Creating Counter Space in Your Kitchen
One disadvantage for most apartment dwellers is kitchen space. One advantage for most apartment dwellers is that it makes Pampered Chef parties easy. You are completely honest in saying, "I can only buy the $1.75 orange peeler because it is the only thing that will fit in my kitchen."
Creating counter space can be easier than you think. Adding a kitchen cart or an island is a quick, easy way to achieve this. There are products that I found that are quite inexpensive. There are products that I found that are quite expensive. They can be temporary and fold up to slip next to a refrigerator or they can be more permanent and used for extra storage also.
Kitchen carts have a huge range of prices, features and sizes. The website that I found that was by far the best showing this is was KitchenSource.com. The carts are very easy to find. Most stores like Target, Wal-Mart, and Bed, Bath and Beyond also have a few to chose from.
Before you purchase an island, ensure that the features match the functions you need. Don't buy a $49 cart with painted wood if you want to use the top of the island as a cutting board. A little research may give you neat ideas for island uses, as well as sales or free shipping.
Mike from Bellevue, NE, has a kitchen cart which he bought from Wal-Mart for about $50. It has three baskets, a drawer and the top surface can expand three times in size with the drop leaves. He said that he keeps his potatoes, onions, garlic and such in the baskets since it is the perfect environment. He also noted that above his island, he hangs a pan rack which further frees up a lot of space in his kitchen. He hangs not only pots and pans but his stainless steel colander and other kitchen items with handles.
I found that these kitchen islands and carts have just about every combination of features you may like. The selection out there is outstanding. If you decide you want one, the hardest choice may be to decide how much to spend and what features to choose. To get all the cool features I saw, I would need a 20-foot cart, which may defeat the purpose. In any case, I'll be able to go and buy more Pampered Chef items to fill that extra space right back up again.
Any other ideas on creating more space in the kitchen? Please share below.
