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Why our microwave nook was a terrible mistake and how for $30 we love it again

We had a professional ‘designer’ help us with our kitchen as we really only wanted to go through renovations once and this was going to be our last forever home.

I am a 53yo disabled man and I have lived with my dad for the last 13 years after multiple health incidents.

We downsized from our family home to a smaller house near the water in Mandurah, WA. At first we liked the simple floor plan that could be sectioned into two independent units if we wanted or needed in the future.

As we began refitting the house we were very conscious of making the house accessible by wheelchair and able to transition with our care needs. The old single person kitchen was enlarged and a microwave nook was put under the counter so that spills didn’t result in burns. After 5 years of grumbling about bending down to reach into the microwave all the time. One day while it was up on the bench for a deep clean of the cabinet we just left it up there.

Being able to reach the microwave at waist height has been a huge benefit for me as I would get vertigo and nausea and would often not end up eating whatever I had been preparing. So the mixers were demoted to the nook and the new grumble was lifting them up onto the counter when needed and then having to put them away afterwards.

So the idea was born about whether we could have a slider put into the nook that could lift the machines up to counter height. After a few months of not finding any off the shelf designs we started to wonder if there was a simple Bunnings trick that could fix the new issue.

There is already a power point and a vent in the microwave nook. The night light is motion sensing and becomes a handy torch in power outages. The chopping board hasn’t been getting much use and fitting the soft close sliders to it has given me the slide out that I wanted and if it just a quick martini I can even run the machines on board. Once a week I make up dog food and so I can release the slider and put the board up onto the bench and just latch it back in when I have finished.

If I can work out a way of having it swing up to bench height I will do an update.

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AndeD6210

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @AndeD6210. It's fantastic to have you join us, and many thanks for sharing your project.

What a great solution to a difficult situation. I love how you used the chopping board as the shelf. Did you screw the runners to the underside?

I'd be keen to see if you could get it to lift it; that would be nifty. If you were to add an additional timber panel on top of the bottom, the sliders could be moved onto it. That additional piece could then have gas struts attached to it in the corners. I think you could then slide the chopping board out so it clears the cabinet and then lift it up on the bottom. The struts would pickup the added shelf. Lowering would be the reverse. It might take some work to get the struts to function correctly.

Many thanks for sharing.

Mitchell

Noyade

What's providing the light @AndeD6210 ?

EricL

Hi @Noyade

It appears to be a Click Nightguard Mini Rechargeable Nightlight or similar to it.

Eric

Noyade

Thanks @EricL

Reading the reviews - once turned on, the light is permanent? Not a sensor?

EricL

Hi @Noyade

Odds are its a dusk sensor and only turns on when it gets dark. I suggest getting a motion sensor activated one, like the Arlec Dual Sensor Mouse Motion Nightlight or similar. Here is a link to the LED motion sensor night lights.

Eric

AndeD6210

Thanks Eric, that is the one. We have them next to each of the 4 main transitions in the house, so that we can see into the room beyond, mostly because the dog loves to sleep in doorways and is a huge falls risk when he freaks out if we bump into him.

-Garage inside on wall waist height

-Backdoor outside waist height

-Kitchen nook inside under bench

-Front door inside floor level

There are also Arlec Solar Movement Activated Flood Lights on each of the 4 corners of the house at the outside edge of the eaves shining back along the walls. They are set to turn on when triggered. However in Summer we set the side ones where the patio is to work as a nightlight.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/arlec-solar-movement-activated-floodlight_p0121367

AndeD6210

Oh wow Mitchell that is a really clever lifter, if the gas struts were installed in an X pattern it might lose a bit of stability (which can be an easy fix) but the struts could then pretty much lift the false floor up close to bench height.
I had a look at how the lower draw of our dishwasher lifts the tray up to our drawer height so we can transfer the clean dishes back into drawers without having to lift or bend. I guess there is some design patent issues to copying it but I can’t even work out what it is doing other than something like an etcha-sketch and machano had a baby.

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