That Piece of Wood Between Your Cabinet Doors May Be Costing You Storage Space.
Ever try to put something in a cabinet that you know will fit, only to discover that the piece of wood between the doors is in your way?
Or worse, try to get something out and find yourself twisting, turning, and tipping it sideways just to squeeze it through the opening?
That's the problem with the
center stile found in many kitchen cabinets.
It's the vertical strip of wood separating two cabinet doors. It might only be a couple of inches wide, but it can make a surprisingly big difference in how easily you can use the cabinet.
Two Doors, One Big Obstacle
That was the situation in this
Coppell, Texas, kitchen.
Look at the before photo.
The cabinet has plenty of room inside, but the center stile divides the opening into two smaller spaces. Even with both doors open, that strip of wood gets in the way.
Now imagine installing pullout shelves behind those doors.
With the stile in place, the pullouts generally have to be sized to fit through the narrower openings. That means smaller shelves and less accessible storage.
You've got a big cabinet, but you're forced to use it like two little ones.
Getting That Stile Out of the Way
For this Coppell homeowner, we removed the center stile to create one wide, unobstructed opening.
The difference is immediately noticeable.
Instead of working around that strip of wood, we can build wider custom pullout shelves that take better advantage of the available cabinet space.
Large pots, pans, mixing bowls, and other bulky kitchen items become easier to store and retrieve.
And when you pull out a shelf, everything comes toward you. No more reaching around a wooden divider to get what you need.
What About the Cabinet Doors?
Here's the clever part.
When the cabinet construction allows it, the original center stile can be attached to one of the cabinet doors. When the doors are closed, the cabinet retains essentially the same appearance.
Open the doors, however, and that obstruction moves out of the way with the door.
You get the benefit of a much wider opening without replacing your existing cabinets.
Of course, not every center stile can be removed safely. Some are structural, so we evaluate the cabinet before making that modification.
Sometimes Less Wood Means More Storage
At Kitchens Alive, we're not just looking for places to install pullout shelves. We're looking for ways to make the cabinets you already own work better.
Sometimes that means adding a shelf. Sometimes it means changing the shelf arrangement.
And sometimes
the best improvement starts by taking something out.
If that strip of wood between your cabinet doors has been getting in your way for years, it may be time to do something about it.
Kitchens Alive builds custom pullout shelves and improves existing cabinet storage throughout Coppell, Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding North Texas communities.
