I've baked a number of fruit pies recently and found the best way to maintain the integrity of the crust (staving off sogginess) is to cover the leftover pie loosely with a flour cloth and keep it on the counter. This has worked far better for me than plastic wrap or putting it in a Tupperware pie keeper in the fridge. I would still put any cream/milk based pies in the refrigerator and suffer the consequences with the crust. But most fruit pies can stay a day or two on the counter. My kitchen temp. is in the 65-72 range. The covered plate you're considering would be nice to cover & carry to someone's home, but IMO it's not the best choice for storing.

Great ideas! Here is what works for me and what I have taught others. One idea that cannot be overstressed is to wrap extremely well any food item you want to store for many months...double wrapping is only effective if the correct materials and techniques are used. A magnetic strip holds "the inventory" list for each shelf's contents on the door of our upright freezer. When I add an unlisted item, I add to the inventory, and delete when all of an item is gone. My DH is "finding-challenged," LOL, so this saves time. He knows that baked goods are likely to be in 5# flour bags. Cinn rolls are almost always in coffee bean bags, etc. Each item is labeled. Like grainlady, I group similar items together in small baskets or bags. Usually, the ready to eat foods are on the top shelf, since this is the warmest area and the bottom shelf is the coldest. The chest freezer, downstairs, also has an inventory list. In the fall-winter, I remove the baskets, so I can cram in all the chickens, squash, onions, etc. In the bottom half, I store all the cartons of food (extremely well wrapped), in windbreaker fabric bags. The upper half has bagged food also. Liter and half gallon containers of distilled water fill any empty spaces. A long sheet of bubble wrap covers the contents. The inventory list is posted on the nearby bulletin board and is absolutely necessary to my sanity. Sometimes, I note on my list just how many containers of an item I have left, especially if I have combined several items in one bag. For example, I'll note 2 half gallons of raspberries and 1 half gallon of peaches with 3 half gallons of blueberries...in one bag. (These half gallon containers have 1-2 cup portions of fruits.) This helps when I am making jam in Feb. If any fruit or veg is left from the previous year, when the next crop is freezer ready, the "older" crop is moved to the upright freezer for use.

My school art classroom is not air conditioned in the summer (or any day after 3:30) and I just experienced the heartbreak of throwing out about $200 worth of otherwise perfectly good polymer clay because it hardened over the summer. Granted, here in central OK it gets pretty hot. So maybe the fridge would help.

eagledzines: I haven't quite gotten to the step of weighing my items yet. Almost there! Thanks for the tips on spacing the toe kicks and DW. About the sink cabinet: I suspected 36" would be quite tight as that's the minimum suggested size from the manufacturer. The sink itself is 35" and a bit so I did worry it made for a very tight fit and difficult installation. I'll rejig it and give it more room. nightowl: I will add that to my notes! That makes a lot of sense - it must be a pain to pull things out of drawers with high sides and backs. romy718: Ahh... right, the drawer weighs quite a bit too! Glad you mentioned that. I would NOT have thought to add that on. And, yes, of course, the dividers will add some weight too. Thanks for sharing that thread - I will consult it this weekend as I begin measuring my drawers. beachem: Thanks again for giving me detailed, specific info. It really helps me to understand how things fit together and the different options I have. Adding your info to my notes too... lots and lots to think about this weekend!