Making Kitchen Cabinet Accessories

Library Journal

When homeowners want to upgrade their property, they often begin with the kitchen. Frequently the center of the household, the layout of the kitchen can be vital to the orderly preparation of meals, whether for a single person, a family, or for entertaining. Lee's book is directed at women who are building a new kitchen or remodeling one. She gives information on appliances, sinks, flooring, lighting, countertops, and other items. A few brand names are given, but prices are not mentioned. Beginning with a section profiling women who have different needs in a kitchen, Lee then suggests which chapters would be most useful. This is a sort of expanded update of Terence Conran's The Kitchen Book ( LJ 1/15/78) but with more text and fewer photographs. Allen has written a how-to book that aims to help the homeowner make a kitchen more efficient by using wasted or unused spaces. He gives directions for making and installing chopping blocks, breadboards, drawers, a hideaway table, and a moveable island. Most of the projects can be done with hand tools or simple power equipment. Some of the directions seem a little sketchy, although the illustrations and photographs may make up for that. Both of these books would be useful in public libraries, but neither is a necessary purchase.-- Rebecca Wondriska, Trinity Coll. Lib., Hartford, Ct.