Asked on Jan 16, 2015
Extra space in my cabinet
+15
Pictures are a 10" deep upper shelf; I find it quite difficult to bend over and reach for items on that shelf; Any suggestions appreciated on how I may add to this shelf to make it more user friendly! It's really not a good setup for me...Thanks kindly.
The upper shelf only measures 10 inches deep; hard to reach irems.
13 answers
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I feel your pain. We HAD that same situation in 4 of our kitchen base cabinets and we hated it. We're older and bending down and reaching back is nothing sort of a challenge, to say nothing of painful. We did a little looking around at home centers and hardware stores and then came home and did some measuring. The first thing my husband did was to tear out those useless upper shelves. Surprisingly, they weren't that securely fastened. Once we had our measurements we went back to Lowe's, which is where we found what we liked and felt would work the best for your needs. Yep. Tried out a set in one cabinet to see, first, how easy/difficult installation would be and to see if the product really lived up to what all the information on the packaging said, along with what the home site on the Internet touted. Big A+ on all counts. Installation could practically be done by a child. The units were more than sturdy. They had to hold up to some very, very heavy cookware. The huge bonus is is that we were able to fit more things into the cabinet that before and there has been NO MORE bending over or reaching back into the cabinet to retrieve a single thing. We went back about a week later and purchased three more units and haven't been sorry one single minute. I can't remember how much they were as it's been several years but I do know they were quite a bit less than quoted on Rev-A-Shelf's home site. Here's a link if you're interested: http://www.rev-a-shelf.com/popup.aspx?src=xmlImportToWeb/images/full_size/5WB2_A.jpg.
Swan Road Designs
on Jan 16, 2015
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I like the rev-a-shelf, but I purchased similar sliding shelves at Ikea that have solid, rather than wire bottoms.
Diane Vaulner
on Jan 16, 2015
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@Diane Vaulner, we considered solid-bottomed units made by a different maker. However, since we knew we were storing rather heavy items, the steel seemed a wiser choice. As it turned out, we made the better decision. These Rev-A-Shelf units are built like a battleship. Even the top racks easily take the weight we've put on them and still slide like a dream.
Swan Road Designs
on Jan 16, 2015
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My husband made sliding drawers similar to the bottom one showed Swan Road. We just ought the sliders and he made a wooden box out of finished wood. It works great for our big pots. It works for me. I did not know this could be done for the upper part too. Thanks
Liliana Wells
on Jan 17, 2015
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I have health issues that make bending and reaching difficult. We have pull outs in all kitchen cabinets. It is so much better that trying to get to the back of the shelves. Even this is getting difficult, so we are moving all the items I use most on to the middles shelves and putting the things used less on the lower and the higher shelves. With the pull outs I can get the things on the bottom if I drag a stool over which is far better than it was. My cousin has deep drawers in her kitchen for pots and pans and baking items. I really like that as well.
Leslie L
on Jan 17, 2015
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I would use this for SELDOM used items, if you can. i had that same situation in a place I lived, its not useful, really. SO I measured and found baskets and such to store certain items. Also, inexpensive magazine holders ( wire/ plastic/ metal ) can be used to store your wax paper / aluminum foil/ etc. while keeping them in on place. ..scout some second hand stores , I use these holders for baggies/ all my kitchen wrap needs.
Shelby @ The Weathered Barn Studio
on Jan 17, 2015
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try to send email, it failed......he built drawer ( box ) like they did for bottom. He bought drawer guides attached to cabinet, and attach rollers to drawer ( box ), you can take shelf out or he just put the new drawer basically on top just clearing the shelf, yes it's not real deep, but good to put can goods in or the lids for pots and pans.
Kathy Eisenbath
on Jan 18, 2015
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If you decide to build the brawer boxes yourself the drawer glides can be found for much less online that in most stores. And make sure that you get the RIGHT KIND for the depth and the weight. One thing to measure carefully is--if you use a FULL EXTENSION DRAWER GLIDES will you be able to pull it OUT far enough to really access the back end--will it run into cabinets or appliances or be smacking into people or things like pet bowls or trash cans etc. Some glides can be adjusted for different extensions; some cannot. If your drawers won't be able to be pulled out all the way you can get partial extension glides. You can also "stack" drawers (pull outs) so one is on the bottom of the cabinet and one is mid way up the cabinet; this not only gives you extra space to put things but you can decide what items you want closer to you. I too have a handicap and cannot bend into the cabinets or reach over head; considering what we need to do about this now. One thing we have done is built an island from the Harbor Freight wooden workbench --this has 4 drawers and a re-inforced open shelf on the bottom and enough room under that shelf to use a shallow tote (of course you can leave this empty or make a wooden box--we just decided to try the tote last week for items we don't use that often before we decide to make a box) This makes it easier for me to see and reach what I need. You can place racks on the ends--the IKEA wooden spice racks fit perfectly-and other customizations can be done. Easy to build too. We added a small piece of trim on the back edge to prevent anything being pushed off and sanded and poly'd it a few times esp on the top-=-which l;ooks like butcher block--and we added wooden dowel "plugs" to fill in the workbench holes that come pre-drilled in it. This also comes with a vice should you feel the need for one in your kitchen---we did not install that! If you decide to build the drawer boxes go to Lowes and get yourself a Kreg JIg--makes it so much easier!
Comet
on Jan 20, 2015
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What about the hallow corner shelf? I have to practically climb inside my cupboard to get things out. thx!
Bonnie Stratton
on Jan 21, 2015
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As I got older, I found it completely impossible to stoop or bend down to retrieve things from the top shelf so it became more or less a junk holder. We found some of those $70 stainless pull out baskets for about $20 and put in 2 of them to hold my small pots. (I don't use large pots much these days.) I love them. They attach to the shelf at the bottom instead of the sides.
Jeanette S
on Feb 02, 2015
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I had pull out drawers put in mine. even with the cubboard spacer between the two doors. I love them now, I can get to everything in bottom cabinets.
Rebecca
on Jul 19, 2015
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We had the same problem in our kitchen and my husband ripped that useless shallow shelf out and we installed Rev-A-Shelf units we purchased from Lowe's. NO MORE bending over and reaching nearly blindly to the back, which is good for us because of arthritis and other joint issues. They totally solved the storage issue and even made it possible for us to store even more items in the same space. Here's an Amazon link to what I'm talking about: http://www.amazon.com/Rev---Shelf-5WB2-2122-CR-Two-Tier-Baskets/dp/B000KQ4T9M/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1437340676&sr=8-8&keywords=Rev-A-Shelf. After we installed the first set, we tore out all the shallow shelves in the kitchen and replaced them with the Rev units. They're built like battleships and we couldn't be more pleased. We've had them for 6 years and they are still like new. I'm in the process of outfitting the bathrooms in a similar way.
Swan Road Designs
on Jul 19, 2015
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I have a real hunch that the cabinet makers put that useless shelf back there so we'll all buy the Rev-A-Shelf units. Probably in cahoots with that company, or perhaps even own it. :-) I knew I couldn't possibly be the only one who thinks the shelves are useless! Appreciate everyones input on this!! Miss Diane Schultz, I hope you were able to find someone to fix the problem shelf for you! Looks like a lot of us have the bad backs and thus the same problems. I have 3 of the cabinets and haven't resolved the situation yet either.
Gladys
on Jan 06, 2016
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