MORE ABOUT THE KITCHEN UPGRADE

A few features of the 1949 kitchen (see previous post) stood out to me:

·       Built-in dividers in drawers. My mother’s kitchen had those, but mine never did. I use those store-bought organizers, and I have never found them to be satisfactory.

·       Nice deep drawers. Someplace along the line, the men who build our kitchens decided that not only do we not need drawers but the few they provide should have no depth. I have one bank of inadequate drawers in my modular home kitchen. My first purchase after moving here was a tacky little rolling plastic three-drawer unit to hold plastic lids and other odds and ends. I stashed it in the pantry, and I wish I didn’t need it.

·       The circular (or lazy susan) cupboard (mentioned in the previous post). I admit those aren’t perfect, but they do make for better, more accessible use of a deep corner. 

·       Kitchen desk. The concept comes up from time to time. My mother had a kitchen desk, and it was pretty much a catch-all for clutter. I’ve also had a kitchen desk, and I don’t recall sitting there except to talk on the phone. I can write a grocery list anywhere, and the family financial center was elsewhere in the house.

·       Bins. I'm okay with not having bins. My mother’s kitchen had a flour drawer and the sugar was in a big canister in the drawer below. That system was handy when it came to measuring. But -- is it advisable to keep loose flour in a drawer? Flour does get old, and at what point do you renew it? I do remember that Mother cleaned the flour drawer from time to time, but I'd rather wash a canister. Bins for potatoes and onions would be wasted in my kitchen, and while I’d love a better system for spice storage, I’m not sure bins would work for me. KW