Software
Houzz Logo Print
abick2

Kitchen accessories worth having

11 years ago

Which kitchen accessories should I consider putting in that are really useful? I've put in lots of drawer bases for pots and pans. Any suggestions before I place my order on Friday?

Comments (16)

  • 11 years ago

    I love my super susan. And pull-outs above the fridge. And built-in cutting board (DH wishes we'd put in two). And not really an accessory, but I have 42" upper cabinets, and I ordered extra shelves for most of them. Now I can store more things without stacking, and without a lot of wasted space between shelves.

    Have you figured out where things will go in the new kitchen? I found that exercise to be the most useful thing I did. I wrote down practically everything in the old kitchen (or categories, such as plates and cups). Then I assigned each item to a spot in the new kitchen. Make sure things have homes near their point of use - potholders, cooking utensils, pots and pans near the stove; dishes near the DW; less used items out of the way. I measured larger things (like small appliances) to make sure the space I designated was large/tall enough. I was able to specify the height of some drawers and most shelves, so things would fit where planned.

    Good luck!


  • 11 years ago

    I got a lazy susan. what's a pull out above the fridge? Are the spice racks that hang on a cabinet door worth having?

  • PRO
    11 years ago

    A prep-area sink with custom cutting board that fits over half the sink, so waste can be easily scraped into the sink bowl for disposal. Can't image how I ever cooked without it.

    Junk drawer? Everyone has one, but they are never planned for.

    What do you do with dirty dish towels? Laundry chute? Where do you hang your apron? Hook on the door or closet cabinet?

    Where do you put wet sponges? SOS pads? Do you have a "wet" drawer.

    Have pets? Where is the pet feeding station? Cats? Did you build in a cat cabinet? Dog? Where is the kennel? Dog feeding station? Dog food storage?

    Do you have a built-in phone, laptop, tablet charging station?

    How about a white- or black-board in your kitchen to jot down a grocery needs? Take a picture of it with your phone before you leave for the store -- instant grocery list.


  • 11 years ago

    Check this invaluable discussion on Houzz: A Designer Shares Her Kitchen-Remodel Wish List. https://www.houzz.com/magazine/a-designer-shares-her-kitchen-remodel-wish-list-stsetivw-vs~45039496

    Great ideas for the kitchen.

  • 11 years ago

    Here' my pullout over the fridge:

    And a super susan isn't the same as a lazy susan. A LS has a shelves supported by a pole; a super susan has turntables resting on shelves, so they support more weight, and have more space without the pole.

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Because I have a small kitchen, my silverware and utensils all are in one 36" drawer. One thing that I thought about, and my cabinetmaker could have done, and now I wish I had, was some kind of drawer -in-drawer or sliding silverware tray for an extra layer of storage organization.

    I ditto the vertical tray/pan storage (mine is over the frig), spice pullout (used an otherwise too small for anything space), trash pullouts. Also I have an (aftermarket) lid organizer in a drawer that is great.

  • 11 years ago

    Pull out towel rack.

    Place to store a thin folding step stool, such as the 1" stainless steel one from The Container Store -- mine goes into a vertical tray cabinet.

    Place to store roll of paper towels -- mine is goes into a slide out cleaning caddy that is stored in the sink cabinet.

    Horizontal knife block that is made to go into a drawer

  • 11 years ago

    Trash pull-out...my favorite cabinet in my whole kitchen! Drawers for everything, easy reach upper corner cabinet instead of the old diagonal ones that are so much "in your face", soft close doors, drawers, in-drawer knife block, pull-outs in the pantry cabinet...so much better than losing everything in the nether reaches of standard pantry shelves.

  • 11 years ago

    My two favorites are the trash/recycling pull-out and the condiment pull-out. I got the former with my cabinets, and bought a Hafele after-market version for the latter (because I like the design and materials better, much easier to clean than the wood version that came with my cabinets). I don't have it, but I'd also love slots in a very deep drawer to store things like pyrex vertically.

  • 11 years ago

    Thank you for some really great ideas. A lot of these items I'll be able to purchase aftermarket, so I won't worry about some of them now as long as I got the essentials. Plenty of drawers, roll outs in the pantry, double garbage bin, and lazy susan.

  • 11 years ago

    SJ, you can easily add these to your deep drawer:
    dividers

    I have two different kinds in my drawer:


  • 11 years ago

    Good spice storage. I installed a pull out spice rack and, even more loved, interior/hidden drawers in the upper cabinet next to the range.




    Also, pullouts and drawers everywhere. Everywhere.

  • 11 years ago

    Excellent question!

    Trash in two different zones. Prep area, 36" cabinet, holds three bins (trash, recycling, paper recylcing). Cleanup area has a trash bin too.

    Inset compost bin in countertop.


    Foot pedal to open cabinets and another to control water.

    Deeper countertops (30") and upper cabinets wonderful too. Good luck!


  • 11 years ago

    @oldbat2be - where did you get your inset compost bin. Especially the lid. Really like the looks of it. Thanks in advance.

  • 11 years ago

    It's the Blanco Solon, always glad to talk about it! Immensely functional, the best kind of kitchen tool/appliance. I do understand the fear of cutting a hole in the countertop but as long as you are happy with the location, it won't be a hole, it will be your cool inset composter.

    Ours is located at the back left of a 36" cabinet, in which we have three recycling bins, a 12" drawer (in front of the composter), two tilt downs, a tap master and a hafele foot pedal. Definitely some tweaking/customizing by DH to make this work.

    Here's a link to some more pictures of the composter.

    http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2469174/compost-containers-in-the-counter