Beyond The Fork In The Road packs, moves and unpacks your belongings for your transition to a new home. We strive to set up your kitchen, just as you had it in your old home. If you like to have your potholders next to the oven, we’ll put them there. If you like to have your drinking glasses stored in the cabinet upside down, we’ll duplicate your setup in the new home.  However with the changes in styles, trends, and advances in new cabinetry, drawers and shelving, we find we must adapt these spaces not only to fit your kitchenware, but to suit your changing needs. 

One of the first changes you’ll note is in the hanging positions of your new kitchen cabinets. In newer construction, ceiling heights are often higher than in older homes. This may translate to kitchen cabinets and shelving being at a higher reach than to which you are accustomed. As we age, we may also find that our reaching range and strength are diminished. Have you noticed it’s getting more difficult for you to lower heavier items from upper shelves? Are you struggling to even reach some of your higher shelving after a surgery? Stretching and staining, carrying a step ladder around, and climbing your way to your dishes may be unsafe for you as you age.   You may have placed heavy mixing bowls on a shelf above the counter in your old farmhouse, but in the new villa, you may want to place these bowls, heavy serving dishes and appliances in lower cabinets. What changes have you noticed lately in your use of the old kitchen? Are there items you wish you could access that could be moved to a lower or higher location depending on your physical needs? Are there things you no longer use as much that could be eliminated or tucked away for rare occasions? Maybe we can swap their locations in the new kitchen. If you’ve taken the time to evaluate your own kitchen needs, you can let our kitchen coordinator know how to better serve you. Communicating your desires, needs, and concerns will also enable us to unpack your kitchen drawers and cabinets the way you’d like them and in safer ways. Together we can find solutions and our staff can make suggestions that have worked for other clients in the community. 

Your new kitchen may also have deeper drawers than your older home, which work very well for keeping your heavier bowls, serving ware, appliances, and pots and pans. Some people choose to have their new kitchen designed with a drawer that has vertical storage dividers for their everyday dishes to rest on their sides, rather than in a stack. This type of system allows them to  easily take dishes straight from the dishwasher to the drawer, without a lot of heavy lifting or stretching. This is especially nice if you have weighty Pfaltzgraff dining sets. 

In your new kitchen, you may have chosen to have open shelving or glass cabinet doors to showcase your china or pottery. Beyond The Fork In The Road will clean the glass doors and/or shelves so your new display shines bright for all to see. Just let our kitchen coordinator know how you’d like your items placed in these open concept cabinets. 

When we unpack your dishes, food, and spices into your new kitchen, we can also work with you to adjust the shelving within the cabinets for easier access or to maximize space. Thankfully, newer kitchen cabinets offer adjustable shelving versus the older stationary shelving of yesterday.  Beyond The Fork In The Road will also provide space savers as necessary to add additional storage options within reach. Space savers such as coated metal racks can keep you from stacking all of your plates and bowls onto burdensome piles. You may choose to keep only a few dishes, mugs or bowls on the lower shelves and store the extras out of reach, to be brought down for special gatherings or family meals. Tiered corner space racks also allow us to use as much vertical space between shelves as possible, keeping more of your dishes close at hand. Stepped racks are great for elevating spices and smaller tiered and rotating turntables or lazy susans also allow you to find what you need without a lot of hassle. When you can see what you need, you’ll use it. When it’s hidden in the back of your cabinet, it’s more likely to expire before it’s used or you’ll spend more money buying duplicate items. If you think about it, grocery stores alphabetize the spices on their shelves to help consumers make quick and easy purchases. We’ll alphabetize your spices if desired, so they are quicker to locate when you’re cooking. 

You may find that your newly designed kitchen has done away with the round lazy susans in a base corner cabinet. Newer designs exchange this for a kidney-shaped corner lazy susan which can rotate out of the corner and make it effortless to see and access what you are storing. This will save your knees and back as you won’t have as much trouble getting down to what you need on the inside of the rotating shelf. Base cabinets may also contain what’s referred to as an appliance garage, which is a pullout drawer situated far below other shelves or drawers, so you can stow your bulky appliances out of sight and free up precious counter space. 

Beyond The Fork In The Road will also organize your kitchen drawers with cutlery trays and baskets as needed. We will neatly arrange everything from your utensils to your junk drawer if desired and will help you find solutions to eliminate counter clutter in your new home. We can also cut shelf paper or shelf liner to fit your new drawers and shelves. Let us know if you’d like us to purchase these items for your new kitchen prior to moving day. To save yourself time and money in the moving process, it’s best if you downsize before we arrive to pack, so we know exactly what is moving to your new home. See our Blog “Preparing Your Kitchen For A Move” for some helpful suggestions. If downsizing your kitchen poses a challenge for you, we do offer sorting as part of your customized moving solution. Contact us at 717-335-8080 for more information. We can also offer solutions for donating, selling, or disposing of your unwanted kitchen items. 

If we have access to your new home at the end of our packing day, we’ll transport your kitchen in our company vans to your new home. Then on moving day, our kitchen organizer can begin unpacking and setting up your kitchen while the moving company is loading their trucks with the rest of your furniture and property at your old home. There is a lot of time and planning that goes into arranging your new kitchen, so this earlier unpack is time well spent assisting you in the perfect layout that works for you. 

On moving day at your old home, we will pack all of your “final pack” kitchen items, like your breakfast foods, remaining place settings, and coffee maker. Final pack items are those things you need to be comfortable at home the night before and morning of the moving day. When the moving truck is almost finished being loaded with furniture, we will pack the contents of your refrigerator and freezer into our sterilized coolers. These items will be placed on the truck last, so they are first to come off and be moved into your new kitchen. We will arrange like items as we load your refrigerator and freezer taking note as to how your old appliances were stocked. We’ll also sort and organize as we unpack your dry and canned goods and place them in the pantry or cupboards so you’re ready to cook your next meal. 

As we unpack, we’ll layout your kitchen as close to the way you had it at your previous home, while also setting it up to be more organized, functional, and safer for you. You are free to tell us how you’d like it set up or leave the job to us. You’re in control of the move and we’re here to serve you. We are happy to assist you in whatever ways will reduce the stress of moving for you and allow you to find your kitchen gadgets in the natural places you’d look for them.   

For our clients who are moving into personal care, where meal plans are typically provided, Beyond The Fork In The Road will guide you in taking a place setting or two and the items you will want to have on hand for preparing the occasional snack, cold beverage and cup of coffee or tea, for you and your guests. We will take the same great care in assisting you with these choices, packing, moving and unpacking your kitchenette and minifridge, so you can feel at home in your new suite or apartment. 

Contact us at 717-335-8080 to learn more about the customized action plans we offer. We look forward to assisting you in transitioning into your new home and easing the stress of setting up your new kitchen!