It’s easy to get kitchen cabinet envy when you see the latest models with their shiny car-lacquer exteriors and hidden hinges. It’s no wonder painting cabinets or replacing the fronts is all the rage.
But it’s what’s behind the doors that matters most. This is where we store food, cookware, u
tensils and more. If you really want to get jealous, open drawers and doors of new cabinets with their fancy-pants slide-out pantries and dish racks.
“The problem with older cabinets is that they look like black holes inside,” said Krista Williamson, owner of K2 Workshops in Overland Park, Ka
n. “No one wants to crawl through a dungeon.”
However, simple modifications, such as adding sliding shelves and rolling pullout drawers, can give existing cabinets new life, Williamson said. Upgrading what you have can save thousands of dollars versus replacement. She demonstrates the theory on a decades-old cabinet a store that sells previously owned building materials.
“This base cabinet had an upper shelf that just came out halfway,” she said. “It was for storing small appliances like a mixer and a blender. But the cabinet was kind of useless, because you still had to get down on your hands and knees. And a fourth of the storage space wasn’t being used.”
So Williamson removed the worthless shelf. She measured the width and depth of the cabinet interior and had a new shelf and reinforcements made with ¾-inch plywood cut at a home-improvement warehouse, securing it with silicone. She found Rev-a-Shelf wooden and metal pullouts from a hardware store that would fit inside.
“It’s important to have the right measurements,” she said. The pullouts should be a half-inch less wide than your doors on either side. Sometimes they have to be special ordered. “Someone was returning some of the systems because they weren’t the right fit.”
In less than an hour, Williamson installed glides and turned the cabinet into a more useful one with pullouts that can be used for stacks of dishes or pots and pans. She prefers wooden drawers (“they’re more furniture like”), but metal ones can be more economical and space-efficient.
“Just be sure to get the sturdier metal ones,” Williamson said. “They’re not all created equally.”
Before investing in any products, take the time to clean and organize your kitchen cabinets. Kristi Pelzel, owner of the Organization People, categorizes everything into zones: spices, linens, foil/wrap. Consider it an opportunity to pare down.
“People usually have way too many glasses,” Pelzel said. “Donate the ones you don’t use. They shouldn’t be crammed inside. Leave breathing-room space between them.”
The same goes for leftovers containers (limit two per person). And Pelzel suggests storing occasional pieces elsewhere, especially in a space-crunched kitchen.
“Put the turkey platter and the silver you use once a year in a box marked ‘Thanksgiving,”‘ Pelzel said. “They don’t need to take up precious real estate in the kitchen.”
Pelzel advocates using what you have for storage before buying more stuff. She likes using clear baggies because they’re space-efficient, and you can easily see what’s inside. They’re good for storing coupons, for example.
Kitchen cabinet organization systems have become a popular category. Materials include white polymer, brushed aluminum wire with chrome plating, birch and maple hardwoods, bamboo and rattan basket drawers. One of the most recent additions to kitchen organizational materials is clear glass for a more modern look, but it comes with a higher price tag.
DYI tips
Measure: Be sure to write down the height, width and depth of the inside of your cabinet before buying anything. For example, a typical 18-inch-wide cabinet is only 15 ½ inches wide inside.
Shop around: Local stores often carry supplies that are less expensive than what’s found online, and you can avoid shipping costs.
Think ahead: Kitchen-cabinet organization products take a week or more to arrive.
Resources
Blum: www.blum.com.
Container Store: www.containerstore.com.
Hafele: www.hafele.com.
Rev-a-Shelf: www.rev-a-shelf.com.
Simple Human: www.simplehuman.com.
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