How To Deal With The Blind Corner Kitchen Cabinet | Live Simply by Annie

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

I recently received a request from one of my readers to address the issue of the blind corner cabinet.

In attempts to clarify she wrote,

I have no idea what else to call it. It is the one that you can reach into, but then have to practically crawl into to get to everything youve stuffed into the corner of it. This is a horrible explanation, but hopefully you know what Im talking about!

Oh, my little down-on-your-hands-and-knees, searching for the crock pot in that vast expanse of cabinetry. Not only do I know exactly what youre talking about, I truthfully can believe its taken me this long to mention it. The dreaded lower blind corner cabinet in the kitchen, that awful thing that unites all homeowners in their shared loathing. Today, in your honor, I will attempt to solve the storage space that has riddled residents since the day modern cabinetry was installed in that first kitchen, when most likely a carpenter mis-read some plans

1. Choose wisely

The corner cabinet is low on the kitchen real estate totem pole. That means that the items youre stowing within should be the ones you don reach for on a regular basis. Those commonly used items should be awarded prime placement in other, far more accessible cabinets. Perhaps you only use your kitchenAid mixer about three times a year, making that mixer an excellent candidate for the corner cabinet. Ditto various serving trays, bakeware, etc.

2. Establish and uphold capacity

Its of the utmost importance that you keep the contents stored in the corner cabinet to the bare minimum. This is no place for clutter and I mean that and I really do. Once you combine A. the dark, and B. the hard to reach with C. (appropriately enough for) clutter, what you gets equals out to a disaster and the biggest pain in the arse to deal with each and every time you open it.

If you do nothing else, cut back on the amount of items you store in the blind corner cabinet. Consider instituting a no stacking or nesting rule, instead requiring each piece to have a distinct place on the shelf. Store no more than that.

3. Throw yourself a bone. That turns. 

If you are open to equipping your blind corner with some cabinetry accessories, then a lazy susan is certainly the way to go. This half moon lazy susan  or this pie cut turntable  would both make a massive difference in the accessibility of your corner cabinet.

4. Throw yourself a fancier, even more flexible, customizable bone.

If youre willing to spend a bit more, there are a bevy of options to ease the corner pain. One step beyond the lazy susan in ease is the pull-out lazy susan, like this half-moon shelf set  (wood  version also available), and perhaps one step beyond that is the blind corner optimizer  which allows for accessibility of the entire unit.

5. Rethink everything

Always remember that you have the freedom to set up your home in the way that works best for you.  Just because that tricky corner guy has been traditionally used as a home for things like muffin trays and crock pots does not mean yours has to be the resting ground for such things. Forget everything you know and ask yourself what the ideal use of that space is for you. A few ideas to set your thoughts ablaze:

A wine rack.

And although I couldn come up with photographic depiction, I have seen the following done: remove the shelf, install hooks on the inside and top of the cabinet, and hang pans up by their handles.

Last ditch idea an easy way to increase the visibility in the corner cabinet is to illuminate it. Though the cabinet will still be in the corner, it won be blind with a battery-operated stick-on tap light. Stick one of those bad boys on either shelf level and press it on when you need to search out grannys sterling silver serving tray.