How to Make Your Kitchen Work? Share your Ideas,Tips, Photos ...

Well, I have flunked embedding images, but maybe I can describe things.

My kitchen has a cooking area and a scullery, both small and somewhat awkward. When we remodeled the scullery (the original cabinets were a really poor use of space and the doors opened into each other) I optimized for two things: a tall enough sink for my very tall husband, and storage space.

One was a success, one is a warning.

The sink and countertop were placed at a compromise height between what I wanted (I'm 5'5") and what we though would work better for my husband (he's 6'5"). It didn't work. He still has to stand with his feet apart like a giraffe drinking from a creek in order to wash dishes, and I get sopping wet raising my hands extra high to clear the edge of the sink.

The success was adding more cabinets. There was an unused wall in the scullery that didn't have enough clearance to put cabinets on. But on the other side of the wall there is a closet in the laundry room. The shelves in it were way too deep to be practical. So we removed the wall at the back of the closet and indented the wall from the kitchen. On the kitchen side we built shallow kitchen cabinets with their doors where the wall had been, and a shallow and short countertop, just a little bigger than will hold a gallon jar. The small size is not a problem! Very useful, easy access (closest area to the rest of the kitchen), doubles the usefulness of the scullery. The lower cabinets don't extend into the room any further than the uppers, so there's very little clear space above the counter, but it doesn't matter. The cabinets are just big enough for dinner plates, and nothing gets lost in the back.

Travis Johnson wrote:Naturally we have a big walk-in pantry...we are a big homesteading family after all (LOL). It is in the corner of the kitchen, between the breakfast area, and the wall oven/cookstove. It is big at 4 ft by ft and 8 ft high with lots of shelves.

Now that is exactly what I want in my kitchen when we refurbish it! I'll probably add some insulation so that it stays cool relative to the kitchen temperature - perfect!

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Cabinet Door Spice Rack

A small storage solution that I have really enjoy in my kitchen is mounting spice racks on the inside of my cabinet doors. I worried that I would be limiting the inside-the-cabinet storage space but I have only rarely had to reorganize things because two items are bumping keeping the door ajar.

Maybe 20 years ago we paid out the dollars and redid our kitchen.  Pretty cabinets, countertops, and all sorts of special toys.  Over the past 20 years it has been creeping back to look more like the kitchen we had before. It is just easier for us to function in a kitchen with lots of open shelving and stuff where it can be easily seen and reached.

Eight years later, lots of great suggestions.

My kitchen still works except for the puppy that likes to grab the table cloth and rip ...

I covered it with my MIL's tablecloth from their 25th wedding anniversary though dear hubby doesn't want to mess that up.