A Simple Solution: Pull-Out Drawer

A simple pull-out drawer: that's all it took for my mom to be able to use her kitchen again.

Last winter my mom, who is in her 70s, hurt her back, and getting pots and bowls out of her kitchen cabinets became nearly impossible.  As she recovered, I helped re-organize her kitchen to make it easier to use. At one point she said "I wish there was a way to get to the way back of the shelf without having to get down on my hands and knees."  I had no idea what she had to go through to find items in the back and lift out heavy pots.

Right away I knew that adding simple pull-out drawers was the answer.

I measured her cabinets and in one trip to the Container Store for these metal shelves , I had everything we needed. My husband and I easily installed the drawers in her cabinets, and they were ready to use. The drawers glide out effortlessly, so my mom can access what is in the back, without having to get down on the floor. Each drawer has a locking mechanism so when it is pushed back in, it stays in place.

Pull-out drawers are made to solve the problem my mom faced in her kitchen.

If you want to make your kitchen more functional (as I've written about before), consider adding pull-out drawers. Drawer options include the metal ones I used and bamboo drawers from The Container Store, or custom designed drawers from the company Shelf Genie.

This article first appeared in the September/October 2014 edition of The Neat Sheet. Sign up to receive the Neat Sheet newsletter here!