The Mushroom Factor

Aside from a new sink, perhaps the most life-altering event in our kitchen renovation was the completion of my spice drawer. I realize this sounds a bit over-dramatic but, in reality, there’s a lot of truth to this statement.

Historically, cooking has not been my greatest forté. I’d like to be a good cook and sometimes I even put a little effort into it. But for the most part, cooking is a chore I try to finish as quickly as I can. Obviously.

If you look back at our original kitchen floor plan, you’ll see for 20 years we operated basically out of a 9′ x 7′ pantry. Needless to say, there wasn’t much room for efficiency and organization, two things that also are not my forté. So, like many people, I jammed all my spices together in miscellaneous plastic containers and shoved them in one of the few cupboards available. They were always a mess. A huge mess. A meal I should’ve been able to throw together in five minutes usually took 20 because 15 of them were spent rummaging through a gazillion spices (other people in our family actually get into cooking things that take longer than five minutes—thus the large collection of spices).

Enter the Universal Spice Tray by Ovis Online!

This simple piece of molded plastic has transformed my cooking and my organization! Note the fairly tidy and semi-alphabetized arrangement of spice jars in the heading photo. I lovingly refer to this as stadium seating. What used to be a gazillion jars are now only 30-40 because we assess our inventory and don’t buy spices we already have. And best of all, cooking is actually becoming fun! I pull open the drawer and easily choose a spice that will creatively enhance the culinary delights I’ve now mastered.

Okay, well, now maybe I’m over-dramatizing. But someday…

Okay, I admit I’m the spoiled brat. But it’s not my fault! When your husband is a talented craftsman and a nice one at that, you become accustomed to the idea that whatever you want built, can and will be built.

What? Not everyone gets cabinetry customized to their fancy and whims?

I suppose this catering carries through to drawer slides, as well. We’re building the new cabinetry in our kitchen…well, I decide what I want and my husband builds what I want. In doing so, we’re experiencing the joys and challenges of drawer slides.

From past experience, we know when it comes to drawer slides, what you pay is what you get. If you plan on carrying any bit of weight, like more than two spoons in your silverware drawer, it’s best to spend money on a quality ball-bearing slide. We’ve been buying Accuride, from Rockler, and are pleased. Well, sort of…

I keep hot pads and placemats in an 8×28” drawer under the double ovens. Nothing too heavy, no? Because it’s a drawer that doesn’t get extensive use, which says a lot about my cooking, we chose to skimp a bit on the slides. We went with Belwith Mount Euro side slide from Menards. Guess what, the drawer slides like butter.

On the other hand, when it came time to build drawers for the trash and recyclables, we figured a more solid, weight-bearing slide was in order. We chose Accuride full extension side slides and paid a significantly higher price.

But have you installed drawer slides? They can be very frustrating. Accuride, or not, the drawer will not slide smoothly if the drawer or supporting cabinet is even slightly skewed (kitty-wampus, as my husband tends to say). Jigs, such as the Kreg Universal Mounting Jig, help with this.

Then came the silverware and gadget drawers. I decided since he does such a beautiful job with dovetail joinery, why hide them under drawer slides? For these drawers, we went with the Accuride low profile under mount, which keeps the slide underneath the drawer and out of view. Ah, the catch with under mount slides? That which isn’t completely satisfactory to the spoiled brat? An under mount allows only a two-thirds extension of the drawer. It will work for these drawers but not the spice drawer.

So, now comes the spice drawer. We haven’t gotten to this one yet, but when we do, I have specific needs (wants). For this drawer, I need complete access. I need full view of the dove tails. And, because we’ll use it often —yes, I do cook once in a while—I need a quality, heavy duty slide. For this, we plan to use the Accuride Eclipse Undermount, which fully extends and carries a price tag that extends as well.

I’ll let you know how it goes.