One of the most common complaints about kitchens is that they don’t have enough storage space. If your pantry and cabinet space is limited, it may be time to consider adding a corner hutch. These classic shelving units are designed to store utensils, cutlery, china dishes, electrical appliances, and other accessories. This frees up cabinet space and allows you to get clutter organized. Since you would otherwise make little use of the corners in your kitchen, you won’t be sacrificing much in the way of floor or wall space by adding a hutch.

Of course, this type of furniture doesn’t have to actually be inside the kitchen. It depends on what you plan on storing inside the hutch and where space is available. For example, you might display your nicest dishes in a glass-fronted “china” hutch in the dining room. This makes table setting easy and leaves your cabinets free for less attractive items. A wine storage hutch with space for all your beverage mixing accessories could be located in the basement. Or, you could put a buffet-style hutch in the kitchen to provide both storage and an extra worksurface.

DIY or Buy Prefab?

Your decision to build or buy a hutch will be determined by your carpentry skills and how simple you want the design to be. Building a hutch in a kitchen can be as simple as putting up a few properly spaced wall mounted corner shelves. Wooden shelves with a rounded or hexagonal profile are least likely to interfere with traffic through the kitchen. These should be reinforced with brackets so they can bear the weight of dishes or small appliances. Fortunately, there are usually studs located at the corners of a room so you won’t have any trouble installing the shelving securely.

As discussed in part 1 of this series, if you spot a water leak in one of your bathrooms, it is important for you to act promptly. This means you need to know where the main water valve is located ahead of time. That way, you can shut it off as soon as possible to prevent extensive damage. The main line shut off valve is usually outside of the house near the water meter. Make sure you have access to this area in case of an emergency. Auxiliary shut off valves are usually behind the toilet and under the sink basin. Once the water is turned off, clean the area and follow the water trail. You should be able to identify the general vicinity where the leak started.

Moisture Detection Tip

There should be a clear dripping pattern or stain in the area of the leak. This can often be observed from underneath the basin of a sink. If it seems to be dry, then use a paper towel to probe the entire area. If the towel soaks up any moisture, then you know where the leak is.

If you suspect that the leak is coming from elsewhere in the bathroom, that’s OK. The same paper towel trick can be used along any pipe connection, valve, or handle. You can also confirm the specific spot by temporarily turning the water back on. That way you can tell if the water is coming from a pipe under pressure or if it is leaking from a drain.

Additional Bathtub Drain Check

Tub drainage pipes can become dislodged or a seal might break. To confirm a bathtub drainage leak, you will need to fill up the tub with water using buckets filled from another location such as the bathroom sink. This is inconvenient but necessary. That’s because you need to isolate whether the leak is a drain, faucet, or showerhead. If you run water from the tub faucet, this will make it more difficult to identify where the water is coming from.