House has kitchen that makes no sense

amother

Saddlebrown

Mon, Feb 06 2017, 6:32 pm

We're renting a house from a frum family, and we were told that the house is "as is" meaning we can make any changes that we want, but we would have to pay for it. They put in a brand new kitchen and appliances, but the layout makes no sense from an organizational perspective and I'm finding it impossible to put 3 sets of keilim in it--milchig, fleishig, pareve. Like the cabinets where you'd put silverware are across the kitchen from where you'd put the dishes. I'm already storing my fleishig pots and pans under the sink, and I have no where to put my milchig keilim. What's glaring to me is that there's a spot where another counter could've gone, but is not there. We brought a storage cabinet with us from our previous dwelling, but we're not sure what happened to the shelves. We have a 2 year lease and are hoping to be here for the next 3-5 years. What would you do? (Please don't suggest making everything milchig/fleishig--doesnt solve the problem).

sky

Mon, Feb 06 2017, 6:39 pm

I have almost no cutlery drawers in my kitchen (but decent storage otherwise).
I keep my pareve items in a cutlery tray and basket in a kitchen cabinet because there are no drawers - don't know if that would work for you.
I wonder if you could buy a large work cart or table - like from Home Goods or Marshalls or Valley City and put in the area where the other counter would go. THis could give you more storage and work space. Because its a cart it doesn't have to match perfectly. I"ve seen some that are counter height (but not many).
Or match a formica counter and hang it on the wall like a shelf.

ra_mom

Mon, Feb 06 2017, 7:49 pm

My first apartment had almost no drawers.
We used a wire under shelf basket to hold a wire cutlery holder, and kept the cutlery for each set together with the dishes that went along with them.
We bought white wire versions of the below, that fit into each other neatly. Here are just some samples so you get an ideas as to what I mean. (I didn't measure to see if these linked below are the right ones for you though.)

https://www.containerstore.com.....e:PLA

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A.....90958

Obviously, this shelf is smaller, and not holding a cutlery organizer, but here's a good picture of what the shelf looks like in the cabinet.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H.....0889#

L K

Mon, Feb 06 2017, 10:27 pm

When I lived in 2 diff apts with no or very little cabinet space here's what I used.

I had a furniture piece that originally was probably either a kind of dresser or wall cabinet, not sure. It had 3-4 drawers on the left, and a single door with 2 shelves behind it on the right. I split the drawers among various types -Milch/ fleish/parve- of small kitchen wares (cutlery, cooking utensils, small items like containers, colander etc.)

The two shelves were each designated for milchhig/fleishig pots and dishes.

Granted, then I had much fewer pots than now but the idea in general was good. That unit was high enough to use as extra counter. At various points, I used to let dishes dry on top of it, keep small appliances, and use as a plain counter for food prep. Loved this dresser!!

Hatzlacha finding something that works for you. Maybe IKEA has some island with storage space?