We are kitchen cursed. It’s a thing. All the houses we’ve lived in since moving out of our childhood homes were absolutely rubbish. Non-existing in some cases.
The fact that we now cook in an outdated kitchen, where nothing works as we like comes therefore as no surprise. It’s just the way life goes for us. However, that doesn’t mean we are in the dumps about it, we just have to get creative!
Really improving an outdated kitchen
Okay, before I get into the hacks I used on my outdated kitchen, I have to come clean first. Not all hacks are equal.
We had two stoves on gas that were literally 65 years old when we got here. Not one hair on my head considered turning those two back on. So the first ‘hack’ we did was splurge enormously on a brand new piano de cuisson, an electrical range cooker with three ovens, and a rising drawer for bread.
Another appliance we thought worth our money: a dishwasher.
We actually bought a dishwasher that has to be built in, with an eye on the future. Since the future is now, I’m regretting this choice a bit. It’s mighty inconvenient and from the looks of it we’ll need a new one once we actually get around to redoing the kitchen. I would have rather bought a non-buildinnable dishwasher, but Past Ayla was more optimistic about renovating the outdated kitchen.
These are not the hacks I was referring to in the title.
If we start calling splurging on appliances ‘hacks’, than just give me a million dollars and I’ll show you some great hacks. It was just a small disclaimer that you can’t fix all the world’s problems with a bunch of hacks, sometimes you just have to go all-in to make life better.
Hack numéro un
A spice rack. The first hack is an actual spice rack. Is your mind blown yet?
I’m not sure I would have ever called this a hack, since it’s pretty basic to have a spice rack. (Isn’t it?) I’ve never had one before, but I did have an enormous amount of little spice jars. In this kitchen, however, those took up precious cupboard space, plus I couldn’t read the labels. Enter spice rack.
I created the labels for the lids with my trusted Cricut Joy. I do love a consistent look.
I’m not sure if I’ll always keep it stacked like this, as I don’t find it very pretty to look at. I might hide them away in a drawer at some point when the outdated kitchen actually becomes updated.
And yes, that is a music speaker built into a collapsible plank. They used to party in here!
Hack numéro deux
The second hack I did was to install a drawer in an empty space. Our old and battered kitchen has almost no drawers, sadly, because those are just so much more space-efficient.
I can highly recommend this hack! If you have an empty space somewhere, or even a deep cupboard that’s inefficient for you, see if you can add a drawer. They’re quite simple to make and will give you so much joy!
At some point, this space must have held a stool or something like it. For us, we just put things on the ground and stared at the rest of the empty space. (see the pic below)
So, I added a drawer. Nothing fancy, just two drawer sliders and a plank. There’s too much to do around here to put time and effort into something like this. All I wanted was some extra storage space!
Hack numéro trois
The last hack can make a difference in any kitchen, not just outdated kitchens. I put baskets in the upper cupboards, according to a theme.
Most newer kitchens will have separate cupboards, so it’s usually easy to set up a ’theme per cupboard’ kind of organization. Our upper cupboards are interconnected, all one big space with six doors to cover it.
Not gonna lie, fights have happened over who put what where.
So, I used baskets to sort it all. There’s a pasta-basket, an Asian basket with all types of noodles and ricepaper, a flour-basket, a seeds- and pits basket, you get the gist!
Not only are the contents of my kitchen now organized where everyone can find everything, but it’s also much harder to lose products in the back of a cupboard. Everything comes out when you grab a basket, so no product can play hide and seek until it turns out to be the source of that particular smell. (Don’t act like this has never happened to you!)
Any hack in here that you’d like to try?
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