The Kitchen Upgrade Jonathan Scott Says Is A Game Changer

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If you are familiar with the Scott brothers, you might already know about Drew Scott's favorite cabinet designs that make life in the kitchen so much easier. One of those includes a cabinet for your trash cans to keep them out of the way and make your space look so much more attractive. His brother Jonathan takes it a step further to make life even easier. In a video on their YouTube page, @DrewandJonathan, he shares a game changer to make the drawer accessible with just the touch of your foot, so you never have to worry about how clean or full your hands are to get to your trash can. 

Having designated trash drawers is certainly a way to make your kitchen look sleeker, and this discreet storage method also saves on space. However, one downside is that the cabinet and handle can easily get dirty. After all, if your hands are full, you aren't going to be able to wash your hands before dumping your scraps. This is why Jonathan suggests going for a hands-free drawer.

Thankfully, you don't have to invest in an expensive upgrade or remodel your entire kitchen to try out this game changer, and it isn't all that hard to add to most kitchens. There are a couple of different items you can buy to upgrade your own trash drawers, allowing you to see what an upgrade it is in your own space.

In Jonathan's short video, he doesn't go into much detail about what exactly his auto-opener looks like. However, he does say, "I can just tap it with my foot. The drawer automatically opens," which gives you a few possibilities to try. The first is a push-to-open latch. All you have to do is purchase the latches and install them, like the Touch Latches for Cabinet Doors by Mskilrh on Amazon, which cost under $15 for six. These are nice because you don't have to use your hands. You can use an elbow, knee, foot, or whatever is available. There are slightly fancier hardware options that open with a simple soft touch, but they require power to run which may be more complicated to integrate.

Another potential kitchen upgrade is installing a small pedal at the bottom of the cabinet. With a simple push, it reveals your trash can, similar to a foot pull. These are harder to find, cost more, and are only compatible with certain pull-out cabinet drawers, but they do give you an easy way to reliably open the cabinet. These are the two most feasible options, but there are others, including motion sensors that open the drawer when you swipe your foot, though they tend to be expensive and require power.