Hasta La Ideas

From Janet:

Made by a family firm in the Beaujolais region of France that has produced its traditional designs since 1936, the Wire Bottle Carrier is great for milk or wine bottles (and also as an impromptu floral centerpiece—filled with clear bottles, each holding a single bloom); £32 at the French House.

Reader Marnie submitted the following to Ask Unclutterer:

Our house has corner kitchen cabinets with lots of wasted space. Is a lazy susan the way to go? I feel like there is a decent amount of unused space when they are used. Do you have any recommendations?

Marnie, I love this question because I had been struggling with the same problem in my kitchen and recently found a solution. The answer we discovered are storage systems that use the descriptive phrase “blind corner” in their names. Some are called “blind corner tracks” or “blind corner cabinet systems” or some version of all of those words.

They’re regular cabinet shelves that sit on a hinge and a pivoting mechanism. The unit pulls out into the room so that you can have easy access to everything on the shelves. When it is not in use, it folds back into the cupboard and occupies every nook and cranny. It is leaps and bounds more efficient than a lazy susan.

Check at your local home improvement store to see what they carry. Online, I’ve found that most of these systems are in the $500-$700 range. That is a higher price than what we found locally.

Thank you, Marnie, for submitting your question for our Ask Unclutterer column.

Do you have a question relating to organizing, cleaning, home and office projects, productivity, or any problems you think the Unclutterer team could help you solve? To submit your questions to Ask Unclutterer, go to our contact page and type your question in the content field. Please list the subject of your e-mail as “Ask Unclutterer.” If you feel comfortable sharing images of the spaces that trouble you, let us know about them. The more information we have about your specific issue, the better.

From Francesca:

Here’s a roundup of housewares shops in Brooklyn well worth a visit.

Above: Storage Jars by Danish designer Ole Palsby; currently on sale ($13.50 to $25.95) at Tivoli Home in Dumbo.

Above: From The Future Perfect; stoneware and maple Butter Case by Tokyo design collective Landscape Products; $82.

Above: The Herb Pot ($25) from Scandinavian Grace in Williamsburg.

Above: From Matter in Park Slope, the Cristal Carafe, designed by Marcel Wanders; $70.

Above: Madeline Weinrib Handprinted Napkins; $12.50 each at Abitare in Brooklyn Heights.

From Julie and Francesca:

Outfit your kitchen with items sourced from local manufacturers or designers, which abound in Brooklyn.

Above: Brooklyn–based Metropolitan Produce’s Pot and Pan Rack, fashioned from a reclaimed beam inscribed with grooves for kitchen storage and bolted to the wall, is not for the faint of wallet: it’s $3,500. However, it could serve as an inspiration for a DIY project.

Above: Joel Bukiewicz handcrafts professional-grade kitchen cutlery in his Gowanus, Brooklyn, workshop; view his wares at Cut Brooklyn or stop in at his shop in Gowanus. The Brooklyn Kitchen also carries a selection of his sleek knives.

Above: The Brooklyn Kitchen carries traditional, high-quality 2.5mm-thick copper pots made in Brooklyn by Hammersmith Copper; the copper sauce pan shown above sells for $154.95.

Above: Stock your kitchen with reusable Brooklyn Based Market Totes for guilt-free grocery toting; $15 each at Brooklyn Based.

Above: Nature Dishtowels ($34) and Nature Runner ($44)  from Brooklyn design shop Simrin; available online at Velocity Art & Design.

Above: Among Williamsburg-based Moon River Chattel’s many offerings are this vintage-looking Roost Clear Glass Cyclinder Lamp, for $165, as well as architectural salvage including lighting, plumbing fixtures and door hardware.

From Francesca & Julie:

One of our strategies for containing kitchen-counter clutter is a tray for olive oil, vinegar, salt—all the cooking essentials you need. That way you can keep everything close at hand but tidily corralled.

Above: The sleek 5006 Tray, designed in 1982 by Italian architect Ettore Sottsass, is $120 at Unica Home for the small size (15.25 by 11 inches).

Above: For a more rustic vibe (and more storage space), the 33-by-12-by-2-inch Galvanized Boot Tray is currently on sale for $29 at Smith & Hawken (down from $39).

Above: The Mudroom Boot Tray from Williams-Sonoma has a slightly smaller profile (30 by 13 by 2 inches) and costs $49.95.