Roll-down shutters, when open, provide complete access to serving bowls, pitchers, and other stored items whenever they’re needed.
When the shutters are closed, the contents are hidden and protected from dust and grease. These stainless-steel shutters are easy to wipe clean using a mild detergent.
Translucent doors offer an interesting alternative to clear glass when you’re not sure you’re willing to keep contents in full view.
The textured glass camouflages the cabinet’s contents, but still allows you to see what’s inside.
Cabinet Construction
Differences in cabinet construction and hinges affect storage convenience as well. Framed cabinets have rails and stiles that reduce the cabinet opening by about 1 inch (2.5cm) in width and height. This slightly reduces access and can limit the size of storage baskets and bins that you may want to use to organize small items. Frames also obstruct your vision, especially of items at the back of a shelf. Besides being more accessible, frameless cabinets have a sleeker look with doors that completely cover the cabinet front. Sliding doors are another sleek option.
Today, cabinets of all types most often have cup hinges, which are sometimes called European-style hinges. The cup of these hinges fits into a shallow round recess drilled into the door and the inside of the cabinet. These are easier to install than traditional mortised leaf hinges and have adjustment screws so doors can be aligned after installation or realigned if they sag. The best cup hinges allow the door to open 180 degrees, but some stop at 120 degrees or even 90 degrees.
The best cup hinges allow doors to swing open 180 degrees. This provides full access to contents without interference from doors.
Framed Cabinet
Frameless Cabinet
Sliding-Door Cabinet
Framed cabinets have rails and stiles that stiffen construction but slightly reduce the cabinet opening. Frameless cabinets rely on simple box construction, sometimes with knockdown (KD) joint fasteners. With stiles eliminated, access to contents is easier. Sliding-door cabinets eliminate the nuisance of swinging doors, but only one side of the cabinet can be open at a time.
Framed versus Frameless
Framed cabinets typically reveal rails and stiles, even with doors and drawers closed, as shown here.
Frameless cabinets present far fewer lines to the viewer because doors and drawers reveal little, if anything, when closed.
Framed cabinets are typically used for country kitchen decor. Their construction harkens back to the days before plywood.
Frameless cabinets most often have flat doors and drawer fronts, but they are also available with more traditional raised panels.
Most framed cabinets have a stile behind where the doors meet, avoiding an unsightly gap.
Frameless cabinets tend to complement today’s popular stainless-steel appliances better than framed cabinets do.
Method to Organization Madness
There are many ways to organize. This is one that works well. First, think about how you use your kitchen and make a list of the activities you perform there. There’s no standard list, but yours will probably include basic activities such as unpacking groceries, preparing meals, cleaning up after meals, and collecting recyclables. It may also include more specialized activities such as making school lunches, baking, canning, and feeding the cat. Check out the list on page 45 for additional possibilities, and tailor it to best describe your activities. Or keep a journal for a few days, jotting down each activity after you engage in it. Be specific. Don’t write “cleaning up” if you mean “cleaning the countertops” rather than “washing the floor.” For most people, these count as distinct activities. Be sure to include nonculinary activities as well, including watching TV and checking e-mail, if you do them in the kitchen.
Next, prioritize the activities according to how frequently you engage in them. A good way to do this is to assign a number from 1 to 10 to each activity, with 10 being several times a day and 1 being rarely or seldom. In many homes, for example, “preparing breakfast” might garner a 7 rating, while “setting the table” or “cleaning the counter” might be scored a 9 or 10. On the other end of the scale, “setting the dining room table” might only get a 2 or 3. If any of the activities on your list is typically done under time pressure, such as making coffee or making school lunches, add a point or two.
Create an activities map of your kitchen. It should include the general locations of typical daily activities, such as those listed on page 45. Once you have activities located, list the items needed to perform each one, and then prioritize the activities and begin to pinpoint what will go where.
Connect Items to Activities
Once you’ve completed the list of activities suggested on page 36, start a second list of the items you need to perform each activity. Under “baking,” for example, list measuring cups and spoons, cookie sheets, rolling pins, and the like. Under “watching TV,” you may list eyeglasses, notepad and pencil, and TV remote. Under “making school lunches,” your list may include sandwich wrap, napkins, plastic containers, and paper lunch bags. Under “serving meals,” be sure to include trays, serving spoons and forks, trivets, potholders, and so on. Once