Show Notes:
High-Tech Solutions
- Granberg Verti
- Accessible Construction – Designer Height Adjustable Electric Upper Cabinet
Low-Tech Solutions
- Rev-A-Shelf (pull down)
- Rev-A-Shelf (pull-up)
- Generic Amazon Option
- Rev-A-Shelf Line on Amazon
- Corner Cabinet / Blind Cabinet Options
DIY Solutions
- Drop Down Storage Baskets
- Soft-closing cabinet doors: Richelieu (Video by Tom’s Home Improvement Videos)
Transcript:
Sarah: [00:00:00] You’re listening to Good Fit Poor Fit. Our podcast is part of The UD Project, a small business rooted in occupational therapy that looks at how the design of a home environment impacts how well people of different ages and abilities perform everyday activities. We chat about this unique perspective to boost your knowledge and help you consider what can be changed in communities like yours.
Learn more about our work at universaldesign.org.
Grant: Hey there listeners, I’m Grant Todd and I am back for another episode on the Good Fit Poor Fit podcast. If you haven’t had time to listen to my first podcast, I am an occupational therapy student from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, and I’m glad to be back.
Rebecca: . That’s right. Listeners, we’re back for another episode with Grant, our wonderfully talented student who’s working on a really awesome project that blends occupational therapy with design. Specifically, he’s [00:01:00] working on redoing his school’s OT house to make it more universally designed, but we’re not really here to talk about that today. Actually, today we’re here to talk about something quite a bit more specific, and something that Grant knows a lot about. So I’ll throw it back to him to get us started.
Grant: So today I will be diving deeper into one of my personally favorite aspects of a home, and that will be the cabinets. So let’s get into the high tech aspects, the low tech, and even just some DIY options of just different accessible cabinets.
Sarah: Yeah, Grant, I’m really glad to dig into some of the details of this today because while we’ve generally talked about types of accessible cabinetry and you talked a little bit about that in your first podcast, it will be nice to hear you talk about some of the additional details our listeners may find important. I will note that we will be sharing some product names and we have included helpful links in the show notes. So if you want to learn more about them after we talk about them, go ahead and check out our show [00:02:00] notes.
Grant: I think something to always remember is the why no matter what you do I think that is so important to remember. So why do we have cabinets? Well, we have cabinets in order to hold necessary things in an accessible place at the user’s convenience Did I completely and absolutely come up with that on my own?
Yes, I did. But if you break it down, that is what cabinets are used for. Two of the major words I used were accessible and convenience. And if we don’t have those two things, when it comes to cabinets, it could make the cabinets almost useless a hindrance. Or even feel like a hassle to use.
Rebecca: Ain’t that the truth, Grant? I’ve been in kitchens where there are cabinets so high, or so small, or so difficult to reach into that they end up going unused. So I think you’re spot on. Accessibility and convenience are both critical considerations when it comes to cabinets. Can you share with our listeners some high tech solutions that can help make cabinets accessible and [00:03:00] convenient?
Grant: Yeah. So I’m going to keep it to my two favorite high tech solutions. Um, both are a style of wall cabinet lifts and they’re both electric powered. The most interesting one that I found is called the Granberg Verti, and I hope I pronounced that correctly. It follows a track system and it actually lowers the shelves down from inside the cabinet onto the countertop.
The only bad thing about this, or the thing that I don’t love, is that it doesn’t come forward at all, and it only comes straight down. So then, you still have that distance on the counter that the user will have to cover in order to grab their items. The other one that I found is called the Designer Height Adjustable Electric Upper Cabinet.
Very long name, but it is made by Accessible Construction. It works very similar to the Verti, it runs on a track system, but instead of just dropping the shelves from inside the cabinet, it actually drops the whole cabinet straight down. So that way you can see the whole [00:04:00] thing. Definitely two of my favorite and honestly just really cool designs.
The biggest downside to both of these is cost, and that can make it very difficult for a consumer to have the desire to put this in their home. I know that the Verti’s price varies anywhere between 1,500 and 2,100 euros, while the designer height one can range anywhere between $2,500-4,000 dollars. The prices are all dependent, upon your size, your specific model, and even other accessories that would come with it.
The thing that can be even more troublesome with the Verdi is that there are zero Granberg dealers, anywhere except for in Europe, so you might have to pay a lot for shipping. Luckily, there are plenty of other ways to solve the problems out there and we can get into those later.
Sarah: Yeah, these are some really awesome products and technology. Like, I’m, I’m glad people have thought about these. Of course, they’re expensive because you have a lot more pieces, moving pieces going into each cabinet [00:05:00] than your typical setup. I often see this same type of idea, and cost with adjustable countertops too. They’re super cool, super functional and flexible, but it’s just not affordable. Like you said, and really easy to get your hands on it here in the U. S. Can you imagine the shipping on an entire kitchen cabinet from Europe? That that would be a lot. And just the cost of the product. So let’s go into some lower tech solutions that you found, Grant.
Grant: Yeah, so three words cabinet appliance lifts. That is my absolute answer to low tech. It might not seem super low tech, but since it’s all mechanical and it operates by the user performing physical movements. I’m gonna consider those low tech So they have pull down inserts and lifts, and there is a company called Rev-a-Shelf.
And I know we’ve talked about them before and other users might’ve heard y’all talk about them, but man, they make so many different [00:06:00] models that can lift up heavy and bulky items or models that can also be pulled down. Something that I’ve also found is kind of knockoff companies that make similar ones, on Amazon that are a little bit cheaper, but still happen to be some pretty good quality.
I really love these options because people with any height level can reach these and they can operate all of these very easily. The ability to pull down and lift up doesn’t require quite as much effort as you would think for these things. Plus, they can be operated with reachers or adapted with pulley ropes, and it just makes it a great option.
The potential for organization on these is also really cool. Many come with dish holders already attached and other organizers similar to a dishwasher, while you can also buy some that are just your normal, run of the mill, straight up flat shelves. Now, some of these you may be wondering, what’s the weight limit?
Well, depending on the model, I’m going off of the knockoff Amazon one that I ordered. It can hold up to 55 pounds. [00:07:00] It has an internal spring system and based upon what you set those knobs at actually determines what the weight limit is. All of these are made out of different types of metals, minus the little bit of wood that you might need for a lift that’s coming up, but the generic Amazon style ones can run, all sorts of different prices, but very reasonable. Anywhere from about a hundred to $200, and then the name brand, Rev a Shelf, depending on the model yet again, could be anywhere between 300 to 800, depending on, again, size and model of what you order.
Sarah: Yeah, that’s a really great rundown on some details of those products. I wanted to talk a little bit about the kind of pull out ones for those lower cabinets. Especially if someone struggles reaching up high, reaching down low is probably going to be an issue, too. So I’m going to talk about some of these organization ideas because they’re just pretty convenient in general and everybody loves some really neat storage in [00:08:00] their home. So they have these basic pull out baskets, trays, or shelves, from wire or wooden organizers.
If you know what you want to organize, like spices, pots and pans, plates, silverware, your trash can, there is bound to be a pull out option for it. Again, I love Rev-A-Shelf. They have their entire line on Amazon, which I’ll link in the show notes, to the kitchen section. But you can also browse other areas of the home, too.
There is laundry and bathroom. These could be 150 to over 400, depending on the materials used and the movement in the product. I can’t forget about the ever so difficult area to reach, which is that corner lower cabinet or the blind cabinet. There are also a lot of options for those from Lazy Susan’s, to unique pullout systems to maximize your storage and bring everything out to reach. I’ve linked some in the show notes for you to check out as well. These are definitely a bit more [00:09:00] expensive, maybe 500 to $900. All right Grant, for people who are thinking they can’t spend additional money on their organization of their cabinets, but still need additional functionality and getting things to them easier. What do you suggest?
Grant: First off, Sarah, I just think those were some awesome things that you brought up. I mean. Just going into detail on some of those because they, there really are some great options, but yeah, to answer your question, probably my top two picks for DIY solutions or just easier solutions to get a hold of would be the quote unquote drop down storage baskets and then just being able to label your cabinets for some people labeling the cabinets inside or even outside of the door can be super helpful. It may not look the most clean, but it is a way to help with different cognition aspects as well as even potentially just using it if you needed it in Braille or other things to be able to know what is in your [00:10:00] cabinet. The drop down baskets are literal baskets that happen to have a roll out track similar to a drawer. The only difference is it also drops down at an angle for the user. With that angle, I don’t know that I’d put something breakable in that basket, but it is very helpful.
When I was working on the first part of my capstone project, I was able to find these, and they run for about 30 a pop. So, a little high for each basket if you do a whole bunch of them, but it’s definitely a great option.
Sarah: So, Grant, I had actually never heard of these drop down baskets before, and so I clicked on that link that you shared. It’s a really neat concept. When you first started talking, I was thinking you were actually talking about small baskets on shelves that you can buy at any store, but you can pull down off the shelf to bring it closer to you with your hands, which now, that we’re talking about it, this could also be a low cost or DIY option. I know I often get frustrated when [00:11:00] organizing things on shelves, especially wire shelves, and things become just topple over like a domino effect and then everything goes. But putting things in bins or little baskets allows you to easily pull them down, grab them without having to pick everything back up off the floor. And I also like this label idea here with the baskets and I think this could work for bathrooms and kitchens.
Rebecca: Yeah, I definitely agree with Sarah on all of that, but you know I’ll agree if it comes to labeling. I’m a big fan of the label for functionality. Another thing I’m thinking is relevant to this discussion, even if not strictly DIY, is hardware. I tend to think of C or D cabinet pulls as more functional than knobs or cabinets that you have to get your finger behind the door to open. And lots of C or D pulls are a little bit more flexible in use because they don’t rely on as much grip strength or finger dexterity as other kinds of pulls. And don’t even get me started on the pulls that look like [00:12:00] T’s and get caught on any piece of clothing or jewelry that you have hanging off of you.
That is just not functional. Similarly, I also find the push to open mechanisms for drawers can be easier for some people because it doesn’t really require any precise movement at all, like a pull of some sort would. There are also some mechanisms that have those nice soft closing drawers and doors too, which I tend to really like. For example, Richelieu has one that we’ll link in the show notes.
Sarah: So, Grant, You’ve had a lot of experience with cabinets this semester and working on your capstone project in renovating this home on your campus. Not only did you design your own cabinet to work on with a motor, I know we’re going to be talking about that maybe in our next episode. But I know you put a lot of effort into thinking about storage in general. Another option that I think people often forget about is paint color and contrast. Can you share a little bit to our listeners about what you would [00:13:00] recommend for this DIY option as related to the color of the room?
Grant: Yeah, so I actually just finished working through all of that in the overall project. So with the project, the goal was to spend the least amount of money possible. And so after I painted the walls of the whole house and everything, I ended up leaving the cabinets alone, which I didn’t originally plan on.
So I painted the house, I’ve been working on it in really clean graphite gray. Because I wanted a background color that would cause the white cabinets and the white doors and trim and everything else just to be able to pop. And I think that is the kicker for anyone, especially if they do find themselves with any kind of low vision situation.
Just making sure that there is contrast from the cabinets into the wall is absolutely necessary. And sometimes even a color pop from the cabinets to the countertops. Luckily, the countertops I was working with was also a shade of white, which I left alone. [00:14:00] But I debated for a while about painting all of the cabinets almost a sage green to be able to have that different contrast of colors throughout.
Now paint is not the end all be all when it comes to contrast for cabinets. The hardware also needs to be a contrasting color. I did black handles against the white cabinets so that it would stick out, and did all of the cabinet hardware, the same style, size, and color. Now, it must be said that it is always the final say of the end user.
If there are any certain colors that pop and create a contrast that works for you, that is what you should go with. Not just the colors that I’ve said today. The goal of talking about this is to stir the idea of making sure that you think about contrasting colors against walls, other important items during your next remodel, house build, or even your next Saturday afternoon project.
And yes, Sarah, I know you mentioned my cabinet that I worked on, and I am very much looking forward to talking about that and sharing that with the listeners. But I think I’m going to hold on to some of that information until [00:15:00] the next episode.
Rebecca: Oh, leaving us with a little teaser, Grant. I love it. I don’t know if we’ve ever had a cliffhanger on a Good Fit Poor Fit podcast before… but I have really loved this episode. It’s such a specific, but important topic. So thank you so much for bringing this to us and sharing your expertise.
Grant: Yeah, I’m glad we got to talk about this as well. These are just a few of my favorite options for any and every cabinet mod that is out there. Thank you again for letting me be on the podcast and just be able to talk about this. And I look forward to my next episode where I can inform all of the listeners about my overall doctoral capstone project.
And again, that individual cabinet idea that I attempted to take on.
Sarah: Awesome. Yeah. Thanks, Grant, for sharing all of your knowledge and listeners, we look forward to sharing more important information in the upcoming weeks. Have a great day.
Thanks for listening to Good Fit Poor Fit. If you want to learn more… first, find more episodes with transcripts and show notes at goodfitpoorfit.com. Don’t forget to subscribe! [00:16:00] Second, check out our courses at go.universaldesign.org.
We cover housing topics like advocacy, collaboration, home modification, universal design and task adaptations. Lastly, if you have questions or topics you’d like us to discuss, email us at [email protected]. Thanks for fitting us into your day.
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