going crazy

[lizzy]

we have finished our "facelift" in the customer area. everybody is happy. now the kitchen. it is small and cramped. I have equipment that must be in there. the other day our counter top "range" started throwing fire. sigh.

I've ordered a new electric grill. and since the shipping was cheaper, I went ahead and ordered something we have needed for a long time, a commercial 20 qt mixer for our bakery. BUT our kitchen space is around 12 x14 and we have an oven, 2 fridges 2 work tables and a 3 basin sink, hand wash sink and I am so stressed over space! I need to get my head out of our current arrangement. I KNOW there is enough room, just can't visualize it.....

 

[CCafe]

Take some pictures lets see how small it is! 12 x 14 is a tad cramped!

 

[ElPugDiablo]

Take some pictures lets see how small it is! 12 x 14 is a tad cramped!

sounds like a palace to me. my second place on the drawing board is a mere 22 x 36.

 

[lizzy]

well, a palace it ain't. I think we are going to go up. get creative with shelves and hooks and such. Our shelves are poorly placed, lots of wasted space above the work surfaces. also, perhaps point of use water heaters. cutting our bakery cooling rack in half and putting a counter on top will help too. I will post pictures, if I can figure out how to...

 

[CafeBlue]

Hi Lizzy;
Try a rolling 6 foot tall bakery rack. You can get a zip-off cover for it and use it as a proofer as well as a cooling rack. Since it is on casters, you can wheel it into your floorspace between the worktable and the oven when you need to fill it or unload to the worktable. Then, wheel it out of the way while you need to work on something else.
I also like the wire rack storage. I got mine a Sam's, but lots of p[laces carry them. Assemble them with the casters, and then attache a few shelves to the wall above the rack height. Since they are on wheels, you can stuff them against the wall at their end and just pull out the one you need temporarily - like the old office archive systems. You can also access both sides of the shelves this way, so you might even find it more convenient.

 

[lizzy]

I have one of those cooling racks and I love it, but there just is nowhere to park the darn thing. I also had a lot of the sam's rolling shelves. still do use them against the wall out front, but in the kitchen, we needed surface area as well. So one Sam's shelfrack is set up so there is a big gap between the shelves, and has cutting boards on it. plates above, other stuff below.

I think I have arranged things so that we have a little more room. lots of shelves on the wall--the only free space is wall space. there is an improved shelving system available now. A horizontal piece holds the vertical pieces, and the shelf supports stick in the vertical pieces. I used to go crazy trying to hang shelves straight in an old cinder-block kitchen. with this system, you only have to get one rail horizontally level. everything else then hangs straight. I got some long ones, and the system is terrifically adaptable!