Kitchen confidential | Ottawa Citizen

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Kitchen confidential | Ottawa Citizen

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If you’ve been looking at kitchens on Pinterest lately, you might be wondering where and how the homeowners actually cook. There’s often not a spatula, toaster, stack of plates or even refrigerator in sight.  

Increasingly, homeowners are aiming for a minimalist look, says Kristen Weese, a design consultant with Ottawa’s Laurysen Kitchens. “They want their kitchen to be sort of an art piece—something that flows and isn’t broken up with a bunch of chunky stainless steel appliances,” she says. That explains the popularity of “integrated appliances” fitted with door panels that match the surrounding cabinets.  

Some homeowners are even building a hideaway pantry, concealed behind what looks like a wall of cabinet doors. The space may include a work sink, prep areas, small appliances, and storage for ingredients, dishes and equipment. After cooking in there, the home chef can bring out the meal, close the door on the mess and entertain guests in the tidy main kitchen. 

But if your renovation budget doesn’t extend to building an entire second kitchen, don’t despair. All sorts of clever fixtures can help keep your counters clutter free and make cooking more enjoyable. Here are a few that Weese recommends. 

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Kitchen confidential | Ottawa Citizen
The refrigerator is concealed behind cabinet doors in this kitchen designed by Victoria Preece. Photo by Laurysen Kitchens photograph

Corral your small items 

Rather than storing whisks, ladles and other big utensils in countertop containers, you can install a utensil pullout—a narrow but deep drawer to store your utensils upright but out of sight. “I’m putting [one] in almost every kitchen,” says Weese. “It’s quick and easy when you’re cooking.” 

In a similar vein is a handy invention for coffee lovers: a drawer insert with round holes just the right size to hold your Keurig, Nespresso or other coffee pods upright. 

Think drawers, not shelves 

For under-counter storage, drawers remain more popular than cabinets. “The space is actually a little bit better to use, because you’re able to pull that stuff out and view it from the top, as opposed to squatting down and looking in your cabinet,” says Weese.  

And drawers are for more than pots and pans. Weese notes that pegs or racks installed in drawers make them convenient places to store dishes. And in a trend guaranteed to have any five-year-old jumping for joy, some of Weese’s clients are designating a drawer just for snacks. 

Pantry
What looks like a cabinet is actually a door to a hideaway pantry by designer Wael Baker in the 2024 CHEO home. Photo by Laurysen Kitchens photograph

Maximize your corners 

Gone are the days when a lazy Susan was the only way to make use of an awkward corner cupboard. Two types of corner shelving units that Weese now recommends to clients are Magic Corners and the LeMans System.  

On a cabinet fitted with Magic Corners, shelves attached to the door come out when you open the cupboard, while a second set of shelves behind them slides sideways inside the cupboard into the space where the door shelves sit when the door is closed. 

With the LeMans System, the shelves aren’t attached to the door. Instead, they’re mounted on hinged arms. Once you open the cabinet, you can rotate them on the arms and swing them out of the cupboard. 

Think deeply 

Sometimes, you want to store items you don’t need to access daily, such as patio glasses and barbecue tongs in winter. Weese says a large kitchen island is the perfect place to install one or two deep cabinets for that purpose. 

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Pantry
This hideaway pantry in the 2024 CHEO home was designed by Wael Baker. Photo by Laurysen Kitchens photograph

Power up — with caution 

Appliance garages have been used for decades to conceal food processors and toaster ovens, and manufacturers have found increasingly clever ways to make these garages blend into the surrounding kitchen. A newer trend is a gadget charging drawer, where you can plug in phones, tablets and other devices while keeping them out of sight. 

However, Weese cautions clients who have seen these electrical solutions on American websites to consult with a qualified electrician and designer before installing one. 

“Here in Ontario, our building code is slightly different, so we need to have what’s called a dead man switch,” she explains. If you have electrical outlets inside a drawer or a cabinet, the switch—also known as a kill switch—cuts power to the outlets when the door or drawer is closed. That’s not a big problem for an appliance garage, as you’ll have the door open when you’re using your small appliances. However, having to leave your gadget charging drawer open when you’re charging your phone may defeat its clutter-busting purpose. 

Don’t forget Rover 

For the tidy pet lover, Weese has one last suggestion: pull-out pet food dishes integrated into the base of an island or cabinet. Pull them out at feeding time, then slide them out of sight when they’re empty. “Some people are even going as far as actually installing a pot filler above their dog’s water dish,” says Weese. 

What will they think of next? 

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