He says, "In Germany it is required to recycle. You basically need a bin for everything: glass, paper, batteries, plastic and metal packaging, organic waste and the rest of household waste. As you can imagine, for all those bins alone you need to come up with an idea if you don't want them to dominate your kitchen. Since we only rent an apartment we don't have much choice of where to put all that stuff. So we've come up with the idea of having a recycling cupboard dedicated to the biggest bins.
We took a Akurum cupboard with Applad doors and handles to match our Ikea kitchen. Put the worktop on which is also used in the kitchen and cut two round holes in it. We sealed and glued the inside cut with edging strip which came with the work top. As lids we used some wooden food plates which Ikea sold in the summer and added Ikea door knobs. In order for the lids not to fall through we cut the holes in the Akurum top about 2 cm smaller than the one in the worktop.
And voila! Our recycling cupboard was done."
Wow, very clever! Great hack :)
ReplyDeleteVery nicely done. It looks very clean.
ReplyDeleteNice, but I wonder how does the bags stay up
ReplyDeletetwo different wood stains is kind of jarring, and you've totally ruined the usefulness of that counter space. i'd prefer to keep recylcing bins in cabinets or drawers where they don't compete for useful space.
ReplyDeletebest.idea.ever.
ReplyDeleteGlyn, I know exactly what you mean. Handling the waste needs a lot of time and space in Germany, especially in some federal countries.
ReplyDeleteThe idea is very clever, good work. In my small kitchen I would have made a cover to use the space of the counter top.
This leaves opportunities for improvement and more possibilities
how do the plastic bags stay up?
ReplyDeleteNot sure about the two wood tones, but that is personal... I would probably go for something stainless.. or white, maybe...
ReplyDeleteOh, and in the end, you seem to have a lot of counter space, and I myself use some of it for easy access storage, that could be just it... I don't believe people work on ALL the surfaces in the kitchen...
Beautifully done!!
xx
Lovely! Great way to hide the recycling bags and yet have easy access to them!
ReplyDelete@"Anonymous" - if the wood colours and lid handles would be a problem for you, simply stain the lids to match, and cut a notch instead of using a handle. Easy peasy.
One suggestion: Recess the handles and that counter space could be used more easily for other purposes.
ReplyDelete"In Germany it is required to recycle." Ah yes. An old adage went: "In Germany, everything that is not forbidden is required."
We have politicians in Seattle who think that way. We had a mayor who wanted a heavy tax on plastic shopping bags. We had a public initiative and voted that out. Last winter, when a blizzard rendered travel about town virtually impossible, the mayor's street department refused to put salt on our streets, claiming it would pollute Puget Sound, which is salt water. That was the final straw. We voted ourselves a new mayor.
Nice idea to hide the bins for a greater and cleaner look.This is really done up well.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! I really love it! Unfortunately our kitchen is finished, so it would be hard to re-organize the waste-solution ...
ReplyDeleteI would have add two small holes for the thumb and another finger to be able to remove the circles instead of a handle. But even though, it's really cool !
ReplyDeleteHow do the plastic bags stay up?
ReplyDeleteWie bleiben die Mülltüten oben ?
ReplyDelete"In Germany it is required to recycle." That's a policy in basically all industrialized countries, so is universal healthcare.
ReplyDeleteThis is the best way to make ikea furniture feel a little warmer, by adding a top with nice natural wood grain. It's also a great way to make different pieces of furniture match, by adding one element like wood to tie them together.
ReplyDeletethe city’s main recycling contractor, collects metals recycling, plastics, paper and other items collected at city drop-off locations.
ReplyDeletehave no clue why people are putting politics in here. I would also like to know how do the bags stay up.
ReplyDelete