We love a good hack that makes our lives easier, even if it's just a little bit. Whether those clever tricks are organizational, ones that help reduce waste in landfills (hello Earth Day), or just plain old design tricks by experts to make your home more beautiful. Some viral internet hacks are truly spectacular. This is especially true if it's something you never thought needed a smart fix. Let's take a look at unique kitchen solutions. Melisa, a Turkish architectural designer who goes by the username @melisacicekdinc, posted on Instagram. She had built two pull-out step stools, likely from Hideaway Solutions, into the lower shelf of the kitchen to give access to higher shelves. Easier.
If you hadn't seen the video, you'd never guess there was feces there. The drawers are folded vertically into the cabinet, so they take up very little space. It's very thin and barely noticeable when closed and pushed back into place. This is a genius hack for those of us with children who haven't hit their growth spurt yet, and for us petite adults. In addition, the step stool has wheels on the bottom to make it easy to pull out, and the stool rotates from side to side within its frame, allowing you to reach various cabinets on either side of the built-in.
This smart solution turned out to be something of a design throwback. In the 1950s, many kitchens were equipped with “hidden helper” shelves. This was basically like a step stool that you could pull out of the cabinet and climb up on to reach higher shelves. You can check out what these look like on our very own TikTok account @housebeauty.
However, the fact that this is a hack with a history could not avoid causing controversy on social media. While the comments on Melisa's post seem to be generally supportive (most of the comments are in Turkish, so thanks to Instagram's translation feature!), another Instagram account @adatewithyourspace reposted Melisa's video. and its comment section is quite controversial. Gwendolyn Jones, the person behind the reposting account, added a supportive text overlay to the original post, writing, “Again, I think this is a genius build!” But the comments on Jones' feed are littered with both support and typical Instagram negativity.
People just seem to like finding something to complain about, even if it's not in their house and no one is forcing them to use this hack. One person wrote: “Not ideal. There should be a small staircase. Very restrictive.” Another added: “Step stools are cheaper than having them permanently installed, you can't throw them away when they break, you have to uninstall and reinstall them, which is not worth the effort.” Well, that’s not very green, is it?
Most of the negative opinions focus on the fact that using a step stool or even just pulling up a kitchen chair to reach high cabinets is cheaper and easier than installing built-ins. But if someone has the space and budget to install these in certain areas around the kitchen where high shelves are hard to reach, we think this is a smart and simple solution to a long-standing problem. I am.
And we're not the only ones who appreciate their creativity. “That's not for nothing when the ceilings are over 10 feet! I'm 5'11 1/2 and I still can't reach the top cabinets 😂,” one person commented. Another directly addressed the step stool controversy, saying, “I love this! Of course I have a step stool that I keep in the pantry and drag around… but it takes up space and gets in the way of other things. , when someone else is in it, the family uses it and won't put it back, so you have to go find it.'' As far as we know, that's the only opinion that really matters about this hack. I am the owner of the kitchen I belong to. And we bet they love the built-in steps that let them reach for the stars. At least the spices on the top shelf.
Meghan is the next editor-in-chief. beautiful house I write about interior design, pop culture, and furniture.
