Pantry Design – The Corners Have Me Stumped

I mentioned yesterday that the lighting/electrical plan for my pantry has me stumped. Well, that’s because I just can’t wrap my head around the cabinet situation. Or more specifically, the corner cabinet situation.

I keep looking at pictures of pantries online, and in so many of them, the corners seem to be completely wasted space. Even on this one, which is probably my favorite pantry of all that I’ve seen, the corners on the bottom seem to be wasted space…

I know that’s very common in a kitchen design, but in a pantry that’s considerably smaller than most kitchens (although my pantry is bigger than our condo kitchen…ha!), it just seems like too much space to waste. If I’ve done my math correctly (which is doubtful), that’s about 12 cubic feet of space lost in each lower corner. Wow!

Same thing here. The pull outs are a great idea, but the corners are completely lost…

And again…

And again…

And again…

On this one, it looks like they didn’t even utilize the corners on the top. To be honest, I love the cleaner look of the shelf design, but that’s so much wasted space!

On this one, it looks like they left the corners open and accessible. I like that, but I wonder if things would just get lost back there in a design like that.

 

So that’s where I am on my pantry design — stumped on the corners. Do I just resign myself to the fact that losing those corners on the bottom is standard? Do I try to utilize them somehow? And if I leave them open, should I add lighting under there (see…that’s where the electrical plan is affected) so that things don’t get lost in a cavernous hole? Are there any other clever corner storage options besides lazy susans, which I really don’t like and don’t want to use?

If you were designing a 12′ x 8′ walk in pantry, what would you do with the lower corners? Find a way to use them, or not worry about them since there’s so much space otherwise?

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110 Comments

  1. Have you looked into “super susans” ? They’re like the way hotter cousin of the lazy susan. They sit on a fixed shelf, but spin the same way. I have one and love it. You can load it up with appliances, and because it sits on a fixed shelf it’s not tippy at all. (I have our crockpot, stand mixed, blender, lots of extra large serving bowls, food processor on ours and that’s not even half of it, and they work perfectly) There’s also no center pole, so if you overfull and something falls off, it’s pretty easy to reach across and pick it up.

    1. I’ve never heard of those! Thanks! I’ll look into them. My main issue with lazy susans is that the ones I’ve seen just look so flimsy, like all they’d hold is some canned food and spices or something, and that center pole seems to drastically limit what you can store on them. I’ve never seen a super susan that will hold small appliances, and the lack of a center pole sounds great!

      1. I’m with Sarah. I’ve had them in two houses and love them because of the extra Storage they provide. In my current home I have one that holds a large and small crockpot, two huge cooking pots(the type you can do canning with), an extra long toaster, my blender, a food processor, plus some oversized jars of things like honey, protein powder, and whatever else my husband spies at Costco. I keep the heavy appliances on the upper shelf and they are easy to pull out and put on the counter above them. No bending or stooping to get at things. And they probably would be a blessing for Michael, as he could roll up to them and easily pull out appliance. Mine has only two shelves and no railings, just a lip on the edge of the shelf. That’s what makes it so easy to get large things in and out. No appliances on the counter. Yay!

        1. Although we haven’t moved in yet, we got these this time around too. I’m with you on the ones with the pole being a pain. They also make a different corner unit that fits into the corner, then swings outward so you can access the entire space of items. We didn’t have room for that or we would have gotten it. It requires a bit more room to open, but really is the most functional and useful. Kraftmaid has several options, called base blind corner lazy susans. They also have drawer units that fit into the corner, but to me, they looked cool but didn’t have much useful space. You should browse their site!

      2. We made something like these these in one of our homes. Used a lazy susan metal circle which had ball-bearings scotch wrt got at a big box lumberyard, cut plywood or wooden circles from 3/4″, screwed the mechanism to the circle and the circle to the pantry shelf. Or screwed it the other way around, can’t remember, it was over 40 years ago.

    2. I have this type in a 36″ angled cabinet with three fixed shelves with a turntable on top of each of them. Turntables have guard railings all around. Lots of space and I keep my small appliances, colanders, salad spinner, etc. on them. Have never had anything fall off in 15 years. One of the best things I did in my kitchen, besides lots of pull out drawers in the cabinets!

      1. WOW! I had no idea lazy susans came in so many shapes. I will be ordering the hidden corner lazy susans for 3 cabinets with useless space right now!!!

    3. This sounds like your solution right here! In my kitchen, I have a corner piece of counter top separate from my main counter top, and it attaches to my Pantry. It’s open underneath, and into the corner. While I appreciate the extra space (I wouldn’t want to loose it – just like you!) items do get lost back there. But at the same time, I usually keep my very uncommonly used items there (ie punch bowl lol). But one of these Super Susans would be phenomenal!

      1. Corner drawers are really great, but you need cabinets the same depth on both walls for the corner drawers to be feasible. I really like the first photo you posted, Kristi. It seems to me that you wouldn’t be wasting too much space as the shelves on the left are not nearly as deep as the cabinets on the right. If you opt for equal depth cabinets for both sides then corner drawers are the way to go.

    1. When I built my kitchen cabinets, I didn’t want to waste much corner space (our kitchen isn’t very big!), so for the bottom I did 2 corner drawers, the second is more of a small tray meant for pot lids, and then a single 36″ lazy susan tray on the bottom that is VERY stable since it doesn’t rely on a pole. I store some small appliances and pots and pans on that. The corner drawers end up being really deep – ours are on 28″ slides.

      The super deep drawers are actually really useful for things like extra-wide parchment paper rolls or stuff like that that every once in a while don’t fit straight in a standard (what 22″ deep?) drawer. I don’t have to waste horizontal space somewhere putting them on a shelf. Plus, it was really fun to figure out how to build them!

      I’m not super nuts about the 3-tier lazy susan that we have inside the upper corner cabinet, but my husband really wanted it, and all it holds is cups and mugs, etc so nothing really heavy and it has seemed more than sturdy enough for that.

      FWIW, I did have to install both lazy susans before the cabinets were put into place because I chose turntables that filled as much of the interior space as possible, and those ended up being too big to put through the front openings and they had to go in before the backs were put on the cabinets! If those ever come out, they are going to come out in pieces! =)

  2. Since your pantry is so large, I wouldn’t really worry about losing the corners.

    What are you planning on putting in the pantry? Maybe figure this out in order to see if you need the corners.

    1. It’s going to be a combo food pantry and butler’s pantry, so both food and my nice china, serving dishes, plus small appliances that I don’t use every day.

  3. Your pantry is so large that I personally wouldn’t worry about it…but knowing you, that wasted space will worry you, so I know you’ll come up with a remedy you like! Gonna be awesome!

  4. In my very first house we had no Kitchen. (it was an old factory that we turned into a house.) My husband had a cousin who was a Master Cabinet Maker and he completed all of our cabinets for free! I had custom cupboards for my specialty pots and cookbook shelves and EVERYTHING!LOL Anyway, what he did in my walk-in pantry was this. The lower and upper cabinets did not meet at the corners. He created corner shelves that were stationary. They were about 2 feet wide at the front and of course narrowed at the back where they met the corner. They had straight fronts that met with the cabinets on either side. They were not large shelves, but I liked that. I stored my Kitchen Aide mixer on the counter below them and it stayed plugged in so that I could just mix in the the pantry. I kept large salad bowls on one shelf and crystal serving trays on another. Etc. On the other corner I had a large canister for my sugar and flour on one shelf each. They were not large shelves but they held the things I used everyday. It was wonderful and now I am missing my old kitchen pantry. LOL

      1. I like that idea, especially if the shelf is angled at the corner to meet the cabinet on either side, which I think is what you were explaining. What a fabulous idea!

        I have closed cabinets where one goes back to the wall, and stuff does sometimes get lost in there. Over the years I’ve learned that’s a good spot to store seasonal stuff that I only use once or twice a year, like canning material, gingerbread house accessories, and thanksgiving servingware. Not ideal but manageable. But I’m going to file Sheila’s idea in my head for our distant-future kitchen reno. I just love that idea!

    1. some hinged doors for corner cabinets are wider than others. you do NOT want narrow doors. in my old house i had wide doors and the old style lazy susan with the pole in the middle. worked fine but didn’t hold that much stuff. in the new house i have lazy susan with the turntable underneath the shelf and no pole so there is much more storage but the door is narrower so very difficult to get large things out, mixing bowls and such.

    2. I have the same thing in my kitchen. Amish made cabinets with a hinged cabinet with a lazy Susan hid behind it. Then on top, I have the corner cabinet set at a diagonal angle so there is storage space in there but it is shaped kind of weird like a trapezoid or something. It works out okay.

  5. Given that there are only two of you in the house and you already have cabinet storage in your beautiful kitchen, I’d have to say this is not an issue to stall the construction. If you leave space, you might use it; you might lose something back there. If it’s just blocked off space, it’s not there to bother you (theoretically!). But, this is just me. I’d not fret over the space you’re ‘losing’ and just consider it the way things are going to be.

  6. Why not lazy susan corners. In our kitchen our bottom corner cabinet has half moon lazy susans that rotate and slide out for easy access to the items at the back. Pretty sure this is what we have http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/40265649/ Another idea would be something like this http://www.goodshomedesign.com/diy-lazy-susan-pantry/ or even just corner slide out drawers like these http://www.wowpantry.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/pantry-organization-tremendous-wood-pantry-pull-out-drawers-with-stainless-steel-concealed-cabinet-hinges-and-decorative-blind-corner-cabinet-organizer-600×338.jpg

    1. I do have a corner cupboard with a two-tier lazy susan from IKea, too and it’s pretty amazing how much stuff we store in that cupboard alone. So I’d think it is wasted space if you don’t use the corners, as you can never have too much space in a kitchen (or pantry) 🙂 our version is sturdy enough so that we can store all our pots, a lot of Tupperware, handheld mixer and blender, loads of bowls and more on it!

  7. Oooh! Oooh! I have ideas! (Don’t I always?) 🙂

    I’m personally a huge fan of open shelving. I hate having to open doors to get at things, especially inside a walk-in pantry. I wouldn’t be afraid of things getting lost back there. I’d simply put stuff I don’t use as frequently in the corners–those small appliances, serving dishes, or big pots and pans that only come out a couple times a year during the holidays or preserving season or whatever. Since you really only care that the part that you can see through the door looks pretty, I would think this would work in your case. You could have closed cabinets in the middle of the back wall and then transition to open shelving on the corners and sides.

    Another option is to use the corners for tall items. If you’re keeping any cleaning supplies in there, that’d be the place for brooms, vacuums, etc. Or maybe a hook or two for aprons or open shelving for kitchen towels. Recycle bin, mop and bucket, etc.

    If you want to get seriously DIY, Sawdust Girl did a crazy pull-aside, then pull-out blind corner cabinet for her pantry. Go Google it. Seems a little complicated for me, but you might be interested.

    Another option would be either an open or closed custom lazy Susan. I know they’re kind of cliche, but my current kitchen actually came with two UPPER cabinets with huge wooden lazy Susans in them. They were sturdy enough and wide enough to hold glasses or plates. I use one for all my spices and baking supplies and I removed the other to make room for plates. It’s a really simple design of 3 pieces of finished plywood on a center dowel spindle. It has maybe half-inch lips around each shelf, which could be easily done with that iron-on formica or wood veneer edging. The top and bottom are held in the cabinet so it’ll spin by a block of wood with a hole drilled in it and then you just nail or screw the block in place, similar to how you’d do a closet hanger bar except sideways.

    If you want to spend some money, I’m pretty sure they make prefab blind cabinet hardware that is sort of a hybrid of a lazy susan and shelving. They’re square-ish shelves that come out and back when you open the door so you can make use of the blind space.

    One last option is to just build a blind cabinet where you can actually reach all the way into the blind space. That may seem silly because it’s hard to get at, but we all have those things–appliances and whatnot–that we only use a couple times a year and so maybe you don’t care if you have to get on your knees and dig to get at them.

        1. I wonder if it would work better if the cabinet to the right pulled out, the middle and left slid over behind it, and then you had access to the corner section. It would only work well if that section was narrow, though, I think.

  8. I like the idea of the corner drawers. I think my mom had those swing out shelves that nested back in the corners. That’s where a lot of small appliances when to die. lol Now that I think about it- I don’t have corner cabinets. It’s the island and the wall behind. That said- I would probably do a corner opening door with pie shaped swiveling bin-esque drawers… whatever- here’s a photo. Now keep in mind- I like to cook, bake, and all that… Here’s what I would like- It’s the bottom photo http://www.reliableremodeler.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/18/creative-kitchen-storage/

  9. And open space like that would drive me crazy when everything else looks neat and tidy. I would think you’d have plenty of storage space without that small area.

  10. Depending on what you will actually be storing in your pantry you could put an 8-10 foot cabinet smack dab in the middle of the long wall. On the short walls you can make 90 degree open shelving floor to ceiling to utilize every inch of space available. I understand that one of the short walls will have a freezer but you can work around that also. Just my thought if you don’t want to lose space.

  11. I have a kitchen that “uses” the cabinet corners, and they are all just places where items I don’t hardly use nor need are crammed in.

  12. Seems this is the same as open or closed storage in the kitchen. Open shelves would require more maintenance in terms of dusting and keeping everything clean and tidy. Closed cabinets lessen that cleaning chore. Then how much money and time do you want to spend on those corners–corner cabinets add cost, for example. If you want closed and save money, eliminate the corner cabinets entirely and fill in with stock cabinets. If you want open, then just open shelve all the way around. If you want a mix, easily accomplished as Sheila F. suggests above.

    In terms of electrical, plan your cabinets and shelves to have a counter and then outlets above as you would have in a kitchen. That solves your electrical planning, I think. Then add in any specialty electrical requirements–like a freezer.

    Consider having your cabinets less than kitchen cabinet depth so pantry items, including appliances, are easier to reach. I found than 18 inches allowed me to have the largest countertop appliances accessible and easy to use.

  13. My house has a walk-in pantry and I love it! I actually enjoy putting groceries away because I know exactly where everything belongs. I have a large lazy Susan’s in the corners but still put items there that are rarely used. It works great for me!

  14. I know you don’t like lazy susans, but I have two, one in each of the two bottom corners (with hinged cabinet doors). I LOVE them, mainly because I don’t have to get down on my hands and knees to pull stuff out. Cuz it’s then hard to get up…. My one upper corner cabinet has triangle-shaped shelves with a regular cabinet door. They really work for me.

  15. When designing our kitchen, we opted for blind lower cabinets vs a corner cabinet with the weird pie-shaped door that swings out (which is what we had in our original cabinets and I hated it !!!).

    Before deciding on the blind cabinet, we had actually considered butting the L-layout cabinets up to each other at their corners, leaving a void in the corner — BUT, we would’ve built it out from the other side of the wall (which happens to be our dining room) and had a door and functional storage accessible from the other side of the wall (dining room rather than kitchen). I still really love this idea. I can’t remember what you have on the other sides of your pantry so it may or may not work out that way for you. But, it’s the best way to maximize function and storage space, just perhaps not the most efficient in the sense that the storage is accessible from a different room entirely.

    A little graphic: https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcSb-gsNrWLVVLptPxNPytxjcnFso3ZMfa8hMnY7geG20QXNZ_BydQ

  16. A little off topic, but a lot of these shelves don’t seem to be adjustable. If I were building a pantry from scratch, I would want adjustable shelves because of the variety of things that would be stored.

  17. I know you hate to lose the space, but…I have a 1940s single wall kitchen. It’s saving grace is 9 ft ceilings with cabinetry built all the way up. There is one corner at the end of my wall of counter where the top cabinets are open into the corner. I spent a HALF HOUR pulling stuff out of there looking for one thing this morning. Some days, I swear I will never live in a kitchen with an open corner cabinet again. Your pantry is huge. the drawers and open shelves are nice. If you do a lower next to the corner with a door, you can have the things inside that swing out when the door is open and fold back into the corner when the cabinet is shut.

  18. Maybe recycling bins that would lift out when they need to be emptied and open shelving that wraps around the corner above that? good luck

  19. I KNOW I’ve seen a pic of the upper OPEN shelves where they turn the corner but without something in the middle – an L shape…but *&#* if I can find a pic now. It’s a gorgeous design, and if you’re going to keep the uppers open, it would work great for you. Maybe that on the upper open cabinet, and then a behind closed doors lazy susan pull out below. So you won’t have to look at the lazy susan!

  20. I would say go to a kitchens showroom and see what you find most comfortable. A kitchen designer (from the team that works in the showroom I visited took me around and persuaded me that corner shelves with bifold door is a better solution (and cheaper) than a lazy suzan. It was a floor kitchen cabinet with a shelf as in Sheila F. link and with a door as in Stephanie link but a wider opening, so the access to the back of the cabinet was quite easy.

    I also like Justin’s idea about a corner cabinet for tall items, perhaps it is the most practical one. Another benefit is it is also the easiest to make and you don’t have to buy any fancy hardware.

    1. Another vote for Justin’s tall cabinet. Install outlets and keep vac, dust buster, emergency flashlight etc., plus regular broom/dust pan, mops, bucket. Then you wouldn’t have to figure one style for upper cabinets and another for lower.

  21. My kitchen corner cabinets have lazy suzans (they were there when we bought the house). Not crazy about them, but they’re functional since my cabinets wrap around the kitchen walls in a square U configuration. I like the idea of those corner drawers but I can see myself bumping shins and knees on the edges while they are open. My favorite idea is building corner shelve units floor to ceiling and having the cabinet butt up against them. Or in worst case scenario, leave the cabinet space open and just store items you don’t use often in those corner spaces.

  22. I would recommend an angled corner cabinet or shelf, and I also think a tall corner cabinet would be great. I wish I had space for a pantry! We have a California pantry–tall cabinets in the corner.😣. With 4 kids, it’s always a mess and difficult to find things, and also hard to keep stocked. I think something simple that isn’t too crazy difficult or complex to build will work out well for you. The whole pantry is gonna be awesome!

  23. This blogger tried a bunch of solutions and ended up scrapping trying to salvage the corners.
    http://sawdustgirl.com/pantry-update-blind-corner-drawers-and-countertops/

    My only idea is to have “secret” shelves in the back corner where you can store almost never used items in boxes. You would need to make sure the drawers blocking the secret corner shelves are removable. On second thought maybe that’s where you hide passports and old tax paperwork?

  24. The only way that I see to resolve the issue would be to end the upper and lower cabinets on the short end. Then on the other (West) wall make a broom type closet, that has closet doors that open and the closet extends back into that space upper and lower and can be used for brooms, mops and vacuum cleaners, etc. that would be for your West side wall. I guess for your East side wall just leave that empty. I have that space open in both upper and lower cabinets in my kitchen and honestly stuff gets more than lost. As a matter of fact, when we moved into this house, after several years of living here and having cleaned out the cabinets when I moved in, I found a bottle of booze stashed way back there. I apparently didn’t clean as well as I thought. (my husband’s a beer drinker and has never hid that so it wasn’t ours)

  25. Kristi, this is off-topic for this post, but I ran across this “advice” piece today and as a recent widow, I checked it out to see if there were things I had not thought of and maybe should be doing. OMG. Who are these helpless women this is directed to? I thought you would find it pretty funny. http://www.nextavenue.org/slideshow/ultimate-survival-guide-new-widows/?hide_newsletter=true&utm_source=Next+Avenue+Email+Newsletter&utm_campaign=ba28f21801-10_04_2016_Tues_Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_056a405b5a-ba28f21801-165582949&mc_cid=ba28f21801&mc_eid=5e3cba14a3#slide12

  26. This got long… but enjoy. There’s not a single corner cabinet in your kitchen. The freezer can be in a corner (one down). Then do a long built in along the window wall with deep bases. The framed wall (1/2 without freezer) would have a narrow (8″, 12″ at most) door to corner open adjustable sheving to hold cans, charge things. Not wrappinng around a corner gives you more manuverable space. Just make sure the opposite wall’s built ins aren’t so deep to restrict you to manuver down low also maintain some extra assessability for Matt.

    More/other details? Leave a base corner open to have a project/kitchen cart to park under the counter top. Carts could be cheaper and ignore any unsquareness of the room, plus take advantage of your level floor for Matt. The corner counter (opposite from freezer) can be where a counter appliance or two lives. That way you don’t see appliances easy, but you still get convinence. Below have a trash/recycling pull out (keeps kritters out) or two deep pullouts to hold more appliances. Possibly create a tall narrow pullout that will pull tall brooms out of a narrow cabinet on the sunroom wall or by the freezer (like the fridge size spice racks on Pinterest).

  27. I work at a custom cabinetry shop. We use a corner optimizer by revashelf to pull things out of the deep. It is a basket that pulls out and over then another basket slides over then out. Other than that, the susan is still a popular choice.

  28. Check out Sawdust Girl. She did a pantry where the shelves swivelled out into the main area so you could access all that space. Good luck!

  29. You may want to check out Pinterest. Do a search for “corner kitchen cabinets”. Lots of great ideas for no lost space. Wish I would have seen that when we remodeled our kitchen!!

  30. My corner cabinets in the kitchen are similar to Stephanie’s, but no pole in the lazy susans.
    I have two corner cabinets in my kitchen. I suppose it depends on depth of cabinets and shelves, on whether it is something that would work in your pantry. I love, love, love mine. They are similar (mine are prettier) to the ones pictured here-
    https://www.thehardwarehut.com/images/kitchen_corner/omg-t8332k30.jpg
    I store gallon mason jars filled with beans, pasta, sugar, etc. on bottom shelf and quart jars of similar type items on top shelf. My second one is near my sink, so I store all my dishes on the top shelf and all my mixing bowls and casserole dishes on the bottom shelf. More convenient than the shelving above my counters. They spin easily and I haven’t knocked anything off of them.

  31. When I redid my kitchen I used a corner base cabinet from Home Depot but left it completely open. No shelves or lazy Susan’s. I have 3 tall wastebaskets inside for my recycling. One for paper, one for plastic containers and one for refundable containers. They each have a large garbage bag in them so it is so easy to just pull them out, tie them up and recycle. No ugly bins that show and no multiple trips to the garage. Best use of the bottom corner I have done in the dozen or so kitchens I have remodelled.

  32. I also have the hinged door with lazy susan.
    Here’s a blogger who’s already built one, and who is discussing the improved design of the next one. http://www.ana-white.com/2014/02/plans/easier-36-corner-base-kitchen-cabinet-momplex-vanilla-kitchen

    I know you can figure out all of this on your own–you’re so amazing–but why re-invent the wheel?! I read through only about half the comments, so I apologize if someone has already connected you to this.

  33. I didn’t read all the comments so someone may have already mentioned this. Rev-a-shelf has all kind of stuff that makes cabinet storage better. They have a corner pull out that pulls out in two pieces on a hinge type apparatus, but it requires a specific size cabinet that butts up to it so you have to plan for it. Also the diagonal corner cabinets make access easier and more efficient. Might want to check these out. By the way Houzz carries some of this stuff.

  34. What about keeping the shelves open to the back wall. Then on the cabinet that runs along side the shelves remove the side panel that is next to the shelves. Then align the shelves from the shelving unit to the cabinet shelves. Also the hinge side of your cabinet will make a big difference if the knob side is closest to the shelving unit. Then when you access the space there will only be a small framing member between the shelf and the cabinet. This will give you full access to the corners, light, and no need to purchase expensive blind corner pull-out shelves.

    BTW the best pull out shelving for standard 24″ deep cabinets is sold at Costco. However only the ones that are sold in the store. The online ones are not the same.

    Good luck Kristi.

  35. It doesn’t matter how big the space in your pantry is, you can never have too much storage space. It can be surprising how quickly it fills up, so I would definitely use the corner spaces for your needs……and don’t waste that amount of useable space. I personally like the corner drawer ideas as a first option, then the super Susan ideas. I know you’ll come up with something creative to make the space useable!

  36. It seems like Sawdust Girl addressed wasted corners in her pantry (and thinking I found her blog through you?). I’ll try to find a link to her pantry diy but in case I run out of time, thought I would share that much!

  37. Hi!
    I think there’s a 50/50 solution….

    Bottom cabinets: On the corners on the back wall (window all), the shelf behind the doors should extend past the length of the cabinet doors, behind the doors. You would have to reach back to the left and right, respectively, to get to what is put back there, but it would serve well for those items rarely used but still needed. No space wasted.

    Top open shelves:
    Clean look: Block off the corners. Yes, space is wasted, but no items lost in the abyss of the corners and it has a more clean look.
    Less clean look: Leave them open. No wasted space, but you run the risk of a messier look.

    I think the clean look is better for upper open shelves. I know if I had to look at something that didn’t have clean lines everyday after all that work it might just drive me nuts. ha.

    Hope you find the solution that’s right for you 🙂

  38. I haven’t read comments to see if it’s been suggested, but my sister in law has a kitchen with a shelf that is on hinges. It looks just like the typical cut off cabinet corner, but there’s a shelf that goes all the way back into the corner. When she pulls on the shelf, it rolls and rotates out of the cabinet, giving her the ability to store things in that space but not have to struggle to access it. There’s a nice little upright edge around the shelf so things don’t fall off in the back and she’s able to use the entire corner.

    I’m not 100% on where she got that custom bit as she bought the house with it installed, but I believe the cabinets are from IKEA, so perhaps they sell the install kit for something like that.

  39. Wow has your question garnered a huge response! We have a pantry in our 1863 Victorian home and I am impressed with how the shelving in our pantry was constructed. 1 x 2 braces were nailed to the wall to support the shelving. The amazing part is that this is the only support needed for the shelving. You’re probably saying “but don’t the shelves sag?” No, because the secret is in how the shelves are butted together. The one shelf has an “L” cut in the board and the shelf butting against it has an upside down “L” cut into it. Thus there is no need to put any anterior support in the corner and the space is completely accessible. There has bee no sag in these shelves in over 150 years. Will be glad to supply photos. We moved to a smaller home and renovated it completely. We added a pantry and used the premise we had seen in our other pantry. We did add 1×2 facing boards to insure stability as newer boards are not as true to size as the old. Again no sagging. Good luck with your project and so glad a pantry is part of your plan

  40. Well Christy here is some more information. I did not read all the post but in our case this is what we did. I had seen the L shaped corner cabinets at Lowe’s and decided that is what I wanted. Oh I love them. They have a swing out double door. You can see everything in the cabinet. I think you would like them. I am just like you I don’t like wasted space in a small room. Our kitchen is the size of a postage stamp and I needed the extra storage. Good luck and keep up the great work….Rebecca

  41. Okay…. Today’s the day I officially sign up so I can leave a post! I’ve been reading about your DIY’s on and off for a few years now. Came across you on Pinterest when we began building our house. House has been done for two years now!
    I have a butlers pantry and a walk in pantry.
    And in my kitchen I have three corner drawers. While I like the corner drawers, you still lose space, a triangular area on either side of them. The good thing is they are extra long so I can store long utensils In there. Also, they are awkward because the drawers next to them have to closed. Had the flimsy lazy Susan’s in my last house and wasn’t going there again!
    I have open shelving in my pantry. And a big countertop all around in there. I keep our vitamix and my kitchen aid mixer on the counter in there and that is where we use them.
    In my butlers pantry I have a “short closet”- it’s 50″ tall and 18″ wide. I had the cabinet guy install a closet rod inside it and I hang tablecloths and runners in there. On top of the closet area are two deep shelves. Both have cabinet fronts on them.

  42. All those pantry photos are beautiful! I’m personally drawn to design over function – as you said, it is a lot of storage space anyway – maybe it would be okay to not utilize the corners?! I’m sure I’ll love what you do no matter what – my husband still talks about your amazing kitchen remodel!! 🙂

  43. My oldest daughter and her husband just did a complete re do of their kitchen. They got their cabinets from IKEA and in the corner the door is just a narrow door but it pulls straight out and then you unfold it and there is also a shelf in the back that holds stuff. Not a very good description but it looks great. They are all over 6 feet tall so they built 10 inch drawers to put under all their counters. They have so much storage now and it looks great.

  44. What about a tall corner cabinet for a broom closet? I’m trying to figure out our pantry, but it will be two runs of cabinets on each side, no corners to wrap around. I want broom/vacuum space- I don’t have a broom closet anywhere else, and this seems like a good spot for it.

  45. We made sure depth of corners of our pantry on 5 of 6 shelves were deep enough to put lazy Susan’s in the corners. Works great!

  46. I just got on Houzz and searched for pantry corner shelves and it returned a wide variety of solutions for not wasting the corner space. Looks like there is a lot of choice. Good luck!

  47. Unless you can find an affordable and extremely functional gadget solution I would just allow the corners to remain unused. They may be “wasted” space…but they also are not bottomless pits to collect things you never use.

    If you truly require the square footage, then by all means look at some of those pull out corner shelves or other solutions folks have suggested. If you do not NEED that square footage (and given all the storage in your kitchen and pantry I would not need the extra) then just close up the corners and count it as a win in the battle against clutter.

  48. what about open shelving on those corners that is obviously going to be narrower at the front then at the back, but you’d have plenty of storage space on the open shelving (I’ve seen this is closet ads, Ikea’s PAX has an option for this, etc.)

  49. Everyone is throwing out a lot of options with corner shelves (without the posts in the center) and lazy susans, which are good ideas, but if you like the cleaner lines with some of the pantries you featured and those things don’t fit into your design, i wouldn’t worry about it… you have a ton of space. it will help to pull out the appliances you plan on putting in there to get a visual.

  50. Hi Kristi, I didn’t have time to read all the other comments so if this info is a repeat them ignore. I did a search on “blind corner cabinet solutions” came up with a load of sources including YouTube videos showing different solutions. One of my favorites is by Rev-A-Shelf and is Rev-A-Shelf 5PSP-15. I like their idea better than most of the lazy Susan solutions I’ve seen because it really makes everything very accessible. I’ve seen many solutions to your problem because I researched it when we were in our previous house since I had blind cabinets in my kitchen and it was a small kitchen. They have added more solutions since my research and most of them are very strong and versatile. Some are expensive but given your building ability I’ve no doubt you can take the idea from some of them and build your own version.

  51. A plan I’ve had kicking around in my head for several years, is to install 2 sets of drawers. I haven’t renovated my kitchen yet so I don’t know if they will work well, but hopefully I can describe them well enough. The cabinet to the side of the corner would have 2 pull-out drawers with full-extension slides. Then, the corner cabinet would have 2 full extension shallow drawers with the slides set just above the slides coming out. When extended, they would pull out just over the slides below. The downside, I think, would be that the stuff in front would interfere with access to the stuff in the back, unless you could remove the contents easily, with a drawer inside the drawer for light stuff? I haven’t worked all of that out yet. I was thinking plastic storage containers would work well as they would be easy to lift as a group.

  52. I have a small kitchen; we’ve moved so this is my seventh kitchen. I put two corner cabinets in two corners and have no center pole so lots of space on the two shelves in each cabinet. It pivots around and everything is accessible. The doors are bi-fold hinged, whatever, vertically so it’s easy to access. I keep all my pans in one and appliances in the other. I’m happy with it. The shelves are large and accommodate my largest fry pan.