Cabinet Furniture

There is just never enough space in a kitchen. Even the largest kitchens eventually end up running out of cabinet space, at which point displaced boxes, bottles and cans begin their inevitable migration to the top of the refrigerator and, finally, to the countertops themselves. The biggest waste of prime kitchen real estate usually comes in the corners, where access is most problematic. Installation of a well designed kitchen corner cabinet can, however, go a long way toward alleviating clutter and putting an end to the natural migratory pattern of pasta boxes and soda bottles.

The most difficult style of cabinet to work with is the blind corner cabinet. In this design, the bulk of the cabinet space is buried behind another cabinet. Access is often limited to simply reaching in and feeling blindly for whatever object you are trying to retrieve. Consequently, blind corner cabinets are often the final resting place for rusty old baking sheets and bulky kitchen gadgets that seemed like a good idea when we bought them but never get used. Such things are best consigned to the basement or attic (or better yet, the neighborhood garage sale) and should not be taking up valuable space in the kitchen.

If you are stuck with an existing cabinet, there are several products on the market you can install to make the space more usable. These range from simple plastic containers in which items can be organized and pulled out individually to sophisticated slide out drawers that deliver the entire contents of the cabinet easily to hand with the pull of a knob.

If you are installing cabinets as part of new construction or a kitchen remodel project, there are a number of cabinet options available to address the storage issues inherent in the corners. The most obvious is to install a cabinet that incorporates a lazy susan in the design. Lazy susans are circular multi-level shelves that spin like an old record turntable to allow access to all sides. They are a simple and straightforward solution, and the only disadvantage is the possibility of an overly aggressive spin tossing an item over the lip of the shelf and into an inaccessible corner of the cupboard. If you would prefer a cabinet with more wow appeal, you could also opt for models with spring loaded shelf mechanisms that slide into place when you open the door.

With the products and technology currently available, your kitchen corner cabinet no longer needs to be consigned to nothing more than eternal storage for the onion blossomer you got for Christmas ten years ago and grandma’s old cast iron cornbread molds. Whether you upgrade your existing cabinets or buy new, the corner of your kitchen can become a useful and dynamic solution to your kitchen storage dilemma.  If you only need the top part of a corner cabinet, be sure to check out the top corner hutch cabinet models!