Bad Designs - Cutting Board

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Cutting Board

This is a cutting board in my kitchen. It is built into the kitchen counter. When you are not using the cutting board it slides into the counter (Picture A). When you need to use it, you slide it out (Picture B). It is very convenient.

I use the cutting board as an extra work surface, as well as for a cutting board. At some point I usually need a spoon, fork or knife. This is the problem: The utensils are kept in the drawer below the cutting board (Picture C). When the cutting board is in use, it totally blocks access to the drawer. This results in having to remove the items from the cutting board, slide the board into the counter, retrieve the utensil from the drawer, slide the cutting board back out and put the items back onto the cutting board.

Design suggestion

One solution is not to use the drawer for utensils that are needed while using the cutting board. However, that particular drawer is the most convenient place in the kitchen to keep the utensils. It is at the best height to easily reach and the best location for putting the utensils away after washing them.

Perhaps some ingenious mechanism would allow the cutting board to be moved to one side after being fully extended. This would allow access to the utensils in the drawer but it might be expensive.

Some bad designs do not seem to have practical solutions. Solving one problem may create another. In such situations, consideration must be given to whether the advantage to be gained in making a design change outweighs the disadvantages.

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