topic Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features in Kitchen

Obsolete Cabinet Features

On It — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 17:55:34 GMT

As cooking styles, technology, and convenience now drive decisions about kitchen design, I was remembering a feature in my aunt's kitchen that is now never seen. She had a cabinet bin that pulled open where flour was stored. It would hold a huge amount of flour (the amount in a flour sack) and tilted open so that it could be easily accessed.

Do you have memories of what was once included in the kitchen cabinetry of a home but is no longer necessary?

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

Puppy Lips — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:01:27 GMT

My mother in law had a trash compacter in one of her kitchens, long ago. Do they even make those anymore?

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

spumoni99 — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:04:06 GMT

@Puppy Lips wrote:
My mother in law had a trash compacter in one of her kitchens, long ago. Do they even make those anymore?

Yes my sister has one I think or she use to.

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

Desertdi — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:07:32 GMT

Yup......had an aunt with a whole separate CANNING kitchen & pantry!

My grandma had a pantry with all kinds of "bins"......I remember the flour bin, but don't know what the others were.

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

On It — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:11:35 GMT

@Puppy Lips I did a search. Lowe's listed a built-in trash compactor from Whirlpool. They could be making a comeback. Some cities limit the amount of garbage that can be placed for pick up on a given day.

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

loriqvc — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:13:28 GMT

@Puppy Lips - I have an older home that was flipped just before I moved into it, and they made the lovely decision to remove most of the bottom cabinets on one side of the kitchen to replace it with a "breakfast bar" setup (even though the dining table is right next to that side)—but they kept the trash compactor! I ended up redoing the entire kitchen six months after I moved in; fortunately, back then, the overall price I paid didn't make that as much of a burden.

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

Kachina624 — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:13:28 GMT

Remember those huge tin-lined drawers that were for bread storage and we're supposed to keep it fresh?

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

loriqvc — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:16:33 GMT

A kitchen cabinet feature we had when I was growing up was a pull-out cutting board above the drawers right next to the sink. A lot of the homes in my neighborhood had this, but I think my mother was one of the only people who used it—she's a bit short and found it very handy.

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

meallen616 — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:19:00 GMT

@Kachina624,

My Mom's kitchen had that huge tin bread draw. She kept bread, muffins, bagels and her frito's corn chips in there!

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

ValuSkr — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:19:23 GMT

One of my cabinets had a built-in flour sifter; it was in a cabinet over the counter so you could sift into a bowl on the countertop.

I never used it; the woman who owned the house before me might have been a big baker. The house was built in 1920-30.

The house also incorporated a milk box (double-doored so the milkman could access it from outside and I could access it from inside), mail slot in the front door, and a laundry chute from the second floor to the basement.

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

Carmie — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:22:00 GMT

@Desertdi wrote:
Yup......had an aunt with a whole separate CANNING kitchen & pantry!

My grandma had a pantry with all kinds of "bins"......I remember the flour bin, but don't know what the others were.

They were called summer kitchens. The house I grew up I had one. I wish I had one. They were so handy when you were canning or making messy foods like homemade pasta.

My kitchen is small with limited cabinet and counter space. When i do messy or all day cooking, my whole kitchen is a mess with no place to work or store items.

I have a large food pantry in my basement along with my canning supplies.

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

Kachina624 — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:23:36 GMT

@ValuSkr I never lived in a 2 story house but always thought a laundry chute would be wonderful. However, I always wondered if thing get stuck in them and how do you get them out?

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

spumoni99 — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:28:40 GMT

@loriqvc wrote:
A kitchen cabinet feature we had when I was growing up was a pull-out cutting board above the drawers right next to the sink. A lot of the homes in my neighborhood had this, but I think my mother was one of the only people who used it—she's a bit short and found it very handy.

Yes every home I have ever lived in had that, when we remodeled our kitchen 5 years ago the company asked if we wanted to keep that since they have gone out of style, I declined since I never used it, too much trouble to clean.

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

GinaV24 — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:29:46 GMT

There was that type of bin in the cabinet of my grandparents farmhouse. My grandmom and aunt made bread and rolls every Saturday. I was a very young child but I was allowed to turn the crank on the flour bin to measure it into a bowl.

Thanks for bringing back a wonderful memory.

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

GinaV24 — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:32:53 GMT

LOL @Kachina624 if you were like us kids, someone small slid down the chute and pushed everything thru into the laundry room. Not sure if it was a parent approved operation but we certainly had fun. You did have to be sure there was something in the bin though or it was a hard stop at the bottom.

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

Dragonflyveb — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:34:12 GMT

I grew up in a house that had a laundry chute, tin-lined bread drawer, and a pull-out cutting board.

Lived in a custom house and made sure my kitchen had a pull-out cutting board and one of this flip out trays under the sink for sponges and scouring pads. Loved it! Had an appliance garage too. That was just meh.

Also had a laundry chute--so much easier than carrying baskets down the stairs!

dragonfly

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

mimomof4 — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:41:44 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:
@ValuSkr I never lived in a 2 story house but always thought a laundry chute would be wonderful. However, I always wondered if thing get stuck in them and how do you get them out?

@Kachina624 I have a Laundry shoot and I live in a Ranch home. Our house was built in the 60's. Yes clothes can get stuck but when you put more clothes down the stuck clothes get loose. Our laundry room is in the basement. Something I can tolerate now but as we get older is going to be a real pain. It was a thing for a while to put the laundry room in the basement. Both of my grandparents has basement laundry rooms.

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

On It — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:48:26 GMT

@mimomof4 Having watched every Flip or Flop episode, I have a bit of information you may want to store in your memory bank if the day comes when stairs are too much. They will often take a closet and convert it to accommodate a stack washer and dryer.

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

Kachina624 — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:53:55 GMT

@mimomof4 They don't build houses in my area with basements either, although there's no reason why they couldn't. It adds to the cost of a house. So everything gets stored in the garage which is why there's no room for a car in there.

Re: Obsolete Cabinet Features

GenXmuse — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:57:55 GMT

This wasn't in my house, but my friend in elementary school had a dumbwaiter in their house. It was lots of fun.