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What frustrates you when you try to organize your kitchen cupboards/pantry?


Rilwan

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42 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

Unfortunately, mine is much less deep than the refrigerator and I can't reach what is in it - even with the step ladder.  

*That* is a pet peeve. I've had those singularly useless cupboards in a couple of rentals, and have no idea why (other than the look) people do that.

 

The only functional purpose for them I've ever thought of was removing the doors and putting in a cat bed.

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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15 hours ago, chromedome said:

Truthfully I'm not a fan of the carousel either. I've had things fall off the back and jam up the works, and extricating them required a degree of "personal origami" that did not work well with my physique.

 

I agree. A pull-out shelf-drawer loses only a little space, but does let you get at everything.

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12 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

I can't reach what is in it - even with the step ladder.  

Calling Mr. Kim!

 

I often have my wife come and spot me if I'm going to be digging around up on the step ladder. Better to be safe...

 

 

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

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13 hours ago, heidih said:

Interesting magnet assortment BTW

 

Sadly, it has not been added to in a year.  We're not exactly big spenders on souvenirs; magnets work for us, as they're available in every museum's shop and every tchotchke place we stop at.

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

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13 hours ago, heidih said:

Me on a step ladder with current issues - sure   would fall backwards and hit head on granite island. You underscore the need to have your kitchen work for you especially when it is a place of joy. Interesting magnet assortment BTW

My GF and I have at times discussed tall cabinetry and various ladders, slide-out platforms and such (she's barely 5', and I'm not exactly NBA-ready either at 5'7").

 

Our still-hypothetical "forever home" is at least 4-5 years out, and we'll be designing and building it with aging-in-place in mind, but I hadn't yet considered the risk of falling from a ladder. That's definitely pertinent.

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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59 minutes ago, chromedome said:

My GF and I have at times discussed tall cabinetry and various ladders, slide-out platforms and such (she's barely 5', and I'm not exactly NBA-ready either at 5'7").

 

Our still-hypothetical "forever home" is at least 4-5 years out, and we'll be designing and building it with aging-in-place in mind, but I hadn't yet considered the risk of falling from a ladder. That's definitely pertinent.

 

Yes, do consider it. Our current situation is admittedly an unusual one, since it's a travel trailer, but it has very high ceilings with cupboards that go all the way up. I need a step stool (single step) to get at most things, and a step ladder (3 steps) to get at some. I joke that I get plenty of "step" exercise during the day, but it's a major nuisance to me and would be a safety concern for my husband if he were the main cook.

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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1 hour ago, weinoo said:

Calling Mr. Kim!

 

I often have my wife come and spot me if I'm going to be digging around up on the step ladder. Better to be safe...

 

 

I thank God often that Mr. Kim is 6 feet tall!  He has various personas: 'Finding Guy', 'Tall Guy' and I simply call on who is needed.  😁

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On 2/12/2021 at 7:47 PM, Smithy said:

By "top cupboards" do you mean the cupboards above the countertop, or do you mean the really high cupboards that require a stepstool to reach? I have some of both, and the answers may be different.

 

The more I think about it, the more I think I can show pictures of what frustrates me in my current kitchen, if you'd like to see it.

 

16 hours ago, FauxPas said:

 

I'd be interested in seeing that! 🙂  Maybe others would be, as well.

 

Here is the space over my stove, where the most-commonly used spices live.

 

20210214_075657.jpg

 

There's a similar cupboard to the right of the microwave. I keep bottled things and cereals in it. Since the spice cabinet is the biggest nuisance I'll focus on it. In the collage below, I show the bottom half of the opened cupboard. See the little plastic box? It contains a flour shaker, some packaged spices, a bulb of garlic, a spary can, and whatever spice jars I happen to have used last, because I had to put the box back in to have a little bit of counter space and I can't be bothered to pull the box back out again.

 

20210214_075605.jpg

 

Some sort of slide-out racks that hold the jars in place but pull out to let me see them (without getting out a step stool as noted above, and a flashlight) would be immensely helpful. I bought the plastic inserts at a kitchen store and quickly learned that they double the storage space but still don't keep bottles from falling over unless the plastic crate is in place to hold them upright.

 

@Rilwan and any other kitchen designer should know that this tiny kitchen is in a travel trailer. Most normal people who love to cook don't live in travel trailers like this one. The solution would be for me to curtail my cooking so that I have fewer objects to stow, but I live in this trailer for 6 months out of the year and I'm not willing to do so.

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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3 hours ago, Smithy said:

Some sort of slide-out racks that hold the jars in place but pull out to let me see them (without getting out a step stool as noted above, and a flashlight) would be immensely helpful. I bought the plastic inserts at a kitchen store and quickly learned that they double the storage space but still don't keep bottles from falling over unless the plastic crate is in place to hold them upright.

 

Maybe one of those tiered shelving units? Ideally, one that could be pulled out, not sure if such a thing exists. And depends on cabinet dimensions, of course. This one has a bit of a lip but maybe not high enough for a travel trailer in motion. 🙂

 

https://www.containerstore.com/s/kitchen/pantry-organizers/idesign-linus-expandable-cabinet-and-spice-organizer/12d?productId=10035511

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I have seen pull down shelves used in designing homes for individuals in wheel chairs... those may also be helpful if installed in all cabinets that are not easily within reach. The euro design versions are quite nice. Here is a link to a company that sells the hardware https://rev-a-shelf.com/2552

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Heh!    Important to plan ahead.    "Some years ago" I moved a lot of "stuff" to a row of cabinets that start at over 6feet.   Nothing I frequently use, obviously, but quite annoying now that standing on a kitchen chair and from there onto the counter seems unwise.    Would like to see my collection of Chemex coffee makers as well as tin lined charlotte and pudding molds if only to purge.     

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eGullet member #80.

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Some pictures of the corner cabinet I was mentioning.  The cabinet I'm talking about is on the left:

IMG_5063.thumb.jpg.77d51e4e93dde5a731d0aad06ff834b9.jpg

Please excuse the chipped finish.  And the unswept floor.  This is my "cooking corner" and the only usable bit of counter in my kitchen.  Mr. Kim and I are forgoing further Xmas and anniversary gifts and putting all monies into a new floor and painted/refurbished cabinets in the next couple of years!  Anyway - as you can see, the cabinet butts up to the ONLY set of drawers in the entire kitchen.  This picture is straight into the cabinet:

IMG_5064.thumb.jpg.fa7b92c99e22209e8a81ee268ece5533.jpg

 

And this is when you "turn the corner":

IMG_5066.thumb.jpg.6eaa1310f974e06f129e14ed5aee8944.jpg

That is almost 2 1/2 feet back to the end of the cabinet.  In order to get things out, I need first to use a flashlight because it is so dark.  Then I have to remove most of the stack of saute/saucepans.  Then the entire top half of my body has to enter the cabinet.  We've been in this house for about 25 years.  I used to be able to do that.  I can't anymore.  So Mr. Kim has to.  🙄 Basically, a useless space. 

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Here’s my over the fridge cabinet.  It’s full of bags of dehydrated lemons some stuffed into the vases stored there.  The front of the cabinet has sugar and flours.  I can reach the stuff in front but need a step stool to get to the lemons.  I use the lemons everyday in tea but I have one zip lock in a lower drawer where I can reach it.

9428D51E-BC8E-4609-AA1E-3F6868C28E18.jpeg

B222DCDA-4B76-4773-A0CC-A03124C166FD.jpeg

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49 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Poor Mr. Kim. Give the guy a break!!

You are joking I think but seriously when you tell someone you have issues with your work space it creates a problem to solve

 - so showing them what you like is a collaboration tool. Designers often ask clients for their "dream" and use it to explore viable solutions or open up options.

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  • 1 year later...

The thought occurred to me tonight that if I pitched or gave away the piles and piles of clothes I never wear, I'd have space to store the cookware I never use.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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The biggest problem in my kitchen is that it was designed in the days when I still loathed cooking and basically did the bare minimum.  There was no designated kitchen on the farm when we moved in and the kitchen took part of the apiary which was there.  Yes, it was quite the unusual place we moved into.  Friggin' unbelievable it was.  

 

I had no idea that one day my tiny culinary world would explode and suddenly I'd have nowhere to put everything which I now need.  So my kitchen 'stuff' is also in a cabinet in one of the master bedroom closets, in a cabinet in the 'outer' hallway, a cabinet in the garage, a two cabinets in the dining room, shelves on either side of the stairwell into the cellar and on shelves in the cellar  (It's not a basement...it's a cellar)   Oh, there's none in the bathroom, den or the living room.  Nor upstairs.  I do have my standards, you know.  

 

Plus I share the cooking with Ed.  And he knows where nothing goes and can be counted on to put it there.  I can't complain...he does more than his share of cooking now.  

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Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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