Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Unit design for efficiency

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> One thing I would add to Liz's excellent advice is doing away w/ the kitchen
> oven -- altho' I would put in the hook up for resales.  As a single person,
> just a range top would work fine for me.  The oven creates a lot of heat and
> it's expensive to use. I bake in a toaster oven and use the microwave for
> almost everything.  If I ever have to do some serious baking I can use the
> CH kitchen. The space the oven occupies is wasted -- I store stuff in it.

I agree with this 100%. I also store stuff in the oven and I've never opened
the broiler. I'm planning to redo my kitchen to:

1. Put in a microwave above the countertop. I can use the commonhouse if I
want to bake anything larger than a toaster oven.
2. TWO cooking units in the countertop -- I can't remember ever using 4
burners.
3. Open shelves instead of cabinets above the counter,
4. And drawers below -- big ones for pots and small ones for "stuff."
5. A real sink, deep, so water doesn't splash everywhere and you can fill a
pitcher or water a plant.

People say, "What if you have to sell? This will reduce the value because
the next person will have to redo it." NO, there will be a hundred gajillion
single people out there just waiting to buy my unit because it has the
kitchen most people really use.

I also bought a two bedroom unit and took out all the walls (one reason my
outlets ended up in odd positions) so I have a seemingly-large,
spacious-feeling unit. I love it and they can easily be put back in when I
pass on.

Sharon
-- 
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org





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