Small Home Gazette, Spring 2020
Creative Solutions: Extending the Kitchen
Located just outside the kitchen, this handy cabinet provides a great amount of storage for frequently used items as well as additional pantry storage.
Following a complete remodel that produced a beautiful and functional bungalow kitchen, Kathleen turned her attention to a hallway leading from the kitchen to a den, bathroom and bedroom. Just outside the kitchen was a countertop-height plywood cabinet that held her microwave with pantry space below. The kitchen remodel had created a space to relocate the microwave, and Kathleen thought she could make the hallway cabinet more useful.
Finding space for an old-fashioned broom closet was at the top of her list. Replacing the hallway cabinet with a full-height unit became her plan. The lower two-thirds would be a space for hanging long items, and the space above would replace the pantry space in the old cabinet.
Beadboard surrounds generous 13-by-21-inch shelves that hold kitchen pantry staples. The upper shelf is adjustable.
Her cabinetmaker, John Hanson, used decades-old birch wood he salvaged from old house demolitions. He stained the wood to match Kathleen’s kitchen cabinets and applied matching oil-rubbed bronze hardware. Hanson completed the kitchen remodel in 2009 and completed the hallway cabinet a few months later. Kathleen’s house was on the Bungalow Club’s annual home tour in 2012.
Metal rods on either side of the lower cabinet space feature S-hooks to hang a variety of taller items.
“We used metal bars and S-hooks on either side of the lower cabinet space to hang tall brooms, mops, a dust pan, and dusters and so on,” Kathleen explains, “and my son suggested another innovation that I just love.” His idea was to hang a fabric shoe holder and use the pockets to hold spray bottles, brushes, sponges, and also various sized freezer and sandwich bags. Hanging on the inside of the lower door is a stainless steel basket for plastic bags. To improve lighting inside the cabinet, Kathleen used an old-style Edison bulb suspended on a cord to shine into the open cabinet doors.
A fabric shoe holder hanging from S-hooks provides handy storage for a variety of items and organizes them for easy access while reducing clutter.
Who does not need plastic bag storage? This metal basket makes them easy to grab while tucking them away behind a cabinet door.
The cabinet tucks away into a corner of the bungalow’s hallway, providing easy access from the kitchen or other first floor rooms to needed cleaning supplies. Note the extra electrical outlet in the lower space, which is handy for plugging in the vacuum.
At 86 inches tall, the new cabinet does not reach the ceiling because of the doorbell chimes located near ceiling above the cabinet. John built a custom Arts & Crafts style bell cover to match the cabinet. Kathleen uses this top-most space for a handheld vacuum and a toolbox. On the back wall of the cabinet is the original electrical outlet, which is handy for plugging in the vacuum.
Like all good quality remodels, the new cabinet appears to have always been there as an extension of the kitchen. The cabinet tucks away a considerable number of useful items within its roughly 15 inches deep by 23 inches wide frame.
Other Examples?
If you know of other creative solutions to make bungalows more livable, send them to us at mail@bungalowclub.net. Whether they save space; provide modern convenience with an historically-appropriate appearance; or simply make the best of a difficult situation, we would love to share them in the Small Home Gazette.
