Pinterest Project: Pull-Out Kitchen Cabinet Drawers

While previous Pinterest projects have focused on more decorative ideas, I also found a number of very practical ideas that have turned into projects. The first one I tackled was for the kitchen. To the left of our refrigerator there is a floor to ceiling pantry. The bottom two units had two shelves a piece, the smaller top two had one shelf each. We soon discovered the problem with these units – depth. In order to reach a can of soup in the back, all of the items up front would have to be removed. And for someone like me who bakes a lot, trying to organize the flour, sugars, baking chips, extracts and various other items was not fun. I found a number of different approaches to building pull-out drawers for the pantry.

Using some leftover wood from the previous homeowner, as well as a discarded set of drawer rails, I built a prototype drawer and installed it in the pantry. Having worked out the mounting and spacing issues to ensure the drawer opened and closed smoothly, I felt confident enough to head off to the local big box hardware store to purchase more wood and build a complete set. Here’s a look at how the pull-out pantry drawers turned out:

The second project was for under the counter. while there was storage space, there wasn't any shelving. That meant the pans we were keeping there were just piled on top of each other. Rather than build just a shelf, I decided we need something sturdier. I didn't have much of a plan, just measurements.

I ended up with the base of the drawer, but added bigger end pieces, rounded at the top, with some rounded wooden bars along each side. Now the pull-out caddy contains all the pans and such that were previously stacked on top of each other.

Pinterest Project: Canvas Wall Art

One of the many things we wanted to do with the new house was add some new artwork to the walls, but nothing store bought. With my Mom being an artist, we have a plethora of her pieces around, but decided we wanted to try making something on our own. Of course, Pinterest provided plenty of ideas for making unique and individual art for the home.

We decided to go with a few pieces of canvas, paint them and then apply vinyl artwork we found on Amazon.com. Here are the results of our canvas art project:

Reuben Tour of Columbus – Darz Cafe (Downtown)

My third downtown trip for reuben supremacy took me to Darz Cafe on Nationwide Blvd in the Design Center in Marconi Square. There are a few seats in a hallway, but Darz is essentially all take out, nestled into a small corner of the building by the back door.

Here’s the scorecard:

Corned Beef – okay amount
Sauerkraut – good
Swiss Cheese – good
Thousand Island – on the thin side
Rye Bread – best rye bread downtown (so far)

Darz scores a 4 out of 5. Everything about the sandwich was good, just need a little bit more corned beef and sauerkraut, and then this would be a star reuben.