Kitchen features inspiration: garbage chute

One of the fun, but also challenging, aspects of building or renovating a home is that you have so many options! Of course there are smart, useful changes you can make, but there are also a lot of bells and whistles you can add, some of which are more fun than practical. I'm not sure where I stand on this pair of doors, added to a kitchen backsplash. They lead to garbage chutes, one for trash and one for recycling.

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On the one hand, it seems like that might be nice to have when you're cooking. You wouldn't have to walk away from your prep to throw out trash, and you wouldn't have to worry about spills, drips, or droppings all over your kitchen. Plus you could throw out as you go along, leaving less clean up when you're done cooking. Another benefit would be that the trash can itself is not in the kitchen (I'm guessing these lead to a basement), so garbage odors would be kept out of the kitchen, too.

On the other hand, I can see the trapdoors getting dirty and smudged with fingerprints pretty quickly. I also wonder if the garbage chute would get dirty and smelly- if you're throwing out unbagged trash, probably. So now you have a difficult-to-reach area that needs frequent cleaning. Ultimately, I wonder if it's really necessary? Sure they are fun and exciting, but I'm not sure this is the best use of your construction/remodel budget. Personally, when I am cooking something that will generate a lot of trash, I like to use a "garbage bowl" à la Rachel Ray to throw my scraps and trash in, which serves basically the same purpose.

As with any design choice, whether it's right for your project is ultimately a personal decision, based on factors like how you usually cook, your current kitchen layout, your budget, and what it would take to put this system in your kitchen.

Original article from Re-Nest.