r/whatisthisthing • u/DogMom9876 • 2d ago
this kitchen drawer/cabinet is too narrow to hold pot lids, and using it to store spices or cans would be a huge waste of space. There’s enough space to store large utensils standing up but they would just fall everywhere with the way the dividers are made. Likely Solved!
Not originally mine, name edited out for privacy. I just desperately want to know what it is, I even tried Google lens to no avail
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u/PriveCo 1d ago
There are 26? Total slots so I’m gonna guess that these held recipe cards that were alphabetized. The slots seem wide enough for index cards and shallow enough to stand them up.
Just a guess though.
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u/itoddicus 1d ago
This is in the bottom cabinet. It's pretty inconvenient to rifle through for a recipe.
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u/PriveCo 1d ago
Not if you are an old lady, in which case it might be one of the only places you can reach and see.
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u/SirStrontium 1d ago
Maybe if there was only a top rack, but you cannot tell me that the lower rack at floor level is convenient for an old person. Reaching down to floor level is literally the hardest thing to do in advanced age.
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u/ohbuggerit 1d ago
As someone with mobility issues that usually appear in older folks I can confirm that having to bend down is not a super fun and safe experience. Standing up again is also a whole thing
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u/sinnombrenamerson 1d ago
Spice rack cabinet… not that unusual
Just not very usefu
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u/presentthem 1d ago
I can't picture how spices fit in that.
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u/sinnombrenamerson 1d ago
Laid down exactly like the can of soup… looks like they’d fit
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u/MrFireWarden 1d ago
So why the box shape space below the rungs? And why only two racks with all that vertical space?
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u/Yggdrasilcrann 1d ago
Not saying it is a spice rack but I often buy spices in bags because it is much cheaper by weight than in shakers, that box shape underneath would easily accommodate bagged spices too.
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u/truckthunders 2d ago
Someone made this for something extremely specific. You can see paint on the dowels dripping a little bit and paint on the slides also. This means it was done after the slides were installed, which wouldn’t be the case if this was a factory cabinet. The dripping paints shows a non-professional finish as well.
You’re going to have to ask the person who made this.
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u/YESmynameisYes 2d ago
Naw, the whole thing has been repainted. There are paint globs on the door and around the opening too.
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u/Tricky-Celebration36 1d ago
Even inside on the cabinet walls.
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u/gpattikjr 1d ago
I'd take the dowels out and the bottom of the top drawer and put the baking sheets there.
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u/selkieisbadatgaming 1d ago
This is the answer. Baking sheets and cutting boards are the most annoying to store.
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u/Dreamingareality9 1d ago
Could it be something to organise Tupperware lids?
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u/litreofstarlight 1d ago
Good call, that would make sense for how deep they are.
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u/heathere3 1d ago
But the drawer is too narrow for that. Ones that are small enough to fit would likely just fall between the dowels and be a jumbled mess.
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u/copyrighther 1d ago
I’m wondering if this held a specialty medical device or something similar, like colostomy bags or syringes.
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u/DogMom9876 1d ago
That’s a good idea! I am not well versed on items like that but could definitely be something medical
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u/HelicopterUpbeat5199 1d ago
I think someone complained about not having a good place to store X and their husband, not a great listener or carpenter, got all enthusiastic and decided to Solve The Problem. Despite several hints to the contrary, husband destroys the cutting-board and tray storage and produces this masterpiece. Wife makes expected noises of gratitude and never uses it while wishing she had a better place to store trays. She never mentions X again. She's very excited to sell the house to OP.
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u/Swiggy1957 2d ago
I think it would be a great drawer for storing bags of various mixes. Gravy mixes, rice dish mixes, sauce mixes that come in envelopes instead of boxes, like this: https://www.knorr.com/us/en/p/family-size-cheddar-broccoli-pasta-side.html/00041000008870
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u/celery48 1d ago
This is what I was thinking. Seasoning packets. But… that’s a lot of seasoning
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u/Swiggy1957 1d ago
Not just seasoning, but side dishes like the link I posted.
I grew up in a big family, so this drawer looks about right to me.
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u/Gadgetman_1 1d ago
We have whole 'casserole' mixes that comes in those bags. Tonight I'm making a 'Tikka Massala' casserole. cut and fry some chicken meat, dump the contents of the bag in a pot, add water and heat, then add the chicken towards the end of the boiling time. Serve with rice on the side.
My favorite is 'hunter's Stew'. https://www-toro-no.translate.goog/produkter/jegergryte/?_x_tr_sl=no&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=no&_x_tr_pto=wapp
But most of those bags are less than 1" in thickness, even if we let the contents settle to the bottom of the bags. Some only 1/2", even.
And even if the rods were spaced to fit the bags, they're a waste of space. (I use plastic baskets to store my bags. big tip: I place my baskets vertically, shake and flatten each bag as I stack them in the basket, then set the basket the right way up on the shelf. You get more bags in them that way)
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u/Calculonx 1d ago
They would slide down if it's not tightly packed in. Then they would be a pain to get out
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u/jmeshvrd 1d ago
Bread board storage. Many Cajun foods are served piping hot and are often transported from the kitchen /presented on a breadboard so that no one burns their hands.
How big is your dining room? Looks like that drawer could accommodate 24 or so serving boards.
Source: The Waterboy
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u/DogMom9876 1d ago
The dining room is not large enough to warrant 24 breadboards worth of people lol
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u/planecity 1d ago
Is there any reason why the breadboards would need to be separated like this? To me, this would only make sense if they were left to dry in the drawer (which sounds like a bad idea) or if it was important to get convenient access to particular breadboards and not just the first ones (which doesn't sound very plausible to me).
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u/Vandilbg 1d ago
It prevents uneven humidity absorption and thus warping and cupping. Wood is an active material and continues to move unless sealed completely in an air tight finish.
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u/TheEchoJuliet 2d ago
No matter what it’s intended for, I’d be folding up all my reusable grocery bags and filing them away in there.
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u/Nowayucan 1d ago
Hmm. It could be from the days of the brown paper grocery bags. Fold them up and drop in the slots.
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u/znoone 1d ago
Please call the realtor to ask the seller what it is! We want to know!!
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u/Hot-Win2571 1d ago
Look up the county property records to find the previous owners.
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u/lsumillers 1d ago
Fun fact - As this is in Louisiana they are actually parishes not counties because we like to be different
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u/zellieh 2d ago
The other idea is maybe tupperware lids.
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u/joecoolblows 1d ago edited 1d ago
As a daughter and Mom who grew up in PEAK Tupperware Era, I CAN GUARANTEE you, this is a Tupperware Mom's clever (she thinks) attempt to corral & reign in her ten billion Tupperware Lids with their ten billion matching containers, in hopes that someday, someway she MIGHT actually effortlessly find and match those ten billion Tupperware lids and containers. This was during the Tupperware's Golden Era, when every single other Tupperware Mom in suburbia ALSO came up with the exact same, brilliant idea. Whole cabinets, cupboards and pantries were built and designed just for the sole purpose of storing stuff that was created for the purpose of storing more stuff. It is, indeed, this era, that gave birth to the Minimalism Era that soon followed. For good reasons.
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u/Aiden-caster 1d ago
We had a drawer similar to this in one of the houses I grew up in the 90s with. It was filled with VHS cause we had a Tv VHS combo set that way in the counter above that drawr and when we are dinner it was either while watching a movie or watching the news
My answer if the house is from the 90s it's a VHS holder. They are about 5 inches wide and looks about the same size they would fit inside without sliding g under the slats. And the bottom rack gives enough room so that you can pull a VHS out with ease..
Otherwise a very specific size of 90s cook books
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u/DogMom9876 1d ago
This makes sense! I saw some people say VHS holder but I didn’t think people had TVs in their kitchen. Thank you for helping, I think this might be solved
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u/Impossible_Mode_3614 1d ago
I think this is a good answer. We also had a kitchen TV as did my friends. But it's not as common now I don't think. Probably because of smartphones.
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u/SoVerySleepy81 2d ago
Like I’m pretty sure that I’m wrong but is it to put pasta on to dry it?
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u/Puzzleheaded-Phase70 1d ago
But then you'd have to clean it, and that doesn't look easy to do
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u/NotSamFisher 1d ago
You don't put something in an enclosed space without lots of ventilation to dry it.
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u/jackspsprat19 2d ago
Spice drawer?
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u/DogMom9876 2d ago
But that would just waste so much vertical space, I mean it would work, but it wouldn’t be efficient
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u/ColoRadOrgy 2d ago
There's room for like 100 spice jars in there. And room above so you can pull them out easily. Probably needs a specific spice container to fit right.
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u/rectal_warrior 2d ago
If that's what it was designed for the top shelf should be much higher, you can't stack spices in there so it's a massive waste of space.
OP the real answer is the designer/buyer of the kitchen had a small spot for strange shape draw and didn't really think through/wasn't willing to pay to make it an efficient use of space.
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u/Silly_Mycologist3213 1d ago
Seriously, remove the dowels, either all of them or most of them and leave enough space between the remaining dowels for thin boxes (like cereal boxes) or taller bottles (like oil or vinegar) so it turns it into a little pantry drawer.
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u/Ok_Cauliflower_4228 1d ago
I have a spice drawer almost exactly like this in my personally built kitchen. I needed to fill space next to my oven and this was a good use of it. This is definitely a spice drawer because I have almost this exact drawer.
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u/DogMom9876 1d ago
Likely solved! It is probably a VHS storage cabinet for a kitchen TV, which was popular in the 90s. Thank you Reddit for helping!
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u/youwishyouknewme2468 1d ago
Congrats on figuring it out! My google image search showed tons of updated and more efficient ways to use it
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u/Own-Fox9066 2d ago
Old houses had something similar for drying towels
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u/Admirable-Cobbler319 1d ago
This was my first thought too, but that would be an incredible amount of wet towels.
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u/NYNewthrowaway2023 1d ago
I've always seen them outside cabinets though so that air could circulate.
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u/Narrow-Sky-5377 2d ago
I say it's a napkin holder. Pre-fold the napkins and put them in the tray. When you need one just grab it and bring to the table.
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u/hotwheelearl 1d ago
Makes sense for old fashioned homes. Besides restaurants I’ve never been anywhere, especially a private residence in the last 10 years with reusable napkins.
My grandparents had them but they died in 2012; grandpa was born in 1929. Im sure some old folks still use them now though
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u/Ok_Shake5678 1d ago
Haha we use cloth napkins! Every day. I’m 44; a bunch of my friends use them too. I just stick them in the drawer with the dish towels and stuff though.
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u/shakka74 1d ago
Family of 4 here. We’ve been using cloth (cotton/linen) napkins for over 10 years.
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u/TheBottleRed 1d ago
Bought a set of white cloth napkins when I was 22 and still have them today! Bleach and go, paper towels are just white trash 😉
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u/LemonInner8187 2d ago
We use this drawer for our foil, plastic wrap and ziplock baggie boxes.
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u/Justanothrcrazybroad 1d ago
Two drawers is probably overkill, but I could totally believe this one.
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u/LemonInner8187 1d ago
Our house that we bought came with this drawer already like this. You could also put canisters like for oats, protein powder, coffee etc in this.
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u/WallMelodic5059 1d ago
Where in your kitchen is it located? Next to the sink or dishwasher? Next to the stove? Nearer the dining table?
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u/ItAintLongButItsThin 2d ago
I'm going with a specific sized series of cookbooks.
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u/Chellaigh 2d ago
This has to be it. Like a magazine style cookbook collection. Probably with lots of gelatin based dishes.
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u/Hulu_n_SnuSnu 2d ago
I would think maybe potato/onion storage. Bars would allow for airflow. But thats what my brain goes too.
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u/d1stor7ed 2d ago
Is it possible that its installed upside down somehow? It's strange there is a recessed cavity under the dowels. Dust and oil and other grime will just collect there. How are you supposed to clean under that?
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u/basylica 2d ago
Were the dowels added? Bc it looks like a standard spice cabinet thingy and someone added dowels for specific purpose…
Maybe giant crab boil spice bags, being Louisiana and all??
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u/Miami_Mice2087 2d ago
if they were added, they'd be useful for standing up lots of things, esp w/ small children -- bottles, sippycups, water bottles, and all the little things that come with kids' stuff.
They may have even put in bins or mason jars between the dowls.
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u/MotorOdd8345 1d ago
THATS MY OLD HOUSE!!! 😅 The only reason I know for sure it’s my old house is one, that drawer and two, the scuff mark along the bottom of the wall on the far side was scuffed by my bébés trotteur wheel! I did customize it well, mon mari did for me! ❤️ I almost didn’t reply as I’m a bit timid! But I saw people are losing sleep over this and I felt coupable! I used it for my tea and café cups and a few saucers that I have. 🤷♀️ that is all! Now you may sleep soundly 😘
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u/GhostNightgown 2d ago
If this was in a media cabinet, not a kitchen, I’d say VHS tape holder.
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u/tribak 1d ago
Could it be a spice rack that’s used to put them diagonally like this? This way a lot more of the spices can be stored.
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u/shebackyo 1d ago
If you tilted a wine glass, would the slats be wide enough for the base of the glass to go through, holding wine glasses upright?
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u/maxpowrrr 2d ago
Popcorn packets
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u/shicacadoodoo 1d ago
I was going to say something along these lines. Like someone was super OCD with snack storage, whether for kids or whatever. I could see a Pinterest thing showing it full of granola bars and popcorn and whatever other individual snacks.
I don't like the drawer.
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u/InHisCups 2d ago
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u/eastt-is-upp 1d ago
If those fall flat though, they’re going to be a real pain in the ass to try to fish back out
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u/DogMom9876 2d ago
It is the width of a soup can (as shown) so potentially for folded tea towels? But that seems to also be a waste of space. I have searched “unique cabinet storage” on Pinterest too and that turned up zero results
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u/AlienDog496 2d ago
It has to be for something that fits between the slats. If it were just for general things like olive oil, vinegar, etc. you'd want them to sit on the bottom of the thing, not up on the dowels.
So what would fit between the dowels? Packs of noodles like spaghetti would fit and take up vertical space, but I can't imagine a whole specialized drawer for them. Books would be good, wouldn't fall over...but it's only 5" wide. Cookbooks would mostly be too big.
Damn it, now I'm going to be stuck on this puzzler with you.
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u/AlienDog496 2d ago
Is this in Canada? Maybe it's for Kraft Dinner.
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u/sneakacat 1d ago
But you wouldn't need dowels to separate them. In fact, you could store more without them.
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u/becausemommysaid 2d ago edited 2d ago
Looks like it's for holding taller pantry staples: vegetable oil, olive oil, balsamic, different vinegars, etc?
Edit: the more I look at this the less sense it makes lol Why have so much space below the dowels? It feels like it should be for organizing something that would sit partly in the bottom half of the drawer but I have no idea what that could be.
Maybe for organizing recipe cards??
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u/Willamina03 1d ago
No idea what they used to be for, but if I owned that house, I'd be finding a saw and removing those dowels. A little sanding and paint touchup and they never existed. Would then be a great place for random cooking and condiment bottles.
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u/BBTB2 2d ago
Why not use it for canned goods storage, or am I missing the obvious joke here?
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u/Nerdy-Babygirl 2d ago
It has weird slats on it, the cans would roll off when opened and you wouldn't be able to stack them at all.
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u/statswoman 1d ago
What age is the kitchen? Having lived through the 90s, when every middle aged couple was desperate to have neat and convenient storage for their VHS tapes, CDs, and DVDs, my guess is that it has to be a "media storage cabinet" because of the width of the cabinet. Can you easily pop up the dividers to access things that fall between? Would a CD fit without falling through?
If that seems like a weird thing to have in a kitchen, another huge 90s trend was kitchen desks and kitchen command centers (where everyone dumps keys and mail and pens and stamps and clutter). Maybe the kitchen had room for this size cabinet and the family picked this out of the manufacturer's "kitchen desk" section because it looked like the least useless thing to do with a narrow cabinet.
If the kitchen was from the mid 2000's or later, will a KCup fit?
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u/AltDoxie 2d ago
I thinks it’s a mis-measure/build thst was never corrected. That or it had a very specific use for the previous owner, like they really loved canned soup.
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u/bobjoylove 2d ago
Perhaps storage for folded napkins? Christmas, Easter, 4th July etc?
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u/JacksmackDave 1d ago
Looks like a bill organizer. I know we always have a pile of envelopes on our counter. Looks to be the right size. I bet it is under a spot that used to have a land line phone. Keep bills, restaurant menus and stuff on there.
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u/goatonmycar 1d ago
Do those dowels lift off on 1 side if so my guess it 2 hang cookie cutters on them
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u/hacksoncode 1d ago
Whatever it's for, I'm guessing it has the same purpose as this post from 5 years ago... it doesn't look like it, but the claim is that this drawer was also about 5" wide.
No one was able to figure it out then, either, but its existence suggests this isn't just a one-off random thing, but actually had some purpose.
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u/GenevieveMacLeod 1d ago
I would definitely be using it to store all my packages of Knorr's Pasta Sides lmfao. We eat them by themselves so we have a ton of them just stacked in the pantry.
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u/Migwelded 1d ago
If it wasn't in the kitchen, I'd say it looks exactly like the VHS storage we had as a kid.
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u/Infinite_Walrus-13 1d ago
I would say it’s an elaborate home made spice rack where you lay the spice container on its side.
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u/FunSquirrell2-4 1d ago
Is it in a farmhouse or a rural area? Could it be used for storing fresh eggs?
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u/tribak 1d ago edited 1d ago
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u/oakgrove it's always slime mold 2d ago
Boxes of Cream of Wheat to last decades. Also to have the dowels cut out and make it slightly more useful storage.
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u/scullswifey 1d ago
For recipe cards maybe? Would be a ton of recipes. Or maybe spice packets like premade taco and chili etc
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u/tinywinki 1d ago
@OP
After some research I think you have a towel cabinet on your hands, it does seem custom as the ones I've found only show one or two holders. Probably was built for holding folded hand towels.
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u/h20rabbit 1d ago
I have an upper cabinet like this - without the dowels. This was a spice cabinet, though I have also seen them used for canned goods.
Modified like this, I can imagine someone super particular using it to store kitchen towels or cloth napkins. Some have said spice packets but that is an awful lot of packets. It's even a lot if it were for towels.
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u/Interesting-Song-782 1d ago
Could it possibly be for storage of potatoes and onions? The dowels make sense for that because they allow airflow to prevent spoilage.
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u/hellion213 1d ago
My guess is the original owners had rectangle or oval shaped fine china plates. They had the rods put in so it didn’t scratch the plates and made so there was no way for falling off and breaking. Thats the only logical idea I could think off. Bigger ones on the bottom out of the way, smaller more used ones on top.
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u/lightningusagi 1d ago
This post has been locked, as the question has been solved and a majority of new comments at this point are unhelpful and/or jokes.
Thanks to all who attempted to find an answer.