Customer Reviews

Making Kitchen Cabinet Accessories: Custom Designs for Space Savers and Organizers

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This book offers ideas and instructions for building kitchen cabinet accessories and organizers. None of the projects are particularly new or ingenious, but some could be helpful if your kitchen is disorganized or short on space. Most are reasonably easy for anyone with average experience with basic hand tools and simple power tools to accomplish.

Projects include:
1) work space -- stand-alone cutting boards and chopping blocks, countertop inserts, permanent or movable islands, hideaway tables, drawer-mounted
2) storage space -- door-in-door storage, pull-down racks, dummy-drawers, toe-kick drawers, stud-space cabinets, pantries
3) appliance space -- appliance garages (with or without tambour door), microwave oven shelf, etc
4) display space -- open shelves, glass shelves, plate racks, gallery railes, etc.
5) organizers -- pullout shelves, corner cabinets, storage bins, garbage containers, can rotators, drawer organizers and partitions

PROS:
1) The construction projects include a materials list and exploded diagrams.
2) Construction procedures are reasonably well documented.

CONS:
1) Some of the projects (such as the dummy drawer storage) simply tell you to go out and buy the organizer and install per the manufacturer's instructions. Not much help there, unless you hadn't thought of this idea before.
2) All the projects are shown first, then the instructions are presented. If you want to refer back to the project description/photo, it may be several pages back. Descriptions and photos should have been presented with the instructions for that project immediately following.
3) Photos are of actual installations. All are black & white only, and most look like they are simple snapshots, with such low contrast as to be difficult to see detail.
4) The projects as shown look like they would be very out of place in a "nicer" home. Many would look out of place anywhere except a post-WW2 "cookie-cutter" home. (The designs are too simple and bland, and some of the ideas just do NOT scream "class." Fine woodworking skills might help, but if you're that good, you don't need this book.)
5) Many of these space savers and organizers could be purchased easier -- and possibly cheaper -- than building them. And unless your construction skills are above average, AND you go beyond the basic design, the cheap plastic things from the local department or home improvement store might actually look and function better.

While I WILL use a couple of the ideas from this book for my upcoming kitchen remodeling, it's is definitely NOT the ultimate book on this subject.

BOTTOM LINE: Get some ideas from this book, but extend the construction plans or you'll end up with some really cheap-looking (though functional) space savers and organizers.
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This book is loaded with ideas. Lots of pictures and drawings. It shows and explains how to make everything from cutting boards to movable islands. It is also loaded with instructions for many ways to organize the kitchen and pantry, like lazy susans, spice racks, appliance garage and stowaway island. A very useful book for someone looking for ways to improve their kitchen.