Easy to do kitchen/home modifications that make your life way easier

Cooking is a huge part of homesteading and as much as I admire some of the people I've known who seemed capable of preparing incredibly awesome meals under the worst imaginable conditions, I personally believe that if your goal is to make healthy meals and process extra produce for the winter, a well-designed kitchen will make that process  happier, less frustrating, and less time consuming.

Unfortunately, I really have met some of the worst designed kitchens, and often wondered what could be done to help. Then I put my thinking cap on and did exactly that.

This thread is not about redoing things and starting from scratch. It's about the little things - sometimes as simple as re-organizing so things flow better, or to accommodate young children.

So this thread is about the low-hanging fruit. The cheap fixes that make a big difference. I'll get us started with a project I just did for my sister.

This is a very small project, but it will have a big impact on kitchen efficiency. My sister's kitchen is 16 years old and one lower cabinet has been an issue since conception.



The upper cabinets go all the way to the ceiling, and the step stool has no where else to live in a relatively small house. It is required equipment.

As you can see, it is not possible to get into the cupboard with out moving the ladder, because the hinges are only 100 degree ones. *NOTE* if you're ever designing a kitchen, there are hinges that allow the door to open much further. In most cases, this is not worth the cost, but often there are 2 or 3 doors in a kitchen where the expense is worth it. I did that in a kitchen I designed years ago, but then we were transferred several Provinces away and alas, I've been putting up with a poorly designed kitchen ever since. If I could have gotten matching hinges, simply swapping the ones on the right door out would have been a quick fix, but drilling the special holes requires templates and equipment that I didn't bring in my luggage, so I went with Plan B.



Step 1. I removed both doors and put them on a towel on the kitchen table so as not to damage either. I lined them up carefully and marked where I was adding hinges.



Step 2.  I gathered up the tools I had available. It was critical in old wood to drill pilot holes. It was equally critical not to drill right through the front of the cabinet. A trick I've used before is to use the black marker to mark the drill bit all the way around at the depth I needed. So long as I'm working in decent light, I can see the black clearly enough to be safe.



Step 3. After installing both hinges in the locations pictured above, I had to reattach the left hinges into their other side in the cupboard. The cupboard now has 1 folding door that can be pushed right to the wall, giving full access without moving the step ladder, and without the right door blocking the light.  






The door operates smoothly by using the right handle to open and close it, although it does take a tiny bit of reprograming our old brains - particularly Sister's as she's been doing it one way for 16 years. We reorganized the cupboard a little to make it more efficient with the new system.

Lastly, here's and "after" shot, showing that the cupboard looks just the same - but now it works!



With kitchens, sometimes small projects can have useful impacts. My sister is on a small urban property, but she grows and processes beans, tomatoes, herbs and berries. She does a lot of cooking and baking. It was worth my time to make life a little easier for her - I'm her Christmas Elf this year!

That looks great, Jay! Thanks for sharing!

When I was moving into this house, the thing I insisted on was having a motion-activated kitchen faucet. That way when I come in from the yard or garden with filthy hands, I don’t even have to touch the faucet handle. I also have under cabinet lighting that is motion-activated, so turning it on and off is so simple. It’s the little things. :)

(To clarify, “motion-activated” doesn’t mean “only on when there is motion underneath,” but rather “waving your hand under the sensor tells it to turn on/off.”)

Nice job Jay.

I fell in love with this over the sink plates/pots dryer a couple of years ago.  It was $33 at the time, but it says it's currently unavailable.  
It shows similar for sale on the link though.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08RN3QKX7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

As a single guy, I pretty much just leave everything out in the dryer all the time so in addition to saving me a ton of counter space for drying, it also saves me labor?  Pretty much all of my counter space is shown in the picture, so when I have a lot of pots and pans drying at least half my counter space is used up.

My dream kitchen would just have magnets, hooks, and racks like the one above bolted to the wall with no upper cabinets.  Everything used often would be in plain view and have its own spot.  Everything else could go in the cabinets underneath.  

Don't worry about that pellet gun.  That's just coincidentally how my kitchen looks right now.

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One thing that really bugs me about some kitchens is those little half shelves they put in the lower cabinets (like in the above photos). I had a kitchen like that and I pulled out all the half-shelves and replaced  them with full sized shelves. It really increased the storage space in the kitchen.

I'd add major changes that are more about organization and not so much structure.... I decided a few years ago when we were replacing ancient cabinets that my new setup would allow me to cook with no more than a step or a pivot in any direction, and we reorganized all our stuff to make things flow.
I put all my frequently used objects on hooks or magnet strips on the wall, made the classic "triangle" between fridge, stove and sink, put all my spices in a huge drawer I can just pull out and leave open while I'm cooking. Basic inputs like soy sauce, oil, vinegar, pepper are kept on a tray on the counter in arms-reach. Oh and a nice anti-fatigue mat where I'm standing, since I'm really just in one spot!
My kitchen is small, which makes this all easier (to a certain extent-- i still have no counter space), but it made all the processes a lot smoother.

I'd also say it ain't just bachelors who don't dry dishes. We say in my house that that's the angels' job! The frying pans, knives, mugs, wineglasses, and some tools get hung up wet to dry, and the rest only get put away the next day. Our rule is that the sink has to be clean before bed, but the clean dishes can stay put in the drainer.

Tereza Okava wrote:I'd add major changes that are more about organization and not so much structure....

Absolutely! I've met too many kitchens with automatic dishwashers and the dishes are in a cupboard right above it. If you aren't built like an orangutan, you have to pile all the dishes on the counter, close the dishwasher, then you can reach to put the dishes away. . .

I decided a few years ago when we were replacing ancient cabinets that my new setup would allow me to cook with no more than a step or a pivot in any direction, and we reorganized all our stuff to make things flow.

Yes again. There's lots of info on the web and in books about the classic triangle. However, I've also read that if you do have the space, try to have a minimum of 5 feet of uninterrupted counter space in at least one place. As a baker I get that, and wish I had it - corners such that the counter does a right angle turn, don't count!

it made all the processes a lot smoother.

The kitchen I designed had a tall cabinet beside the table that was just wide enough to hold a large collection of canisters for flours/sugars, baking spices etc. The door to the cabinet opened away from the table, so I'd lift out the flour, measure it, put it back, grab the next ingredient and carry on. Cooking spices were near the stove. The overlap wasn't generally an issue, but two salt containers isn't a big deal.

I'd also say it ain't just bachelors who don't dry dishes.

I was so pleased when I read that air-dried dishes are actually more sterile than cloth dried ones! They did tests. The experts say so. Please, don't anyone do more tests and find out they were wrong!

Cheryl Gallagher wrote:One thing that really bugs me about some kitchens is those little half shelves they put in the lower cabinets (like in the above photos).

As one gets older, reaching to the back of a lower cabinet with a full shelf becomes more hazardous. Something like a Busboy bin to hold things and slide the bin out to see what you want is a cheap fix. However, again, if you're building from scratch, large lower drawers instead of lower cabinets is the gift that keeps on giving. Friends of mine solved the cost problem by finding second hand, sturdy bedroom drawer sets and used those. They didn't have the nice modern drawer slides, but they did the job and gave their kitchen a very pleasant unique style.

Mine is so embarrassing ....

In my tiny kitchen with very little counter space, the pull-out cutting board was a real boon. But inevitably, I'd do all my chopping for salads *before* reaching for the salad bowl, which was way up on the top shelf in the cabinet above the cutting board.

One day, my shoulder revolted, and I suddenly realized that all I had to do was move the salad bowls to the other side of the upper cabinet so they weren't right above the pull-out cutting board. Fancy dinnerware, which I rarely used, switched sides with the salad bowls. Duh! Such a simple thing, but it made a big difference to how comfortable and efficient my kitchen was!
Julie

My mother, who was one of Wisconsin’s first home agents, told me about the “triangle “ early on. She also pointed out that when preparing food we usually went from refrigerator to sink to stove. So my refrigerator is at right angles and across the entryway to my open concept kitchen. The counter top between them is high because I raised the dishwasher 9 inches. (This risen dishwasher is my favorite thing in the kitchen.) The stove is directly across from the sink and has a pot filler above it which is very helpful when I’m filling large pots for canning.

I have three right angles in my small kitchen so there are three double turntables, one under each corner. And I completely agree about installing deep drawers instead of lower cabinets. I especially like being able to put wire baskets in them for such things as pot lids. I wish that I had them under every cabinet. Meantime rolling shelves will do in a couple of lower cabinets. Another wish is for a wall oven. It would be worth sacrificing an upper cabinet. At eighty one I’m tired of having to bend to the floor for baking. (I guess that’s a major fix. Sorry.

Here is the pot filler, my second most favorite thing in the kitchen.

roberta mccanse wrote:Here is the pot filler, my second most favorite thing in the kitchen.

That’s a water faucet? I’ve never seen that before, very cool!

Yes, a faucet that I use almost every day for cooking, making soup, and canning. Of course I eventually have to lift big pots of canning water back over to the sink, at 81 not a problem for me yet. It just makes my daily life easier.

Regarded the pot filler, I went to Plan B.  My sink is near my kitchen stove.  My faucet already had a hose attached to extend its reach.   I replaced the original hose with one a foot longer. There is now enough length for it to reach my largest pot on the stove to fill it.

Jay, that cabinet door is awesome!! Beautiful work!

Emptying the water from large pots is the challenge I had to address in my kitchen.
Libby writes:

Of course I eventually have to lift big pots of canning water back over to the sink

John writes:

I replaced the original hose with one a foot longer. There is now enough length for it to reach my largest pot on the stove to fill it.

After filling and using large quantities of water, I use a reverse application of John's hose idea to siphon out the water from large pots that are on the stove. Employing a 6’ long flexible tube and a 5 gal bucket placed on the floor, I harvest the water from the pot (or move the beer to a carboy). If the bucket is heavy, I put it on a repurposed plant caddy and roll it out the door. Unscrewing the primed hose from the faucet (as in John’s setup) and putting the female end lower than the pot is another way to siphon out the water without lifting the pot.

A friend suggested something that makes my life slightly easier every morning. A little change that is so obvious once you've tried it! I put all the jars of preserves we're currently using on our toast in a tray. Instead of lifting each jar out individually from the cupboard, I just lift the whole tray out. Presto! ready for breakfast.
The caddy is a plastic storage box that lost it's lid (I always find lid and box have different life expectancies) but any spare container of the right size will do. I also put savoury condiments in a different box; although we usually use these one at a time, it keeps the cupboard tidier. The cupboard (in case you're wondering) is a repurposed speaker casing.

Cheryl Gallagher wrote:One thing that really bugs me about some kitchens is those little half shelves they put in the lower cabinets (like in the above photos). I had a kitchen like that and I pulled out all the half-shelves and replaced  them with full sized shelves. It really increased the storage space in the kitchen.

I actually prefer those half shelves! I find that in my current kitchen the deep shelves just encourage me to hoard stuff I don't actually use to be a space holder for the back of the shelf so the stuff I actually want doesn't get lost in the back. Even as someone in their 20s I don't like getting into to the back of those shelves.

Also, in my previous abode I used command hooks to hang the pot lids on the back of the cabinet door. This only works if you have a half shelf on the top :)

For my future home we're only putting in drawers, minus the corner cabinets (2) which will have those turn tables.

That is a great solution with the new cabinet door!

I have a kitchen tip that makes our life easier...especially with an "out of sight out of mind" household. We have two long shelves above the countertop where our dishwasher is. We keep all our plates and bowls on the shelf for two reasons- 1. We can see if it's time to run the dishwasher because we are low on plates and 2. It makes unloading the dishwasher as simple as reaching right up above it. Having the visual of whether there are clean dishes or not without having to walk over and open a cabinet is oddly a huge kitchen help!

On my bucket list for the day my kitchen remodel becomes reality is cabinets with pull-out shelving! No more taking out everything in the front to get to the items buried at the back of the cabinet. I have a small island with a silverware drawer and 2 pull-out shelves underneath. I treasure those shelves, and hope to replace my existing shelves in the cabinets soon. Also, a full-height pull-out spice cabinet is high on my list, also!

Bonnie Haralson wrote:Also, a full-height pull-out spice cabinet is high on my list, also!

I used to think those pull-out spice cabinets were over kill but now that I'm drying and storing a ton of medicinal herbs in addition to having my culinary herbs... I'm starting to see the beauty of it!

For spices, I INSISTED on a drawer right next to the stove that was slightly deeper than my tallest pint jar (because of course not all of them are the same height, that's just silly)

I keep salts, herbs, etc in a couple spots, but the drawer holds all the storebought spices as well as "oldest" home-dried in various jars and I am not allowed to overfill it.  There's a gold sharpie and a black sharpie as well as dry-erase markers in the silverware drawer so that I can write on the top of the lids of my various flavorings.  It's so convenient to look down and know which red lid is what.

I used to hang out in kitchen remodeling fora, and people had some great ideas.

My lower cabinets all have pull-out shelves - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SP02RS - I even paid the shipping to get them to Germany because I love them so much.  (I originally found them at Home Depot in the US and installed them everywhere at my mom's.)  I will say that, because they're wire, cleaning the cabinet below them is a pain.

If I had the space, I would get a lifter for heavy appliances like my mixer or my Instant Pot:  https://rev-a-shelf.com/16775  You lose quite a bit of lower cabinet space, but it's so nice to just be able to use the thing and put it away again with no effort.

The same company also sells quite nice pull-out shelves as well:  https://rev-a-shelf.com/all-products?cat=25&primary_keyword=220796

Another thing suggested, that someday I'd love, is a foot pedal for the sink.  No touching the faucet with a raw-chicken-covered hand to turn the water on, or trying to juggle a heavy water-filled pot to turn it off.

People also raved about their stove pot-fillers.

And finally they mentioned that you can fit a tiny drawer in the kick space under cabinets, for things like baking pans, etc.  I don't have a source for those, but they sound great!

Morfydd St. Clair wrote:My lower cabinets all have pull-out shelves ...  I will say that, because they're wire, cleaning the cabinet below them is a pain.

I have friends with this sort of thing in a main pantry cupboard, and yes the cleaning part is an issue, and I also wouldn't buy a cheap version, as they've had parts tend to fall off.

The kitchen I'm using which was here when we bought the house, has one lower cabinet with 2 pull out shelves with a short rim around the edge. Let's compare that to the "regular drawer" above it.
1. If I want a spatula, I slide open the drawer and pull out the spatula. If I want my glass 4 cup measure, I have to open two cupboard doors (one on each side) all the way, so that the pull out shelf has the clearance to pull out.
2. I can stack multiple tools in my drawer, because the walls are regular drawer height and it's rare that things fall out or get jammed behind.  However, with the slide out version in the cupboard below, I had to be careful what I chose to put on them, so things didn't fall behind and get jammed.

All that said, I've seen poorly designed regular drawers where the size of the front panel is much higher than the side and rear panels. Screwing in a slightly taller piece of wood at the rear of the drawer would qualify as an "easy to do kitchen mod" and there's nothing more annoying than constantly having things fall out the back of a drawer and getting fouled up in the works! For some reason, they fall down easily, but don't come back out easily, as if that space is a black hole and you're past the horizon!

Jay Angler wrote:

Morfydd St. Clair wrote:My lower cabinets all have pull-out shelves ...  I will say that, because they're wire, cleaning the cabinet below them is a pain.

I have friends with this sort of thing in a main pantry cupboard, and yes the cleaning part is an issue, and I also wouldn't buy a cheap version, as they've had parts tend to fall off.

The kitchen I'm using which was here when we bought the house, has one lower cabinet with 2 pull out shelves with a short rim around the edge. Let's compare that to the "regular drawer" above it.
1. If I want a spatula, I slide open the drawer and pull out the spatula. If I want my glass 4 cup measure, I have to open two cupboard doors (one on each side) all the way, so that the pull out shelf has the clearance to pull out.
2. I can stack multiple tools in my drawer, because the walls are regular drawer height and it's rare that things fall out or get jammed behind.  However, with the slide out version in the cupboard below, I had to be careful what I chose to put on them, so things didn't fall behind and get jammed.

All that said, I've seen poorly designed regular drawers where the size of the front panel is much higher than the side and rear panels. Screwing in a slightly taller piece of wood at the rear of the drawer would qualify as an "easy to do kitchen mod" and there's nothing more annoying than constantly having things fall out the back of a drawer and getting fouled up in the works! For some reason, they fall down easily, but don't come back out easily, as if that space is a black hole and you're past the horizon!

Oh, absolutely - I forgot to mention that my lower cabs are open (which, ahem, doesn't help with the accumulating grime thing) so no doors, and for my mom's house she didn't want to install drawers.  In my previous kitchen almost all my lower cabs were deeeeep drawers, which I loved.  The rest were double Dish Drawers - https://www.fisherpaykel.com/us/dishwashing/contemporary-dishwashers/double-dishdrawer-dishwasher-dd24dax9-n-82328.html - which I miss SOOOO much!