Lower cabinet only charging, desk/personal stuff

7 years ago

I want a kitchen space for my daily "desk" stuff. I have an office so it is not a bill paying, serious work, storage place. But I am a big reader, paper and technology person. I keep my laptop on the counter now and I have an iPhone and iPad that charge in the kitchen. I plan a charging drawer for those and over time if the laptop dies I'd probably just use the iPad and maybe have a stand for it to be out on the counter but look nice. But I also always have a bit of a "to do" stack that ends up in the kitchen (things I want to make calls on that day, note pad, a few magazines or catalogs sometimes a cookbook but moving that all to my iPad -- Paprika is a great recipe organizer that syncs phone/ipad/computer and is easy to save online recipes too). I had originally planned for a hideaway space with a hutch style cabinet with doors that tuck away (matching one on the other side for dishes) but due to some issues with the windows conflicting with an existing porch overhang (key feature of the kitchen -- view) - the windows need to shift off center so I'll have a hutch on one side and all window no uppers on the other side of the sink. The hutch is near the living room/dinning room so makes sense for dishes, glasses, serving etc. I could still take a section (it is 3 cabinets wide) for my hideaway office but the window corner is really the best place but i need to be organized and tucked away there. I lost the hideaway cabinet but gained that I have all windows and a view in front of my computer/ipad/stuff space.

Current plan is a stool (open knee space) with some drawers to tuck away my stuff. I might give up the stool, in which case it would be standing computer use with stow away space under for charging/papers/to do pile/pens etc. Plan is 31 inches for stool area with one shallow pencil drawer and maybe a drawer or 2 of the cabinet next to it (22 inches) for my papers/stuff/charging.

Does any one have some good examples or ideas for hiding away some paper organization, personal stuff in lower cabinets only? I don't need keys (mudroom), mail (mudroom to office), calendar (on ipad/iphone), bulletin board (mud room but pretty empty now that the kids are in college) type "command center" stuff but I still have some magazines, catalogs, notebooks, papers I need to make calls on while I'm downstairs (trying to get all digital but still have a pile of stuff) active use type stuff that end up in that space. Plus my camera, charger, sunglasses, chapstick, lenses, pencils and desk type stuff that is nice to have downstairs.

I need some sort of organization in a lower cabinet. A charging drawer and a drawer with some after market drawer organizers might do it but I was wondering if there were any clever ideas. Vertical slots? Inbox organization in a drawer? File cabinet sized but used for more short term vertical storage (to do hanging folder?, magazine folder?, tuck a cookbook I'm currently reading in there. What about a cabinet that opens into a accessible organization space next to me when I sit at in the stool (like the pantry lowers that divide the space into stuff on the door and inner organizer that can swing out?) .

Thoughts on a stool space? It is an aging in place design so maybe I'd need to sit more as I age and not want to move to the island if I want to sit. And it would be in a corner with a window in front and to the side with a great view -- so perhaps it would be a place I'd sit a lot and drink my tea and read the news....

I currently stand with a laptop on the counter and my stuff in one drawer, iPad and iPhone on the counter charging. But usually end up with a stack of papers and other stuff on the counter too. In the current location that isn't too bad (somewhat hidden by the refrigerator) but it is a great place to work but really front and center to have my hub be in the window/view corner.

Anyone do cool custom laptop/ipad stands to match cabinetry?

wondering if something like this but narrower might somehow be made to have vertical to do bins etc. Maybe drawers inside instead of more shelves but vertical slots, magazine rack type space might be better than drawers (bit drawers can always be repurposed to other uses).

Traditional Kitchen · More Info

Lower cabinet

https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-traditional-kitchen-phvw-vp~11679299

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Comments (6)

sjhockeyfan325
7 years ago
Sorry, I don't have an answer (my stuff piles up on a corner of the kitchen island -yuck!), but I have a question about the Paprika app.. Did you input all of your own personal recipes? How do you do that - do you have to type each one in? I used to use Tastebook for online recipe storage and management, but they stopped doing it, so I have all my recipes printed out and want to get them back online somehow. If I have to reenter them, I will. It's so inconvenient not being able to pull up a recipe when I'm wandering the aisles at Safeway!
Karenseb
7 years ago
I like the stool idea if you have the room. File cabinet drawers would seem to work best with a small drawer for pencils, etc.
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AnnKH
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I had a desk in my old kitchen - and I never sat at it (the kitchen table was just a few steps away). In the new kitchen, I built a "desk" area in my pantry cabinets - two outlets for charging stuff, shelves sized for my ledger, envelopes, scratch paper, another shelf for dog supplies. Below I have two drawers for pens, scissors, tape, etc.; below that I have two file drawers. I have a calendar on the inside of one door, and a magnetic white board on the inside of the other. I love it!

With a base cab only, I would think multiple drawers (not too deep) would be most efficient, unless you did a file drawer. But you have to choose between stool and storage.

How about going with just storage, but add a pull-out (like a cutting board) at stool height? The cabinet itself can be regular counter height, which is great for standup jobs. If you have a nearby spot to stash a stool, you can just pull it out when you need it - and it sounds like it's not something you'd necessarily use right away.

I didn't see the width of the cabinet in question.
pippiep
7 years ago
I can answer about Parika, because I use and love it, too. If your recipes are available online, you can import them (if you still have the reference from where they came, like Bon Appetit 2002). Otherwise, maybe you can scan to PDF and find software that converts PDF to text?

I used to use MacGourmet and exported my recipes and imported them into Paprika. I have at least 1k recipes so far...
kfpwvt
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks for the desk stuff thoughts. Good thought on the pantry. I don't want my main set up there as I want to be with the view and I move back and forth between kitchen tasks and my laptop etc a lot. But a file drawer in the pantry fir project type stuff could free up space for the stool with a thin drawer or two in the kitchen.

I'm thinking of putting the base of the home phone system in the pantry (one plugs into a phone line then we have a Few handsets). I don't want phone jacks or phones out in the kitchen. Might put a electric outlet for a handset in a hitch cabinet but no phone jack. Nobody calls us on the house phone only junk calls (despite being on the do not call list we still get some surveys etc) and reminder calls for doctors appointments I think the house phone is going away.

On the Paprika it can save with one click for most recipes online. If it doesn't work you can highlight sections then click on buttons to tell it which part of the recipe it is (ingredients, directions etc). However, they recently had an update and now it can do just about any recipie (used to work with a fairly long list of sites but not everything with the one click).

I also used to use MacGourmet and imported into Paprika. No digital version of the recipes? You might try googling and seeing if you can find them online then they'd be easy to add. If not scanning the print outs as PDFs might let you copy and paste in (it would need to be with OCR optical character recognition so it scans as words not images). Family recipes I have typed in and added my own pictures.

I love how easy it is to add recipes (there are a few different ways to do it the built in web browser is one but you can add a bookmarklet tool to your regular browser and there is a safari share extension for the iPhone and iPad where it can show up as a choice where the print, email this etc options show up).. But I'm a bit guilty of being more of a collector than maker. I collect tons that I don't try but it is nice to have a big pre-culled collection of recipes that interested me. It's my first spot to look when I'm looking for something new and so easy to add that why not collect a lot! I still get a few cooking magazines that I like to flip through but I then go to the web site and get the online recipe to save to paprika.
sheloveslayouts
7 years ago
We put our outlets for charging phones/devices on the bottom shelf of an open upper cabinet a few steps from our kitchen proper. No land line here. I like having those things at eye level. Same shelf that I put my purse.

Lower cabinet only charging, desk/personal stuff

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sjhockeyfan325

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Lower cabinet only charging, desk/personal stuff

Comments (6)

sjhockeyfan325

Karenseb

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AnnKH

pippiep

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sheloveslayouts

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