City living Old Style?

juliapenguin

Ellidee wrote: »

The first link in my previous post ? http://www.localbargainfinder.co.uk/ HTH

Sorry - got confused!!! It's been a long day

Thanks for that xxxxx

emmie1234

Not sure if anyone's suggested this, but the kitchen in one of the old houses that I once lived in was soooooooo tiny, all I had for storage in there was a double wall unit and a single/half unit under the sink. A friend gave me an old welsh dresser and I painted it up - shabby chic style and bashed it about a bit (sounds naff - but looked great) kept it in my dining room, and used that for storing tins of food etc, cutlery, some pots and pans and my crockery and gadgets.

Could you get some kind of sideboard in your living room and use the cupboard space for storing bits and bobs from the kitchen? you can get some nice trendy ones these days.

I also used to use the top of the wall cupboard for storage, just bought some wicker baskets from instore and bunged stuff in them out of the way.

Pots and pans i used regularly were kept in the oven out of the way too.

Sorry can't be much more help! Hope you manage to get things sorted out

juliapenguin

emmie1234 wrote: »

Not sure if anyone's suggested this, but the kitchen in one of the old houses that I once lived in was soooooooo tiny, all I had for storage in there was a double wall unit and a single/half unit under the sink. A friend gave me an old welsh dresser and I painted it up - shabby chic style and bashed it about a bit (sounds naff - but looked great) kept it in my dining room, and used that for storing tins of food etc, cutlery, some pots and pans and my crockery and gadgets.

Could you get some kind of sideboard in your living room and use the cupboard space for storing bits and bobs from the kitchen? you can get some nice trendy ones these days.

I also used to use the top of the wall cupboard for storage, just bought some wicker baskets from instore and bunged stuff in them out of the way.

Pots and pans i used regularly were kept in the oven out of the way too.

Sorry can't be much more help! Hope you manage to get things sorted out

Thanks for your ideas! Unfortunately the kitchen, dining room and living room are all one room.... But that one room is a lovely room with big windows and views over the city (great sunsets too) so I'm not complaining. I've actually got a Welsh dresser at the house we're desperately trying to find tenants for, but there's nowhere I could fit it here. The big windows take up a lot of the wall space.

The problem with the wall units (there's two tiny half-size units on the wall - they could easily have put up two more :mad:) is that they are ridiculously high up - I'm 5'10" tall and I struggle to reach the top shelf. I'm considering getting a step stool but not sure where I'd put it.

Fire_Fox

Knitty78 wrote: »

Damn, I was really hoping someone might have come up with a solution to the deep door storage hangers!

For most flats even deeper door hangers wouldn't work as the door is quite tight within the doorframe in order to keep out fire. We have IKEA Sagan 'hooks' screwed into the back of our doors, but appreciate that's not always allowed in rented places. They were about £2 from IKEA but now seem to be £7 on eBay, and I have two spare sets ... :cool:

It's pretty risky drilling into stuff unless you have a handyman about the place - Mr. Fire Fox is a fab chef but no DIY expert, he drilled into my bathroom door and out the other side! He looked terrified and I almost wet myself laughing. :rotfl:

juliapenguin

Fire_Fox wrote: »

It's pretty risky drilling into stuff unless you have a handyman about the place - Mr. Fire Fox is a fab chef but no DIY expert, he drilled into my bathroom door and out the other side! He looked terrified and I almost wet myself laughing. :rotfl:

He and Mr Penguin would obviously make a good double act... My first time staying at his house when we met, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw his DIY efforts - it was more Botch It Yourself than anything else. I daren't let him touch a thing in the rented flat... He's willing but not able. And he's no chef... :rolleyes:

Fire_Fox

juliapenguin wrote: »

Thanks for your ideas! Unfortunately the kitchen, dining room and living room are all one room.... But that one room is a lovely room with big windows and views over the city (great sunsets too) so I'm not complaining. I've actually got a Welsh dresser at the house we're desperately trying to find tenants for, but there's nowhere I could fit it here. The big windows take up a lot of the wall space.

The problem with the wall units (there's two tiny half-size units on the wall - they could easily have put up two more :mad:) is that they are ridiculously high up - I'm 5'10" tall and I struggle to reach the top shelf. I'm considering getting a step stool but not sure where I'd put it.

It does sound like you need permission to install something like a hanging rail or magnetic rail lower down. Plain/ industrial style ones can be found pretty cheaply and left when you go, which means your landlords might agree? Then you could hang whatever you wanted off it. If you attach a rail to the underneath of the walll unit I guess it could be seen?

Rosle sell a very expensive and very beautiful rail system, whereas IKEAs is very cheap. Depends on your budget. You can also buy the Twist'n'lock (Croydex) range that you often see for bathrooms in kitchen storage, but I am not convinced they are the right style for a Manchester apartment!

A couple of websites to try, don't forget Amazon, eBay and Lakeland:
www.aplaceforeverything.co.uk/
http://www.umbra.com/ustore/home.do
http://www.kitchen-storage.co.uk/
http://www.allupandon.co.uk/storage/all-tidied-up

Knitty78

juliapenguin wrote: »

He and Mr Penguin would obviously make a good double act... My first time staying at his house when we met, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw his DIY efforts - it was more Botch It Yourself than anything else. I daren't let him touch a thing in the rented flat... He's willing but not able. And he's no chef... :rolleyes:

My OH seems to think everything needs to be stuck with sticky fixers rather than drilling into the walls :rotfl:We currently have a soap holder thing being moved around the bath room that came off about 2 weeks ago (and 2 days after being stuck on the wall) waiting to be drilled properly.

juliapenguin

Knitty78 wrote: »

My OH seems to think everything needs to be stuck with sticky fixers rather than drilling into the walls :rotfl:We currently have a soap holder thing being moved around the bath room that came off about 2 weeks ago (and 2 days after being stuck on the wall) waiting to be drilled properly.

:rotfl:I wish my OH was into sticky fixers - he's lethal with a drill.... But I agree, they're rubbish generally.

emg

I have a similar problem with fire doors and not being able to find over door hooks to fit but I found that the built in cupboards (airing cupboard, hall cupboard and wardrobes) had thinner doors so I have just used hooks on those ones.

missychrissy

juliapenguin wrote: »

Thanks for your ideas! Unfortunately the kitchen, dining room and living room are all one room.... But that one room is a lovely room with big windows and views over the city (great sunsets too) so I'm not complaining. I've actually got a Welsh dresser at the house we're desperately trying to find tenants for, but there's nowhere I could fit it here. The big windows take up a lot of the wall space.

The problem with the wall units (there's two tiny half-size units on the wall - they could easily have put up two more :mad:) is that they are ridiculously high up - I'm 5'10" tall and I struggle to reach the top shelf. I'm considering getting a step stool but not sure where I'd put it.

Could you possibly take down the wall units and install lots of shelving. Doing this might also make your room look larger as well as increasing your storage capacity and your ability to reach.

When I was first married, back in the 70s, we lived in a flat in London. Our landlady let us do most things as she said that we had improved the place.