Is this genius or a total scam?
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We love a good hack that makes life easier—even if it's just by a little bit. Whether the clever trick is organizational, helps to lessen the waste in landfills (hello, Earth Day), or is just a regular ol' design trick from professionals to make your home prettier, some viral Internet hacks are truly eye-opening. That's especially true when the clever fix is something you never would have thought you needed. Take the unique kitchen solution Turkish architectural designer, Melisa, who goes by the username @melisacicekdinc, posted to Instagram: She had two pull-out stepping stools, seemingly made by Hideaway Solutions, built into her lower kitchen cabinets to make accessing the higher shelves easier.
You'd never guess the stools were there if you hadn't seen the video; the pull-outs hardly take up any space because they fold into the cabinets length-wise, making them extremely skinny and barely noticeable when closed and pushed back into where they came from. It's a genius hack for anyone with kids who haven't yet hit their growth spurts—and those of us adults who are on the petite side! Plus, the step stools have wheels on the bottom to make them even easier to pull out, and the stools flip from side to side in their frame, so you can reach a range of cabinets on either side of the built-in.
Turns out this smart solve is something of a design throwback. In the 1950s, many kitchens were equipped with "hidden helper" shelves, which were basically stepping stools you would pull out of the cabinets to climb on in order to reach the higher shelves. You can check out how those looked on our own TikTok account @housebeautiful.
But the fact that this is a hack with history didn't keep it from generating some social media controversy. While comments on Melisa's post generally seem to be supportive (most of them are in Turkish, so thank you to Instagram's translate feature!), another Instagram account, @adatewithyourspace reposted Melisa's video—and that comment section is quite the mixed bag. The person behind the reposting account, Gwendolyn Jones, added a supportive text overlay to the original post, writing "Again, I say This is a genius build!" But the comments on Jones's feed are sprinkled with both support and that classic Instagram negativity.
It appears that people simply love to find something to complain about, even when it isn't in their home and no one is forcing them to use this hack. "Not ideal. Would prefer to have a small set of stairs. Very limiting," one person wrote. Another added, "A step ladder is cheaper than a permanent install and when it breaks you can't just throw it away you have to uninstall and reinstall this is not worth the effort." Well, that's not very eco-friendly, now is it?
Most of the negative opinions focus on the fact that a stepping stool, or even just pulling up a kitchen chair to reach higher cabinets, is cheaper and easier than installing built-ins. But we think that if someone has the space and budget to install these in specific locations around their kitchen where the higher shelves are hard to reach, this is a smart, simple solution for an age-old problem.
And we're not the only ones who appreciate the creativity! "It’s not a waste when your ceilings are 10ft or higher! I’m 5’11 1/2 and STILL can’t reach the top cabinet 😂," one person commented. Another addressed the stepping stool controversy directly, adding, "I love this! Sure, I have a step ladder that I keep in my pantry and drag around...but it takes up space, blocks other things, and when someone else in the family uses it and doesn't put it back, I have to go searching for it." As far as we're concerned, the only opinion that truly matters regarding this hack belongs is the person whose kitchen it is in, and we bet they love the built-in steps that let them reach for the stars—or, at the very least, the spices on the top shelf.
Meghan is the assistant editor at House Beautiful where she writes about interior design, pop culture, and furniture.
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