.

 

The area between the sink and the frig is for preparing breakfast and lunches, and cleaning up the dishes, so that has the toaster, electric kettle, coffee stuff, etc. on the counter, and below are drawers with foil, storage containers, etc., and lower cabinets with pull-out bins for lunch boxes, water bottles, coffee carafes, etc. Regular drawers would be even more convenient than the pull-out bins. That area also has one drawer for eating utensils and one for kitchen knives. There are cutting boards stacked on their sides on the counter between the frig and toaster.

 

On either side of the stove I have 2 lower cabinets with doors, and I keep pots in the left one (including the crockpot), and pans in the right one. I do wish I had the ikea drawers! In the upper cabinets, I have all of the mixing bowls, strainers and casseroles on the right, and on the left I have most of my baking stuff. I do have one additional 12 inch base cabinet which holds all of the thin cookie sheets and wire racks on their sides. On the counter to the right of the stove, I keep a couple of small crocks of high-frequency utensils (things I need to grab quickly while cooking), and the rest of the cooking utensils are in the drawer below that. The drawer on the other side of the stove holds the pot holders.

 

Around this time of year, the crockpot tends to stay on the counter next to the stove for weeks at a time. I have one base corner cabinet to hold the majority of the other small appliances. It spins around and I can turn it right to the appliance I need. I just spun it around to see what's it there: Hand mixer, food processor, blender, juicer, ice cream maker, sandwich press, and their various attachments. The Kitchen Aid mixer is in the storage room, because right now I don't use it enough to justify the amount of space it takes up. When I used it regularly, I kept it on a small wooden cart.

 

I managed to make space for the special occasion serving pieces by displaying them on top of some of the upper cabinets. The upper cabinets near the stove don't have displays on top, as they would get too greasy, but I do have some covered plastic bins up there with things I rarely use, such as cake decorating tools.

[Mom2Es]

I don't think I have any pictures (I'll look), but at one point in time I lived in an apartment with a TINY kitchen (6' x 9', and that's wall-to-wall, not floor space). The oven was flanked by two super-narrow cabinets (one had a door, the other did not). I kept my cookie sheets, cooling racks, and 9 x 13 pans in those two spaces. I liked it because it kept those items in the spot where I needed them at hand the most, and also because storing them upright on their sides meant no digging around and rearranging a bunch of items in a drawer or cabinet every time I needed just one pan. All I had to do was reach in and pull out the one I needed.

 

The person who designed the kitchen in my house didn't have a clue, so I have lots of opinions about this. Make sure you don't break up the counter areas too much. The only counter space in my kitchen large enough to do prep work is also the only logical place to put the drying rack. I end up doing a lot of prep in the dining room. It's a hassle.

 

Don't forget to have enough double cabinets. I have a lot of wasted space I can't put anything in, and things that need places to go and no logical place to be put because my kitchen basically only has one double cabinet and it's nowhere near where you would logically put things that belong in a wide cabinet. All the rest of the cabinets are tall and very narrow.

 

Drawers are your friend. Make sure you have at least two drawers that are wide enough to put some sort of utensil organizer in. Ideally more than that.

[kfeusse]

I am so thrilled with all of the great tips you guys are giving me. I am nervous about this project....want to do it "right"....and have no regrets...want to think it through, without overthinking it (which I tend to do also).

[Leanna Tomlinson]

Eight years ago we added on a new kitchen and had a kitchen designer help us.

She organized the work spaces into "triangles". We have 3 imaginary "triangles" in our kitchen. The idea is that you don't have to go outside of that triangle to do most tasks.

 

Because we have a large family and we all like to cook, our designer organized a "cooking triangle" and a "baking triangle", then later she recommended the placement of items so we have a "snack triangle". The idea of the triangle is to cut down on steps, eliminate cross traffic, and organize by use.

 

The corners of the cooking triangle are the fridge, stove, and sink. The drawers in that space contain the spices, pots & pans, and utensils you would normally need at the stove. The placement of these items is so logical and really cuts down on the steps. I have a spice drawer, which I love, right next to the stove. I don't have to move at all to get a spice while I'm preparing food. All the dishes I need are within arms reach.

 

The corners of the baking triangle contain the oven (separate from the stove), the baking cabinet with baking ingredients, and a cabinet with mixing bowls, etc. It only over laps the other triangle slightly, so that two people doing different things in the kitchen don't keep running into each other. BTW- this means I have two containers of salt. One in the cooking triangle and one in the baking triangle.

 

The "snack triangle" contains the coffee maker, a cabinet with snacks, and the fridge. The designer designated cups, snack items, etc. to be stored at the edge of the kitchen away from my two "work triangles".

 

Also, the silverware and plates are in an end cabinet towards the table, so someone setting the table won't be in the path of the cook.

 

Does this make any sense? I wish I could send you a diagram. It was really helpful talking through the process of cooking/ baking with the kitchen designer and thinking through where things need to be placed.

[kfeusse]

that is awesome...I will have to look at that more carefully....

[mom4him]

we are getting a new kitchen and I have been looking at catalogs for different cupboards and cabinets...pantry shelving and regular shleving...and I am having a hard time trying to figure out where I might put things...I mean..what kind of drawer, shelf, organizer etc for the following items...can you please tell me where you have your...

 

9 x 13 pans, muffin tins, bread pans, pots and pan, cooking utensils (in a drawer or on top of your counter)?, appliacnces like bread machine, KA mixer, toaster. What about big mixing bowls and plastic storage containers, casserole dishes?

 

Does my question make sense? My kitchen is small, so I really can't design and then figure out where things will go...I sort of want to have an idea as I am designing..

 

thanks.

 

My kitchen is all drawers/pull out shelves and I love it. There are a couple of strange corner cabinets that are just shelves but easy to get to. When I designed my kitchen one of the cabinet people was addiment that it was not going to work. Said I would really regret having a couple of larger cabinets with just regular shelves. NOPE! I love it and if I ever have the opportunity to do another kitchen it is one thing I WON"T change. When my two youngest were little I even had the dishes and such in a base drawer. They could easily unload the dishwasher and set the table.:001_smile:

[Denisemomof4]

Pull out drawers for everything means much less dead space. I LOVE these!!! The only space where I don't have them is on my island on the side where people sit. There I have regular cabinets for tall items which wouldn't fit in pull out drawers, like my Kitchenaid mixer, etc. I also have a corner rotating shlf (think lazy susan) i do love it but it has dead space. LOVE my platter/cookie sheet cabinet and pull out spice racks. Tilt out sponge tray is also a must.

 

There was a thread yesterday which was similar. You may get more ideas there.

 

I, oersonally, couldn't live without a divided sink but got the largest, deepest one with a small portion with drain on side.

[GailV]

We have pull-out shelves within cabinets. That allows us to change the height of the drawers if we want to. So we have the flexibility of cabinets/shelves, and the accessibility of drawers.

 

For the cookie sheets and other long, flat stuff I have a cookie-sheet cabinet in a tiny vertical spot next to the stove.

 

The toaster, mixer, and blender go in little triangular cabinets that are at the end of the run of cabinets/counters -- they give us a bit more space while not intruding on the pass-through/walk-through areas at the end of the runs. I never, ever would've thought to use those little cabinets in the design, but a kitchen designer suggested them.

[MBM]

We recently remodeled our very small kitchen. I was able to get more cabinet and counter top space by putting in smaller appliances -- an 18" Bosch dishwasher, which is awesome, a 24" Elba gas range (still waiting for it), and a 22" sink that has a chopping board and collander that I can pop in and out to free up even more countertop space. We also bought the IKEA counter-depth fridge and love it. No problems and it's a lot quieter than our old monster.

Another great way to free up space is to use the wall space above your countertops and other walls. I put in a narrow IKEA plate rack near my dishwasher which holds almost all of our dishes. Which, in turn, frees up cabinet space for other things.

I also have two baskets that sit on top of my fridge. One holds dish towels and the other onions and sometimes potatoes. Again, frees up space.

Do a lot of planning now. You'll be glad you did later on.

[hellen]

I found the kitchen forum on gardenweb to be very useful. There are very knowledgeable people there who can help you with your design.

[KatieJ]

Custom cabinets (I recall your DH is building them) means you can use every inch of space. Stock cabinets come in 3 inch increments, so if you need a 7 inch space, you get 6 and one inch of space.

 

I have deep drawers on either side of my stove. Right side drawers hold kettles and baking pans. ( bread pans, muffin tins, but not cookies sheets)

Left side has one drawer for casseroles and serving bowls, and one drawer for rubbermaid and tupperware.

I have one skinny cabinet for vertical storage next to my sink. I wish it was bigger, but it's enough for cooling racks and cookie sheets. I wish I had done the cabinet above my fridge slightly different, but it does hold some vertical storage for those huge turkey and pasta platters.

 

I have roll outs for my Bosch mixer, blend, hand mixer.

My counter only hold an antique cookie jar for cooking utensils ( it was my mother's and I love it, so it stays), knife block, toaster/convection oven and coffee pot. I dont' like a lot of stuff on my counters. We wanted to add one more narrow pantry like cabinet, but felt it would interfere with getting furniture in and out of the house, so we kept the baker's rack I was already using. It hold cook books and crock pot kind of stuff on open shelves.\

 

 

I do have my kitchen in zones. The area that is my baking is one side of the kitchen and my corner turn table base in there. I have my large mixing bowls in there.

[kfeusse]

how would you have differently done the space above your fridge? that is one space I am not sure how to handle.

[KatieJ]

how would you have differently done the space above your fridge? that is one space I am not sure how to handle.

 

 

My carpenter talked me into doing the dividers too far back with a space in front of them. he thought the odds I wouldn't loose things in the back were smaller. However, I am not tall and I can't reach them. I should have made a false back so it wasn't as deep as the fridge and then put in the dividers.