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Tip: Kitchen and Pullout Shelves
In my kitchen I have cabinets with drawers that fully and easily slide out, also the cabinets above the counters have shelves that I can easily pull down, since I have difficulty raising my arms. I enjoy cooking but what I most enjoy about being in the kitchen is that I can independently work there 95% of the time. There are of course some things that I can’t lift or cut but having accessible shelves has truly been a burden lifted.
Do you cook or use your kitchen often? Are shelves or cabinets inaccessible or difficult to see and reach what you need? How have you modified your kitchen to make it easier for you to use?
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9 Replies
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We have made some adaptations. Simple things much like you mention. Since I stand and walk with a cane, although in the house I do not use a cane, I actually have moved many pots and pans to upper shelves. My ability to bend over while keeping knees locked and then using biceps is not good. Now I can stand straight and use shoulders. All good!
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Dani, I cannot claim to being a great chef haha, but I can make the basics and like making omelettes or just heating soups etc. Just like to be able to get my pots and pans 🙂
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Same, but I am trying to learn. I LOVE a good omelette, I just had one today!
Sometimes when I stand for 20 minutes waiting for something to cook, like an omelette the side of my thigh will go numb, so I need to get a stool or something to rest on. Just another thing to take up space in my small kitchen! I am always looking for things that are compact, or fold, but a lot of kitchen appliances can be heavy or bulky. I have an air fryer and crock pot, they word great, just take up a lot of room.
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One of the things that actually works for me is that I have my desk and work area adjacent to kitchen. In fact it’s in the space you might have a small dinette or breakfast table and I have a desk chair with wheels. Since I keep it raised high so it’s easy to get out of I can also roll around the kitchen and even cook. I usually can stand but I’ll roll around to fill coffee etc. Maybe you can get that type of rolling chair to cook?
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My mom loves to cook but since she now has Mito she has had to adjust her amount of time in the kitchen. I wrote an article all about it.
There is a snippet in this article from Quest magazine about a woman who lives on her own. On occasion she relies on her neighbor to help her with small tasks and afterwards bakes him a pie to says thank you.
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I LOVE that she bakes him a pie as a thank you! I have definitely made stuff for people as a “thank you” when they help! I think it is more personal and shows you really appreciate it. I am not saying every time someone helps you, but I think one knows the situations are deserving of pie!
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Thats great. Love to hear those stories 🙂
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I love to cook and bake. I keep my mixer out on the counter. I can’t get arms up to to glasses and dishes away so I leave one out for me to use. I keep think down where I can reach. I try to think ahead what I need. Of course my daughter and son in law live two blocks away and he never minds running in to reach something. He is a fire fighter and works odd hours . I also make a list as I think of it and close pin it to a latch on the front door so any of my kids coming or going can see my list of what I need reached. Sunday I had them get my fans out of the attic and put air in my tires if my car. I think it the kitchen it just takes a little planning.
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Joy, this is great. And you are right about planning. I often say that and my May 2 column will talk a little about that. It’s so great you are doing some fantastic things in the kitchen!
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