Space Saving Kitchen tips- affordable ones!

[PavlovtheCat]

Not sure if this should go in DIY or here.

Our kitchen is falling apart. Literally drawers are coming off runners, and we have an entire wall that we can put stuff on as it needs replastering.

We need, basically, a new kitchen. We can't afford the £5k plus that it's probably going to cost to get it done, not at the moment, but it's a longer term plan. In the medium term we have some ideas, but in the immediate term we need ideas NOW to stop DH taking a sledgehammer to the entire place.

It's a small kitchen. We have our table in it, that is against the wall that needs work. We need a new table and chairs, on that! DH is a chef and so needs organisation. Neither of us are good at that.

I have looked on pinterest for some ideas and there are some beautiful space saving ideas, but they all involve planning those into a new kitchen, rather than adding to a kitchen already in situ.

We are getting a pan rack for above the sink. And wall racks for utensils.

We need space for:

cutlery (that drawer is broken, the entire 3 drawers are buggered)
utensils (to get them off the side, as it's cluttered) - getting a wall rack but don't really like any I have seen, they seem cheap.
wine/vinegar/oils (in oil bottles and in their original containers)
foil etc
knives
Other bits and bobs from the cutlery drawer need to go somewhere.
veg/potatoes
bread etc (getting a bread bin but need the other stuff off the side before we can put one there, no surface space)

We want functional, but also nice looking.

We don't unfortunately live near ikea

Help!

Oh dear, how far are you from Ikea? You can often get bits from Ikea on ebay????

Do they have what you actually want in ikea. My friend has a lovely wall thing for all her cutlery.

Love my magnetic wall rack for the knives.

Our bread bin opens at the front so we have sstuff on top of it

Could you just generally put up some shallow shelves for this stuff?

At one time we had a cutlery pot that lived on the dining table ready to lay it for meals.

I second Ikea too, we have a hanging thing for pots, pans etc, which has a shelf at the top and you can add as many hooks as you want to hang pans. Also a wall hanging rail with cutlery holder . I think the range is called grundtal(sp?). You can go to the website, they have lots of clever ideas for the kitchen.

We used to have a wooden erm bit under neath the wall cabinets that we had cup hooks screwed into - painted to match walls.

Microwave on microwave brackets to get it off the worktop. We have a hob kettle rather than an electrical one to keep the work top clutter down.

no wall space until we get the wall fixed. Once that is done, I can clear some currently used cupboards as I will be putting up some already chosen cupboards and a lovely wooden shelf.

Good idea about bin being front opening, those are the kid of things we need!

What type of knife rack do you have? I don't like the ones I have found on amazon.

Nearest Ikea is in bristol, about 100m away we have made special trips to it though, and come away with £££ of stuff we don't need, hardly anything we do need and eaten too many meatballs (DH) I do a delivery from time to time for our large items and tack on some items then (billy bookcase added to our bed for example) but most of the things I want are not available for delivery.

I have seen a few things in ikea that would help - cutlery basket that hangs from a rack. That would work but on ebay they are soo much more expensive, I hate having to pay that much for something that is half the price!

Hmmm I am planning an easter trip to ikea if you know exactly what you want and I could courier it?

oooh! that could work! I could do a list and paypal/transfer the money to you! Let me think about what would we would need that you could get. Courier would still be cheaper than buying on ebay if I am getting a few items (and a little something for your effort too). That is very kind of you.

In the meantime, more tips are welcome!

we can't take the microwave off the worktop either as a) there is no wall space as it's gonna be taken with utensils and b) I won't always be able to reach to get it as I got a bad back. And, typically, we have a huge microwave as it's a convection/grill/microwave. Although, it might be worth considering (and just not using the microwave when I can't reach up), we have looked at that as I am happy to lose the silly cupboard above the cooker to put it in, but I can't find one that has an extractor above it, so it would involve electricians to get one specially fitted...

How about a kitchen nook: gb.pinterest.com/pin/427771664576436170/
gb.pinterest.com/pin/502714377127199766/

A basic kitchen can be a lot less than 5k. We spent more like 1.5k on ours, not too long ago, and that was replacing the lot. If any of the carcasses are salvageable that'll help. H did the units and worktop, and I did the tiling. I thought it sounded ambitious but H pointed out that cupboards are just flat pack units like every other flat pack.

Argos and b&q both sell retro-fit-able wire drawers which you could use in any cupboard carcass to get drawers back. Keep the existing cupboard door or use the knackered drawer one and do without proper drawer fronts. They aren't super-strong and they are not cheap (b&q are cheaper but weaker) but they are ok to fit. Ebay also sells them.

If you have a door you could get a thing that goes on the back of it for spices, kitchen roll etc. They are a bit rattley though. www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/8323370.htm
www.lakeland.co.uk/23098/4-Tier-Over-Door-Storage-Rack
In fact generally raiding Lakeland is not a bad idea.

Our cutlery used to live on the bottom shelf of a wall cupboard. We had a solid wood cutlery tray and pulled it out like a drawer. We moved the next shelf down to very low above it (just drilled some extra holes for the shelf holder things) so it only took up about 12cm of cupboard height. It wasn't ideal though, I was so excited about getting drawers back when we redid it!

I understand where you're coming from but bear in mind that a lot of the 'solutions' you buy now may well be no use when you do replace your kitchen. A few wall racks etc could easily add up to £100 or more, which I'd rather put towards the new kitchen.

If you want me to get some stuff from Ikea just pm me and we'll sort it out - planning to go on Good Friday afternoon.

erin I do understand the theory of it being wasted money, but £1.5 is just not going to happen any time soon, if were lucky enough to get it done that cheaply. The kitchen really needs space saving things put in when we get the kitchen done, and it needs to cater for my back problem i.e. pans at reachable height etc so although we are not going for bespoke, we certainly will go for the odd addition that means it won't quite be basic. Not expecting new washing machine, dishwasher etc but need new fridge/freezer which will be changing from upright to under counter to give us more space. I expect we will be able to save some of the cupboards but not many. The one under the sink is already damaged after a leak.

And the kitchen is just not useable as it is now, so I don't see £100 on items to keep us going as a waste (ok it is, but a necessary one) as I can't cook At All at the moment as I can't work my way around the stuff piled on each other and pulling the pans out of the only working cupboard on the ground.

Our plan for the kitchen in time includes extending into the hallway and using the cupboard which runs almost directly from the kitchen as a larder so we can keep tins, buy in bulk for pasta, cat food etc, but we need that to be rebuilt as it's also falling apart (the door is not in good shape). We are planning on getting that done at the same time as the wall fixed, as it can be used while we save for the kitchen itself.

I called tesco kitchens, not with a view of actually using them, but to get them to come and do a 3d image of the kitchen and an idea of what we can get, and they said minimum would be £5k for a kitchen these days. I was but then my BF who spends NO money ever is spending £9k on her tiny kitchen and she is frugal with her money. Admittedly this is the one expense she is having for her house, but even then her idea of expense is not the same as many so I felt that must mean £5k is probably right.

Good to know maybe we could come in under that, but just not doable for the time being.

And there is no way DH can do the cupboards etc, he can't put up a shelf! I am not saying that to be unkind, but neither DH and I are DIY skilled really, and while I love the idea of tiling and doing the finishing bits, I cannot physically guarantee that I can do that, my health is so up and down in terms of physical ability, sometimes I can barely make a cup of tea, so we can't rely on me. DH will certainly do the painting etc.

i love those door racks. unfortunately we have fire doors that are snugly fitted. I already bought some hanging hooks for the towels, aprons etc and it doesn't fit maybe I can find some that can be screwed in, as long as I don't put too much weight on them?

random thank you, I will get a list together and PM you if I think it is worth your effort and the courier. you are lovely

erin do you have a link for the wire drawers you talk about?

That particular cupboard had 3 drawers, the runners broke, I fixed them with new runners, they broke again, mainly as they were drawers with part fitted runners, old, but not so old in design that I could screw new ones in the sides as I hoped (metal drawers) so the outside runners didn't fit properly, and we over ladened them.

We have said we will get some MDF and build some shelves into that cupboard and use it for pans for the time being, just need to find homes for the rest of it. But if the wire thing works, we can look at that, could make a veg shelf as our spuds are just sort of randomly placed where we can find space

I have baskets on top of my cupboards where I store things that aren't used every day. I also take the foil, cling and parchment paper out of their boxes and keep the rolls in a vase. Cling & foil both tear just fine without the box.

Google Little Paris Kitchen for ideas. Her kitchen was tiny. It's where I saw the foil, etc kept in a vase.

Take the kick boards off so you can store stuff under the units - we have drawers under our cupboards!

Yep just pm me and let me know, I am popping in to Ikea as a planned break on my trip up north so apart from my one rug that I want it will be nice to have some extra stuff to buy

Collect+ is a fairly cheap courier to give you an idea of price.

1. Put 3 or 4 x IKEA Grundtal steel rails (available mail order, £4 each) under your wall units and hang the following off it:

Foil and cling film on wall shelf £12
Herbs and spices on shelf £6
Knives in special magnetic rack £11
Day to day oil and vinegar (small bottles) on shelf £6
Cutlery stand £5
Also use butchers hooks to hand colanders, corkscrews, etc

You are aiming for this kind of look (just look sat the steel rails).

Here

1. Screw this in the corner for storage of vegetables.

Grundtal corner shelf £14

1. Put other stuff on this trolley.

Grundtal trolley £40

oooh i didn't know they did delivery for small items! result!

ok. I am looking. tomorrow, I will show you what I have selected, let me know what you think, ok?! I am not good with 'vision'.

Stick to stainless steel accessories and you won't go too far wrong.
What colour is your kitchen? And what chairs do you have at the moment?

what wall shelf for the oil and the foil etc boffin - see, I need handholding through this can you tell. Like the idea of it all handing from cupboards/on the wall. I didn't realise ikea delivered small items as tried a long time ago, guess it all changes!

I think two cutlery holders though? what do you think? I am no good at guessing sizes.

Use your microwave as a bread bin, May friend dose it!! Can you move things to other rooms ie, nice glasses, best plates, wine rack?

I would lay out the things you want to store and work it out mathematically by measuring them. Think about how to make them easy to grab and put away.

Another option would be to buy a nice ceramic or metal holder and actually just keep cutlery on the table like in a gastro pub.

Other shops may have things that would also hang from the rail - for example my mum has a kitchen roll/foil/cling film holder that hangs down from one. i have a special spice rack, a bit like this Argos one.

here

For £50 plus the cost of the runners a carpenter might well come in and fix your drawers for you, by the way. People spend far too much on new kitchens when they could get things fixed up and nicely painted for a couple of hundred quid.

These lee things out of the way, but you often have to compromise on function.

wall holder