Corner cabinets -- help me hate mine less

[dtremit]

I'm fortunate to have stumbled upon an apartment with a fantastic kitchen layout -- despite being compact, it's got a great modified-galley layout that's a pleasure to work in. However, the previous owner who built it stuck a pie-cut corner base cabinet in one corner, and that thing is the bane of my existence. To be clear, it's this kind of cabinet (though it's got a single two-piece door) :

 

 

Like the one in the picture, it's got a L-shaped, half-depth shelf.

 

Sadly none of the nifty organizers used for blind corner cabinets seem to exist for this style -- there's just lazy susans, which a lot of people seem to hate. And I don't even have one of those (though I think there's a mounting hole).

 

I have bad knees, following an injury, and I can't even reach half the cabinet; I have to call my partner over if I need something that's slipped in the back. And the shelving arrangement makes it difficult to store little-used stuff; the shelf is too shallow to store big stuff, too short to store tall stuff, and even at the ends it's hard to reach.

 

Does anyone else have a cabinet like this, and if so, have you found a good way to use it? Do you have a lazy susan you love? Is there hope for me and my cabinet? 🤣

[Yiannos]

We have a corner cabinet in our current setup that I also hate. It has a lazy susan which is fine for things that fit in the height/width constraints of the platters, but inevitably some stuff needs to be taken apart to fit ie my food processor, blender, etc. Have you looked at anything like this?

Corner drawers

 

If I had to live with it I would probably do something like this, but in all honesty it will probably get ripped out when I get the kitchen remodeled.

[lindag]

Yes.  Mine is like your described however it has a double turntable inside (the upper cabinet also has that feature). It is a huge space saver.

i've had friends visit who've said they wished they had one also.

i think the turntable makes all the difference.

[rotuts]

@dtremit

 

interesting problem

 

I had the opportunity to put something in a corner when I re-did my kitchen

 

I didn't  do it and it looks a bit different than your corner

 

the doors I see don't seem to swivel back to the cabinet in an ' ordinary way '

 

I meed you see the fronts , when w a simple ' open' system , you would see the back.

 

hope that hits my idea across.

 

is the shelf in the cabinets ' permanent ? '

 

I say this as there a Susans that are not that lazy , of different nights that might help you more

 

w/o that shelf.

 

you just soon then around , and they have adjustable shelves for it just no one base unmet.

 

you might be able to fine two , one for each shelf

 

or if you can remove the shelf , one taller unit,

 

if you can't reach down to this unit

 

put the stuff you rarely use , in a stack system

 

and have your friend look for oddly used stuff !

[BeeZee]

I have a corner cabinet with lazy susan top and bottom shelf, they are like a pie with a wedge cut out (not a full circle) so they sit in line with where the shelves would be (I have no upper shelf, just the lazy susan). I use it for small saucepans on the top shelf, larger pans on the bottom. My door is a single hinge bi-fold and it opens more than 90 degrees so I get full access to the opening.

I really don't love the corner, but having the door that opens fully makes a difference. The lazy susan shelves are self-leveling in that if you turn them they return to "center".

[kayb]

Put me down in the lazy susan category. I don't remember if that cabinet had an upper shelf or not, but if it did, the LS was on both shelf levels. I used it primarily for not-so-heavy stuff -- plastic containers, lids, etc. Then I reorganized cabinets at some point and put baking goods down there; that worked fairly well. Always looked for wedge shaped plastic canisters I could fit onto it that would hold all the flours, etc., but never found them.

 

I didn't love it but it wasn't horrible, and beat wasting space.

 

[dtremit]

49 minutes ago, BeeZee said:

I have a corner cabinet with lazy susan top and bottom shelf, they are like a pie with a wedge cut out (not a full circle) so they sit in line with where the shelves would be (I have no upper shelf, just the lazy susan). I use it for small saucepans on the top shelf, larger pans on the bottom. My door is a single hinge bi-fold and it opens more than 90 degrees so I get full access to the opening.

I really don't love the corner, but having the door that opens fully makes a difference. The lazy susan shelves are self-leveling in that if you turn them they return to "center".

 

My door works that way too -- I just couldn't find a picture that showed the shelf configuration and the door. Of course I didn't think to post this until I got to the office... 😀

 

The single tier idea is appealing -- I do keep some small appliances on the bottom of the cabinet, and I'd thought I'd need to give that up for the lazy susan. How is yours mounted to the cabinet?

 

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

is the shelf in the cabinets ' permanent ? '

 

I say this as there a Susans that are not that lazy , of different nights that might help you more

 

I mean, nothing's permanent with the right power tools. I honestly am not sure if it's on shelf pins (all the shelves in the other cabinets are) or screwed in, but I wouldn't hesitate to saw it out.

There is a plastic cap in the bottom of the cabinet that looks like it's designed for a lazy susan.

 

38 minutes ago, kayb said:

Put me down in the lazy susan category. I don't remember if that cabinet had an upper shelf or not, but if it did, the LS was on both shelf levels. I used it primarily for not-so-heavy stuff -- plastic containers, lids, etc. Then I reorganized cabinets at some point and put baking goods down there; that worked fairly well. Always looked for wedge shaped plastic canisters I could fit onto it that would hold all the flours, etc., but never found them.

 

I didn't love it but it wasn't horrible, and beat wasting space.

 

 

Thanks for the additional vote of confidence. No lead on wedge shaped canisters, but I did come across wedge-shaped bins when searching for organizers.

[teonzo]

Unfortunately I have one here and I hate it more than you do.

Nothing constructive to add, I just wanted to vent out.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[Smithy]

I too have wedge-shaped Lazy Susans on my cabinet shelves. I like them. I haven't bothered with wedge-shaped canisters because rectangular canisters can be packed so that there's room for circular objects in the corners between them. Here's a photo of the bottom corner cabinet.

[heidih]

I have had sevral cabinet makers try to sell the lazy susan spinner I have never approved it on an architecturl plan. And  the doors they instatll with the gooofly multi hinge for some reason irrites me as well. I'll accept the label of old fashioned and curmudgeon. Does not function for me.

[dtremit]

@heidih yeah -- I understand there are probably situations where nothing else fits, but in my kitchen, there's a 30" cabinet on one side, and a 36" cabinet on the other. They could have adjusted those slightly and fit a "blind" corner cabinet with the magic pullout shelves to much better effect.

[gulfporter]

I hate my corner cabinet too.  To it, I relegate kitchen purchases that I regret, but won't admit to my DH.  It's my Black Hole of Calcutta.  

[dtremit]

7 hours ago, Yiannos said:

We have a corner cabinet in our current setup that I also hate. It has a lazy susan which is fine for things that fit in the height/width constraints of the platters, but inevitably some stuff needs to be taken apart to fit ie my food processor, blender, etc. Have you looked at anything like this?

Corner drawers

Somehow missed your reply the first time around. Sadly the opening on mine is small enough that I think I'd end up with an 10" wide drawer out of a 30" cabinet...

[heidih]

I do not use the spinner. I crawl in there to get my salad bowl or whatever but those designers need a  reality check. I have tried to get them to understand but they tend to stick some kind of model. 

[chromedome]

18 hours ago, BeeZee said:

I have a corner cabinet with lazy susan top and bottom shelf, they are like a pie with a wedge cut out (not a full circle) so they sit in line with where the shelves would be (I have no upper shelf, just the lazy susan). I use it for small saucepans on the top shelf, larger pans on the bottom. My door is a single hinge bi-fold and it opens more than 90 degrees so I get full access to the opening.

I really don't love the corner, but having the door that opens fully makes a difference. The lazy susan shelves are self-leveling in that if you turn them they return to "center".

My setup is similar, though my lazy susan isn't self-centering. I use it for pots and pans, because that's what *needed* to go in that space for various reasons.

 

It's much more useful than an L-shaped pair of shelves would be...I've had that option, and loathed it. OTOH I'm not a big fan of this arrangement either. The handles of my pots and pans often jam, and there's a lot of wasted space behind the lazy susan. Also, if anything falls down behind the lazy susan, it'll stick and you'll have an entertaining time trying to excavate the culprit (on arthritic and damaged knees, in my case).

Watching reno shows, I've seen a couple of arrangements I like better. This page shows a couple of the ones I like, the "glideouts" shown at the top in the animated GIF and the pull-out trays shown further down. I've also seen a variation that combines those basic themes.

 

https://www.shelfgenie.com/blind-corner-cabinet-solutions

 

 

Edited April 10, 2019 by chromedome (log)

[dtremit]

54 minutes ago, chromedome said:

My setup is similar, though my lazy susan isn't self-centering. I use it for pots and pans, because that's what *needed* to go in that space for various reasons.

 

It's much more useful than an L-shaped pair of shelves would be...I've had that option, and loathed it. OTOH I'm not a big fan of this arrangement either. The handles of my pots and pans often jam, and there's a lot of wasted space behind the lazy susan. Also, if anything falls down behind the lazy susan, it'll stick and you'll have an entertaining time trying to excavate the culprit (on arthritic and damaged knees, in my case).

 

In your particular case, I wonder if something like this would be useful: Not-so-lazy Susan ? I don't need to store skillets in my corner cabinet but it seems like it'd be useful if I did.

 

That Shelf Genie "Glide Around" looks almost ideal -- but given you can't even get a price without a "design consultation" I'm guessing it's stupid expensive. This wire equivalent is interesting, but the center drawer is only 12" wide, which is just a little too small for a lot of stuff I do store down there. And I feel like nothing would actually fit in the side baskets. Plus it's $600, versus $120 for a good lazy susan.

 

(I can commiserate on the knees -- you can probably hear my cursing up in Canada when I drop something behind my freezer drawer, which I imagine is similar.)

Edited April 10, 2019 by dtremit (log)

[chromedome]

59 minutes ago, dtremit said:

 

In your particular case, I wonder if something like this would be useful: Not-so-lazy Susan ? I don't need to store skillets in my corner cabinet but it seems like it'd be useful if I did.

 

That Shelf Genie "Glide Around" looks almost ideal -- but given you can't even get a price without a "design consultation" I'm guessing it's stupid expensive. This wire equivalent is interesting, but the center drawer is only 12" wide, which is just a little too small for a lot of stuff I do store down there. And I feel like nothing would actually fit in the side baskets. Plus it's $600, versus $120 for a good lazy susan.

 

(I can commiserate on the knees -- you can probably hear my cursing up in Canada when I drop something behind my freezer drawer, which I imagine is similar.)

 

I've seen those as well, and they're both improvements on the basic lazy susan design.

 

Truthfully, the only time I'm likely to do this is if I'm building a house to suit my needs. I'd avoid a corner cabinet entirely, if that's an option, but if I have to have one I'm open to one of the higher-end solutions. What feels "stupid expensive" as a retrofit is a relative drop in the bucket when you're first building, especially if you plan to use that kitchen for decades. Which, if I have the opportunity to own again, I certainly would. After a lifetime average of <18 months per address, this stone is pretty tired of rolling.

Edited April 10, 2019 by chromedome (log)

[dtremit]

8 minutes ago, chromedome said:

ITruthfully, the only time I'm likely to do this is if I'm building a house to suit my needs. I'd avoid a corner cabinet entirely, if that's an option, but if I have to have one I'm open to one of the higher-end solutions. What feels "stupid expensive" as a retrofit is a relative drop in the bucket when you're first building, especially if you plan to use that kitchen for decades. Which, if I have the opportunity to own again, I certainly would. After a lifetime average of <18 months per address, this stone is pretty tired of rolling.

 

Oh, definitely. Not really possible to avoid a corner cabinet in some kitchen shapes -- including mine. The solutions for "blind" corner cabinets are so superior, though, that I can't imagine specifically using an L-shaped cabinet under most circumstances.

 

I'm lucky (in many ways) to own this place, but it's too small for us long-term; we're mostly waiting out the transit project that's hammering outside my window to wrap up before we move on. So as much as I'd like to gut the kitchen...

[Kerry Beal]

Lee Valley makes a corner cabinet solution here.

[demiglace]

I hate those corner cabinets. I've lived in a few places that had them. Lazy susans or not, they never worked for me. My knees are shot so I would have to lay down on the floor to see what's back there. Now I just keep a hockey stick in the kitchen. It can get anything out.

[Okanagancook]

If one had a cat it would make a fine litter box area!

[heidih]

This is my useless mess. 

[BeeZee]

My setup is like @heidih‘s, but without the shelf in the center. So I use that vertical space for standing up some thin stuff to the side (extra lid for skillet, cooling rack, etc).

[dtremit]

Huh. I've never seen a corner cabinet like that, @heidih! Specifically the extra bit where the toaster is.

 

With the shelf removed, you might be able to use one of the "blind corner" solutions like @Kerry Beal posted on the "long" side, and have a skinny space for baking trays on the short side. (Assuming, of course, the door opens wide enough.)

[Maison Rustique]

On 4/9/2019 at 11:23 AM, dtremit said:

I'm fortunate to have stumbled upon an apartment with a fantastic kitchen layout -- despite being compact, it's got a great modified-galley layout that's a pleasure to work in. However, the previous owner who built it stuck a pie-cut corner base cabinet in one corner, and that thing is the bane of my existence. To be clear, it's this kind of cabinet (though it's got a single two-piece door) :

 

 

Like the one in the picture, it's got a L-shaped, half-depth shelf.

 

Sadly none of the nifty organizers used for blind corner cabinets seem to exist for this style -- there's just lazy susans, which a lot of people seem to hate. And I don't even have one of those (though I think there's a mounting hole).

 

I have bad knees, following an injury, and I can't even reach half the cabinet; I have to call my partner over if I need something that's slipped in the back. And the shelving arrangement makes it difficult to store little-used stuff; the shelf is too shallow to store big stuff, too short to store tall stuff, and even at the ends it's hard to reach.

 

Does anyone else have a cabinet like this, and if so, have you found a good way to use it? Do you have a lazy susan you love? Is there hope for me and my cabinet? 🤣

I would gladly trade mine for yours! We have the worst cabinetry lay-out I have ever seen. In our corner area, the stove is next to it, so the cabinet doesn't make an L--just goes way long with no way to get back into the depths of it. I put stuff in there 10 years ago when we moved in and haven't seen it since. Then, we have another one that goes back over the sink, which is set in a corner. To get into that one, I literally have to climb up onto the counter to reach the top shelf. And no, I am not short. I could go on and on, but trust me on this. I'd rather have yours!