I bought all the kitchen cabinets for the house I just finished a few years ago and basically forgot the exact layout. I sat in the kitchen for some time and treated it like a logic puzzle, the sink and stove were roughed in so they served as reference points and from there I could figure out where everything went except for two long doors that didn’t fit anything.
I seldom throw things away being a mega might need it someday packrat, and I was doubtful about returning them for a store credit after so much time had gone by so I stared at it for some time and some more and decided upon a course of action.
I made a trip to Lowe’s and picked up a kitchen trash can, the kind with the lid that you have to hold down with one hand while you hold a plate with the other hand and use your third hand to scrape the scraps into the bin. The having to hold the lid part always got me cause if you use the plate to hold the lid sure enough the lid is gonna get something on it that should go into the bin instead and now a simple act of scraping a plate leads to having to wipe things down and yes in some ways I’m very lazy.
I wanted a hand free lid not fancy like one on foot control but something simple open it and it stays there device.
I started with a box I made from birch plywood put it on wheels made a cut out slightly smaller than the top edge of the plastic trash bin insert, covered the interior with liquid fiberglass resin to seal it and make it easier to clean the occasional oops and put polyeurethane on the outside to match the cabinets. The leftover doors cover the front making it blend with the rest of the cabinets and I had a piece of countertop routed for a lid once again to make everything match.
I made a simple hinge from wood and moved the pivot point around until I had it where the lid would stay up and leave enough clearance to remove the insert if I ever had to clean it, then siliconed the lid to the wooden hinge just like the rest of the countertops are secured.
I made it about two inches lower than the rest of the counter so things can be wiped into it and you can roll it to the island if needed.
