Wasted Space Hack - False Drawers
I'm sure it will shock you, but I hate keeping stuff on my counter tops. I am a living breathing "organized home/organized life" type. So you know what I've never understood? False drawers on kitchen sinks. I mean, I get that you can't put a drawer under there, but what is the point of putting those weird little fake ones? Why not use the space? Why do people like wasted space?
I had a solution in mind I've seen floating around the Pinterest/blog-sphere and this weekend I decided to put that space to work.
Enter the "Real Solutions for Real Life" product:
Yeah, that's really the name they went with. Anyway, I went down to Home Depot (*insert joke about being old here*) and purchased a couple of these babies:
I went ahead and splurged on the stainless steel ones because I liked how they looked and I figured they would be easier to clean and more durable. Since I would guess that it could get kind of gross storing dish brushes and whatnot, I figured I would just start out by buying the one I can frequently bleach the crap out of. At my local store, they cost $17.98 each. A little pricey, but they'll get a lot of use. You can also buy plastic ones for $9.98. Overall, not too shabby.
A word of warning. The instructions on these SUCK. "Four Easy Steps!" my ass. They come with two sets of instructions with different steps. What?! I had to read-and-re-read like three times before I finally figured out a way to do it. I don't know if it's right, but it worked, so here's what I ended up doing.
Step 1: Remove old hardware
See that odd little clip thingy? That's the only thing that holds the front of the cabinet on. I just shimmied in there with a flat head screwdriver to loosen up the paint and they popped right off. I had to use a wrench to pop off the little pin that held in the round part because the head of the pin was square. Fortunately the actual clip itself was just a Phillips head screw, so that was much easier.
Step 2: Temporarily install the hinge on the cabinet.
You read that right, and this was the most annoying part. Open up the hinge, making note of the markings right and left. They are upside down when you install them, because reasons. You line up the bottom of the hinge roughly with the bottom of the cabinet. Then you install the top screw. Be careful, those little hinges like to pop closed and smash your fingers. Yeah, they hurt. Repeat on the other side.
Step 3: Mark where the hinge goes on the drawer front.
Hold up the drawer front where you want it to sit. While still holding, shimmy under the cabinet and mark where the hinge will lay on both sides. While you are here, you may want to also take note of where you will be installing your drawer. The instructions say about 1/4 in below where the drawer frame meets the cabinet, but mine was pretty forgiving, so I just marked where I thought it would sit nicely.
Step 4: Uninstall the hinge cabinet you just installed.
Unless you haven't installed your counter tops yet, or unless you have eight arms and are secretly an octopus disguised as a human, you have to do this because tools won't fit under the sink.
Step 5: Install the hinges to the drawer front.
Using the markings as a guide, install the hinge on the drawer front. Be careful NOT to go through the front of the drawer. For being clearly 90's builder-grade cabinets, ours are pretty heavy duty, so it wasn't an issue for me to use the included hardware. Adjust accordingly.
Step 6: Install the screws for the little insert thingy
That's a term of art, "little insert thingy." Anyway, you'll drill the screws for where it goes, but then take it back out because tools still don't fit under the sink. This was also the point I remembered I should be taking pictures.
Step 7: Re-install the hinges to the cabinet.
Yeah. At this point, it looks something like this:
Step 8: Slip in the little insert thingy.
If you're good at measuring things, you might have a better way of doing this, but for me that just means un-drilling and re-drilling holes in things, so I do things my own way.
I now have a place to hide the little things that tend to clutter on top of the sink!
That's all for today! I've been doing a lot of little things lately that are really simple and fall into more decorating than DIY, but if you have suggestions, let me know!
I had a solution in mind I've seen floating around the Pinterest/blog-sphere and this weekend I decided to put that space to work.
Enter the "Real Solutions for Real Life" product:
Yeah, that's really the name they went with. Anyway, I went down to Home Depot (*insert joke about being old here*) and purchased a couple of these babies:
 |
| Yup. |
 |
Step 1: Remove old hardware
 |
| Hello from the other side... of the cabinet. |
Step 2: Temporarily install the hinge on the cabinet.
You read that right, and this was the most annoying part. Open up the hinge, making note of the markings right and left. They are upside down when you install them, because reasons. You line up the bottom of the hinge roughly with the bottom of the cabinet. Then you install the top screw. Be careful, those little hinges like to pop closed and smash your fingers. Yeah, they hurt. Repeat on the other side.
Step 3: Mark where the hinge goes on the drawer front.
Hold up the drawer front where you want it to sit. While still holding, shimmy under the cabinet and mark where the hinge will lay on both sides. While you are here, you may want to also take note of where you will be installing your drawer. The instructions say about 1/4 in below where the drawer frame meets the cabinet, but mine was pretty forgiving, so I just marked where I thought it would sit nicely.
Step 4: Uninstall the hinge cabinet you just installed.
Unless you haven't installed your counter tops yet, or unless you have eight arms and are secretly an octopus disguised as a human, you have to do this because tools won't fit under the sink.
Step 5: Install the hinges to the drawer front.
Using the markings as a guide, install the hinge on the drawer front. Be careful NOT to go through the front of the drawer. For being clearly 90's builder-grade cabinets, ours are pretty heavy duty, so it wasn't an issue for me to use the included hardware. Adjust accordingly.
Step 6: Install the screws for the little insert thingy
That's a term of art, "little insert thingy." Anyway, you'll drill the screws for where it goes, but then take it back out because tools still don't fit under the sink. This was also the point I remembered I should be taking pictures.
Step 7: Re-install the hinges to the cabinet.
Yeah. At this point, it looks something like this:
Step 8: Slip in the little insert thingy.
If you're good at measuring things, you might have a better way of doing this, but for me that just means un-drilling and re-drilling holes in things, so I do things my own way.
I now have a place to hide the little things that tend to clutter on top of the sink!
 |
| Oh $1 Ikea brush, you fit perfectly! |
That's all for today! I've been doing a lot of little things lately that are really simple and fall into more decorating than DIY, but if you have suggestions, let me know!
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