PrincessMommy Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 (edited) Some of you may remember my saga trying to get my kitchen renovation started. Finally, after a year of waiting and frustrating, we're about 10 days away from completion. Whoot. Today they started putting some of the cabinets back and installing new ones under the stairs. So help me play house with my new kitchen. Some things of note: The eat-at island will have the sink, dishwasher, and trash can cabinet. The cabinet next to the fridge (noted on the photo) is where the sink used to be... so it's only an under cabinet, which we will add one of the those slide-out add-on from the hardware store. Next to that is one of those skinny cabinets for cookie sheets and next to that is the corner cabinet. Along the long wall. Just after the partition for the I-beam post is an open area under the counter. That is where the hot-water baseboard heating fixture is going - so no room for cabinet there. Under the stairs I will have 8 wall cabinets configured - with shelving. Edited June 21, 2019 by PrincessMommy 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 (edited) Are those your new cabinets? I like the style. Is the picture on the bottom one room with a beam in the middle? I like the desktop option - I once had that in a larger kitchen and it was very handy. I also like a built in bookshelf for cookbooks / recipe cards unless you have it all in your head or just google 🙂 Thought of something else: The "famous" work triangle in my current kitchen is a little off as the path from stovetop to sink is the longest hypotenuse of the triangle. This means when I have a heavy pot going to the sink, I have to carry it the farthest. Is this something you care about? Edited June 22, 2019 by Liz CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 How fun! It looks really nice. What were your organizing challenges before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted June 22, 2019 Author Share Posted June 22, 2019 @Liz CA - those are the original cabinets. I don't think they're that old, they're in good shape, and they're cherry. So we've kept them and just reconfigured. The island and the under-stairs cabinets are new and all white. My work triangle sounds similar to yours. We just couldn't get the sink any closer to the stove without moving the fridge farther away. Having the stove where the fridge is would put it right next to the door. Probably not to code. That was the only option. And we have to have the cabinets 36" apart (or something like that). We're right there. The picture at the bottom shows most of the room. Where the beam is used to be a wall. We opened it up and put at 13' I-beam in - to stretch it as far on the side where I am standing meant we had to bring the "wall" out a little on the cabinet side. It isn't perfect, but the structural engineer felt that 13' I-beam was the largest we should do. As it is, we had to add extra footers too. I thought it was going to be tucked in a little further, but then we have to add the drywall encasement. Sigh. I had new cracks in my ceiling after that was installed... the upstairs is an addition done by the previous owner. A poorly done DYIer. @Katy - part of my issue is that everything was separated and I had no pantry. Formerly, my sink was on one wall and the knives and flatware were on the opposite wall. It had to go that way because whoever picked out the cabinets bought a base cabinet set with drawers that are specifically configured for knives and flatware and they put it on the opposite wall from the sink/dishwasher & the stove 🙄. Again - DYI by the previous owner.. That base cabinet will go to the right of the stove now... which still isn't close to the dishwasher, but closer. I hope to use the little cubbies under the stairs as showcases for my teacup collection. What I need to figure out is where to put : plates/bowls cups and mugs wine glasses spices pantry pots/pans large items like kitchen aid, Cuisinart, and slow cooker (I hate having lots of items on my counter) miscellany like paper products, trivets, table cloths, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 (edited) I recently went through that process and ended up figuring we need cups where we brew coffee, I put plates on the side where we are eating BUT I ended up moving some bowls around as I started to work in the kitchen and realized what would make more sense. I love cherry cabinets and yours are a nice style. Mine are older and instead of knobs they have handles - not my preference. Dh said if I replaced them with knobs he'd have to fill the hole on every door and drawer. ETA: Since I don't really use the pantry cabinets for food storage (most of my food is in fridge and freezers), I put the KitchenAid mixer and a Braun handmixer in there with some of the larger Pyrex pans I have, But it has to work for you and your set up. Do you have room for an appliance garage on your island? Edited June 22, 2019 by Liz CA 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted June 22, 2019 Author Share Posted June 22, 2019 8 hours ago, Liz CA said: I recently went through that process and ended up figuring we need cups where we brew coffee, I put plates on the side where we are eating BUT I ended up moving some bowls around as I started to work in the kitchen and realized what would make more sense. I love cherry cabinets and yours are a nice style. Mine are older and instead of knobs they have handles - not my preference. Dh said if I replaced them with knobs he'd have to fill the hole on every door and drawer. ETA: Since I don't really use the pantry cabinets for food storage (most of my food is in fridge and freezers), I put the KitchenAid mixer and a Braun handmixer in there with some of the larger Pyrex pans I have, But it has to work for you and your set up. Do you have room for an appliance garage on your island? Unfortunately, no. It's a pretty simple and small island. I also think I'll separate the cups from the plates. I had it that way before, because of the weird configuration. As to filling the holes. I don't think that's such a big deal. I bet its something you could do yourself. Finding the right matching color would probably be the hardest part. Look for it on youtube and see. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 14 hours ago, PrincessMommy said: What I need to figure out is where to put : plates/bowls cups and mugs wine glasses spices pantry pots/pans large items like kitchen aid, Cuisinart, and slow cooker (I hate having lots of items on my counter) miscellany like paper products, trivets, table cloths, Congratulations on nearing the end! These suggestions are probably more generic than you want when you supplied pictures, but they made a very big difference in my kitchen (not remodeled--facelift when we moved, additional cabinets added in a bare spot). Depending on the type of dishes you have, it might be a good idea to get stackers for inside your cabinets. I have Pyrex, and I can fit nearly all of my plates (large, small, dessert), bowls, and serving bowls in one spot by using a stacker. Aldi sometimes has them for less than you'd find elsewhere. We added extra shelving inside our cabinets so that we didn't have to stack bowls, pots, etc. in as many layers. It helped a great deal. There is less space between shelves, but everything is more stable, and that means less shuffling things when we put stuff away. We also put medium and small pots in drawers (best move ever!). I prefer my spices in a drawer standing up with labelled lids. I would probably put them near the stove in one of the drawers or else put them in the upper cabinet on one of those pull-down things you can install in a cabinet. I would probably keep my small pots in one of the drawers next to the stove, as well as putting potholders in there. Trivets I would keep in a drawer or basket near where you eat, unless you plate things before sitting down. If you plate things first, I would keep them in a drawer that's the closest to where you set hot containers. I tend to use larger potholders as trivets in the kitchen and put my "real" trivets with my cloth napkins near the table (not in the kitchen). I keep my crock pot on top of the fridge. I would probably find a heavy-duty slide out for your appliances if your cabinets are the right sizes. I would keep paper products and table cloths on a top shelf somewhere, and I would try to keep them in a basket or other container that lets you pull them out all together. If you don't have a good cupboard for that in the main kitchen area, I would probably suggest putting them on the higher shelves above your desk and leave the lower shelves for something more related to what you'll do at the desk. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted June 22, 2019 Author Share Posted June 22, 2019 These are great recs. The cabinet with the knives/flatware drawer is also a pull out drawers that I've used for pots, pans, and lids. It's wonderful. I love drawers over shelves any day. What are stackers? Off to google. Was your extra shelving made of the same wood? Our shelves are a good 1/2-3/4" think. So very sturdy, but takes up that extra space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 3 hours ago, PrincessMommy said: These are great recs. The cabinet with the knives/flatware drawer is also a pull out drawers that I've used for pots, pans, and lids. It's wonderful. I love drawers over shelves any day. What are stackers? Off to google. Was your extra shelving made of the same wood? Our shelves are a good 1/2-3/4" think. So very sturdy, but takes up that extra space. Yay for drawers or inserts that have drawers! Our shelves are different wood, and they are 3/4" or so. We moved into a house that needed some love, and the new shelves totally don't match, lol! But they are inside my cupboards, so I don't care. I am pretty positive you can get matching extra shelves--I think my parents might have done that in a couple of their cupboards. https://www.amazon.com/Panacea-Grayline-40126-Large-Organizer/dp/B0002COJW6/ref=sr_1_14?crid=GQMCRRB2SGY2&keywords=dish+stackers&qid=1561242998&s=gateway&sprefix=dish+stackers%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-14 I have a stacker like the one above. I am not positive if it's the same size as I bought mine at Aldi, IIRC. That is the one that I keep all my Corelle on. I have this style (various sizes) around my house for lots of different things: https://www.amazon.com/Whitmor-Wire-Stacking-Utility-Shelf/dp/B007ELABCA/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=dish+stacker+with+folding+legs&qid=1561243097&s=gateway&sr=8-5 I have this style in a black hole (corner base cabinet that goes WAY back and is not a standard size for a pull out organizer), and I keep sweet potatoes and regular potatoes in them: https://www.amazon.com/Whitmor-Wire-Stackable-Basket-White/dp/B00HT2HDUC/ref=sr_1_12?keywords=stacking+wire+baskets&qid=1561243167&s=gateway&sr=8-12 My favorite gem is an organizer my dad made me to hold the green trofast drawers. It fits under my sink, and instead of the long side of the drawers facing out, the short side does (IKEA doesn't make a set of shelves that hold those size of bins that direction). I keep dishwasher detergent, bona mop heads, scrubbies, and all kinds of things in those. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60094072/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwJDaqZT-4gIVA9tkCh3idQl7EAQYBCABEgLewfD_BwE For one of my really skinny cupboards, we bought a double-decker organizer that has wire drawers. My mom used plastic canvas (like for crafts) to make me a tall, divided bin that fit the lower shelf perfectly. I store my dish towels and dish cloths in that, and I can pull it out easily to fill it when I fold laundry. Actually, a custom-made plastic canvas box with dividers might work for your paper supplies... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted June 23, 2019 Author Share Posted June 23, 2019 @kbutton thanks for all those links and information!! So much fun. I don't care if the wood matches or not. I was just think that having such thick shelf wood is great but also takes up more space. The stackers might work just as well if not better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonflower Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 lovely cabinets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 23 hours ago, PrincessMommy said: What I need to figure out is where to put : The rule of thumb is put them where you FIRST use them or LAST. 23 hours ago, PrincessMommy said: plates/bowls cups and mugs wine glasses spices pantry pots/pans large items like kitchen aid, Cuisinart, and slow cooker (I hate having lots of items on my counter) miscellany like paper products, trivets, table cloths, So for us that means -dishes--near dishwasher -cups/mugs-near dishwasher but then put your morning vitamins, coffee, etc. there too -spices-along cooking/prep counter, reasonably close to stove -pots/pans-adjacent to stove -KA, food processor--on a far counter because they're only used occasionally. You can set up a bake center and keep your baking ingredients (flour, etc) there if you want too) -slow cooker-another room, pantry, basement -paper products? I keep a Simple Human paper towel dispenser on the counter but storage is on a high shelf in the laundry room, all paper products together (tp, kleenex, paper towels, etc.) -trivets--whittle them down. One for the bar/island, one for the table, one in a drawer in the kitchen. All the rest go into the basement or get tossed. I try to keep in my kitchen only things that get used frequently. If they get used less often, I put them in the pantry or basement. -table cloths--laundry room on high shelves. I have all the placements, holiday finger tip towels, towels for bread baskets, all that junk in there. Shelves in the laundry aren't too expensive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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