Second-guessing, talk me off ledge AKA charging station in drawer?
Those who have been following my kitchen remodel thread know that our cab maker goofed and made our kitchen hutch out of the wrong wood. They are building a new one but we're taking advantage of this goof by doing a slight tweak of our hutch plan. I thought I had it all figured out over the weekend but now I'm considering all the possibilities and I'm driving myself crazy!
Here's the revised plan:
I increased the height of the upper cab's bottom third from 10" to 12", which allows enough room to add cubbies for bills, etc, above the charging station area. It also is a better split for the upper cab, which initially was set to have 2 adjustable shelves. I thought I had done the math before but I must not have because when I checked it over the weekend, I realized each of the 3 shelf areas would only be about 9 1/2" tall, which isn't really a good height for display purposes.
Stealing 2 inches from that upper cab and going with only 1 adjustable shelf would give me nearly 13" of height for each shelf area, which is a good scale.
Plus, having 12" interior height for the open spaces on each side of the doored cab will allow me to use that space for cookbooks, if I wish to move them from the island display area to the hutch.
I contemplated opening shelving for the upper section, ala this hutch (this served as inspiration for our hutch):
I don't plan to add upright dividers. We had that and it always looked messy. That's why I want things behind doors this time.
We decided against opening shelving since we already have quite a bit of it in the kitchen/family room: a 24" wide section of shelves on the backside of the island and lots of shelves in the bookcases on either side of our fireplace. But I do like the idea of not having door stiles divide up the display area. But I also hate to dust and glass doors cut down on dusting chores.
I'm also trying to watch the visual clutter factor.
As I perused Houzz for charging station/hutch ideas, I see a lot of charging stations in drawers. That's another option since we have plenty of drawer space in the hutch. But I wonder: do the cords get tangled up and caught as the drawer is pulled out and pushed in? Is this a great idea in plan but not so great in execution?
Bills and such would get moved to the den. It will be a new habit since we're used to sorting mail in the kitchen. Hubby may vote against that.
The other idea that occurred to me would be to reduce the height of that bottom section to 5" interior height, run the charging station and cubbies the whole width of the hutch with flip up or flip down doors and go with 2 adjustable shelves above (11 1/4" height for each section). It would be sort of like this:
and be sort of like this behind the doors
I'm seriously driving myself crazy with this second guessing! I'd love to hear from those of you who have command centers. What works, what doesn't? Any advice for me?
I have a little bit of time to figure this out - the hutch top won't be delivered until after counters are installed 6/17 but I do need to get this figured out quickly, all the same.
TIA!
Comments (9)
lisa_a
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Anything You Wanna Talk About VI - Prolly Mostly Off-Topic
Comments (150)Lol..Good one Al! Sounds like you have a batty of a problem...lol You could always move your plants aside and make room.ha I'm praying for an end to this miserable cold weather..How did the birds fare this year for you? Did they come back? I did mention something about your frogs, but now I forget.. I hope all is well and that the real frogs will be able to sing again soon..This winter is just killing me..I think I know what it's like to live in a cave now...I'm as white as a ghost. Hello Laura and Josh and every one else..Good to see you all surviving...I have not seen this cold for years...I am grateful my fish loaded pond did not freeze up..It almost did since I accidently shut the power off to the pond pump..It only too two days for the whole top to freeze over but luckily I noticed it and broke the top open so the fish could breath. I also notice that my ground in the garden must be frozen at least more than 6 inches deep! I hope my bulb and perrenials make it through this. Let's see, what else? I left all my potted plants in a dark area of my garden and they have been buried with snow since December..I hope they make it too by the time the thaw comes..Keeping my fingers crossed. What else? Since I have been couped up inside, I have painted ever single room in my home and added a three seasons porch..That explians my absence besides sickness.. The only saving grace this winter was my greehoused plants, especially my orchids and two bull frogs inside! I actually downloaded brid chirping and sounds along with relaxing sounds and play that with my eyes closes in the nice very humid warm greenhouse on sunny days in this weather..Sure takes the edge off! All the orchids have come to bloom and many others.. Laura..What a beautiful picture of that frog!!!!!!! It's so postcard looking. I love it and you know how I feel about frogs! Thanks for that. Good to see there is still a REAL need for you while you are home, right?lol I remember was he was just born and when you visited me...Seems like yesterday. Either that frog is so content, or just trying to stay warm. Josh, Let it rain and rain, right? You could use all the rain you can get.Horay for the peppers buddy! P.s..I talked to Jodik and she is ok..I am trying to get her back here...She's a gem and missed here. So's Jojo..She is ok too..Says hello. Hoping you all well and wamrth. MIke...See MoreRaccoon charged me!
Comments (15)I agree with you, Lisa. We live in the country in a hollow in the woods surrounded by acres of woods and farmland. We have a visiting raccoon if I keep out the cat food and the bird feeders but when I remember to bring them in every night, we don't see it. We moved from the city 4 years ago to an existing home that was quite new and there were still signs of the abuse of the land to build this house, so we have made an effort to let everything go back to nature. I look out my back patio door into the woods and see many different species of wildflowers and birds feeding on the feeder. Looking out the front door more birds and vegetation, and the side door a huge trumpet vine being frequented by many hummingbirds. I know there must be inconveniences and problems living here but I don't see them - I appreciate them - coyotes fighting right outside out bedroom windows, the nice skunk perfume permeating the house at night, numerous whipporwills overlapping each others calls ALL night etc. Aaaahhh, what a life. Couldn't get any better. I understand that I am the outsider that moved into their world. There have been bears spotted in this area but I have never seen one, so I don't think I'll even worry about it....See MorePower strip for charging drawer
Comments (32)The moral of this story is⦠If anyone does decide to do a drawer cell phone port please follow these guidelines. Check out the TR strips from Task Lighting the TR strip meets 2008 NEC. They have a few colors and sizes, you can also order special sizes. . ⢠Power source MUST be a 20 amp branch circuit protected by a GFCI at the panel or GFCI prior to the connection at APS-" TR Series. ⢠All wiring must meet NEC and local codes. The Angle Power Strip -" Tamper Resistant Series (APS-TR Series) must be installed by a licensed electrician. ⢠Use knockout holes for 120v wire entrance. Use listed Romex connectors provided for 120v electrical connections. ⢠Use tool provided to pry cover open for wiring. (Using other devices may damage the aluminum cover.) ⢠Field cutting voids warranty. Also, since itâÂÂs in the kitchen as an extra precaution I would suggest a thick-ish rubber coated electric cable be used. This type of line is flexi enough to move back and forth with the drawer but is heavy enough that it stays against the back of the cabinet. If you do not make an entry for your line near a drawer slide you will not have any problems. IâÂÂm not sure why people would do that anyway. If you are still unsure I think once you actually see and feel the waterproof cable you will be confident in your project. This post was edited by jterrilynn on Sat, May 18, 13 at 23:20...See MoreTalk me into Moving Pantry... OR NOT!
Comments (22)2LF - Yes, you are going about this the right way. Make a list of everything and try to play ahead of time where everything will go but I can tell you from experience, once you get in the space, you will change a few things here and there. (You sound basically exactly like I did a year ago trying to plan everything out. Below is an inspiring link in that direction.) Don't forget about cookbooks, dishtowels and paper towels. As far as where the pantry goes, I agree with you in term of open space and entertaining. The only thing I would say is having snacks and/or cups accessible to your kids in a cabinet that is out of your prep area and close(r) to the table might be nice. That is a potential benefit of moving the pantry. You can accomplish the same thing by putting a narrow cabinet at the end of the island. You currently have an overhang there but in another drawing, all four stools are on the back side - do you plan to use it for sitting? Here is a link that might be useful: Look at Buehl's Organized Kitchen Diagram (about 5 posts down)...See More
beaglesdoitbetter
8 years agoI have a drawer charger in my master bath for my Kindle (read in tub) and my electronic tooth brush. I have not had issues but only have two things plugged in. I don't think I would do this for items that I regularly charge like my phone and iPad because I think I would get annoyed w/ opening and closing the drawers all the time.
We have our command center in our dog room and there are holes for respective cords to come out, which I find to be very convenient because it totally prevents tangles.
In-drawer plug:
Dog room charging station/ command center:
stephanj
8 years ago
Rachel (Zone 7A + wind)
8 years agoRachel (Zone 7A + wind)
8 years agolisa_a
8 years agoThanks, beagles! You pretty much confirmed my suspicion about a charging drawer. Scratch that idea.
MamaRachel, my DH is the same way so while I like the idea of putting
charging items behind a door, I wonder how well that will work IRL for
us.
Crazy as it may sound, I'm tempted to forgo the doored cabinet and leave that lower section open. It would be similar to these hutches:
Traditional Kitchen · More Info
Historic Blue Hutch · More Info
I like the division of 3 spaces below the glass doors.I'd get a simple napkin holder or basket (as shown in the pic above) for bills. lol, I found a pig napkin holder at PB! Pity I don't have a towel pig to go with it. But I kinda think DH would squash the idea of a pig napkin holder. ;-)
Anyhoo, in preparation for remodeling the kitchen, we moved the filing sorting trays to the den, which is actually a good place for them to reside permanently since that's where the file drawers are. Maybe I don't need a bunch of cubbies in the kitchen hutch after all.
I'd also get a decorative basket to hold items as they charge. That would put them out of sight, MOL, but accessible, a plus if the phone rings. The other option - and I need to wait for our GC to see if it's possible tomorrow - is to add a USB outlet to the 9" deep cab opposite the entry aisle from the hutch and use a shelf in that cab for a charging station.
Maybe simple is the way to go. I'll talk to DH tonight and see if we can make up our minds.
Thank you, everyone!
javiwa
8 years agolisa_a
8 years agoI am coming to that same conclusion, javiwa. It sounds good on paper but will it be used as planned? I'm starting to doubt that.
This is our old hutch (oh, dear, pardon the mess!):
We ditched the desk that was planned and had them add the cubbies for paperwork. Three were used, the other 2 not so much. They were an awkward size for display, too. That's one reason why I'm trying to be smarter about the design of the new hutch.
I drew up this redesign based on the hutch pics I posted above.
I divided the bottom section into thirds but I could also divide it with the center section slightly wider. The blue hutch looks to have a slightly wider center section and it looks good, IMO.
I found some baskets at PB and Pier 1 that would work to hold cords and items getting charged or waiting to be used (tablets, Kindles, etc).
The more I think about it, the more I think this is the way to go.
Thanks, everyone, for helping me process this decision!
stephanj