New Cabinets, New Feature

A beautiful new exterior isn’t the only design improvement you get when upgrading cabinetry; advancements in interior design features have improved efficiency, organization and accessibility for interior cabinet spaces. From kitchen remodels to home offices and media rooms, modern cabinetry can offer you improved space utilization in just about any room in your house.

In the Bedroom

Imagine a bedroom storage unit similar to an entertainment center—part-closet, part dresser—which functions as a complete wardrobe storage system for clothing, and even jewelry and accessories. The new designs don’t just make hanging and storing clothes easier, they actually create a “gallery” for your clothes, allowing you to visualize total outfits at a glance. By combining features—like a pant rack with an accessory tray for smaller items like cufflinks or watches—no space goes unused. Horizontal racks that pull out from the main frame of the unit can function for storing “off-season” items, or to simply free up space from the main closet bar. Designers have taken universal design into account and incorporated features that create “environments...useable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.” For example, closets complete with a hinged clothing bar and handle, allows the user to lower the bar for easier reach.

In the Kitchen

It’s easy for kitchens to become disorganized because they contain so much. We store our food in the kitchen, plus our cooking supplies, dishes,  & utensils.  Not to mention the famous “junk drawer,” which often has a home in the kitchen. Keeping things organized in this busy room is much improved by forward-thinking cabinet designers, who are always looking for new ways to make previously-unusable space usable. Here are a few of our favorite design features for interior kitchen cabinetry:

·       Updated basics: Some features build on old improvements, such as cookie sheet “file folder”-style racks. A huge cabinet that offers “lots of storage room” might not be so great if everything just gets tossed in, and contents become jumbled and hard to find. Choosing roomy cabinets is important, but don’t forget to look for features that help keep large spaces organized. Another great improvement on an old favorite are separate garbage cabinets; today they come with compartments that allow you to sort and store your recyclables before putting them to the road, or returning them to the recycling center.

·       Think small for big improvements: It’s the tiny items in our kitchens that can add up to big messes and inconvenience; anyone who has ever reached for their bottle of cumin only to have twenty other tiny bottles of spices tip over and clatter about can attest to that. Horizontal, sliding spice racks free up pantry space and keep spice bottles upright, and their labels visible. If you’ve ever groped around the sink looking for the sponge that was just there a minute ago, you might appreciate a small, fold-out drawer under the sink where you can tuck an extra scrubby or two.

·       Sliding, swinging and swiveling: Drawers that roll out like magic from beneath the microwave, Lazy Susan turntables, interior shelving that rolls forward and swings outward—these are just some of the hard-to-describe but easy-to-use cabinetry features that live on our showroom floor. By mounting these moving parts in the cabinet interiors, designers have made every corner, nook and cranny into useable storage space. Seeing is believing; stop in to Cabinets & Designs today and let us take you on a tour of our showroom so you can see for yourself.

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