Corner kitchen cabinets, often overlooked or misunderstood, represent a significant opportunity to enhance both the functionality and aesthetics of your culinary space. These often awkward nooks can become treasure troves of organization and storage, transforming wasted space into a valuable asset. The question of “what goes in corner kitchen cabinets?” is a common one, and the answer is as varied as the kitchens themselves. This in-depth guide will explore the best uses for these unique storage solutions, from practical essentials to decorative touches, ensuring you unlock their full potential.
Understanding the Corner Cabinet Conundrum
Before delving into the specifics of what to store, it’s crucial to understand the unique challenges and opportunities presented by corner cabinets. Their depth and often the awkward accessibility can be a deterrent for many homeowners. However, with the right strategies and organizational tools, these challenges can be easily overcome.
The Anatomy of a Corner Cabinet
Corner cabinets come in several common configurations, each with its own set of storage possibilities. Knowing the type of corner cabinet you have will significantly influence how you utilize its space.
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Blind Corner Cabinets: These are the most common and often the most challenging. One cabinet door opens, but the interior space extends deeply behind it, making access to the far reaches difficult.
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Lazy Susans: These cabinets feature a rotating shelf mechanism, similar to a revolving spice rack. They offer excellent accessibility by allowing you to spin items into view.
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Corner Drawers: Some modern kitchens incorporate deep, pull-out drawers that fit into the corner, offering easy access to contents.
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Super Susan: Similar to a Lazy Susan, but with a larger top shelf and often a smaller shelf beneath it, maximizing vertical storage.
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Corner Wall Cabinets: These are the upper counterparts to floor corner cabinets, often used for lighter items or decorative display.
Overcoming Accessibility Issues
The primary hurdle with corner cabinets, particularly blind ones, is reaching items stored at the back. This is where smart organization becomes paramount. Investing in pull-out shelves, lazy susans, tiered shelving, or even drawer inserts can dramatically improve accessibility. For blind corner cabinets, consider a “first-in, first-out” system, placing items you use most frequently towards the front.
Essential Kitchen Items for Corner Cabinet Storage
The best items to store in your corner cabinets are those that are used regularly but don’t necessarily need to be front-and-center at all times. Think about items that are bulky, seasonal, or part of a set.
For the Culinary Enthusiast: Pots, Pans, and Bakeware
Corner cabinets are often spacious enough to accommodate your cookware collection.
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Pots and Pans: Stackable pots and pans are ideal. For those with long handles that don’t stack neatly, consider storing them vertically in a pan organizer, especially if you have a lazy susan.
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Baking Sheets and Muffin Tins: Vertical dividers are your best friend here. These can be placed in a corner cabinet to store baking sheets, cutting boards, and muffin tins upright, preventing them from sliding around and making them easy to pull out.
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Roasting Pans and Large Bowls: Bulky items like roasting pans, large mixing bowls, and slow cookers can find a home here, keeping your main countertops clear.
For the Home Baker: Specialty Ingredients and Tools
If baking is your passion, corner cabinets can become your dedicated baking supply depot.
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Flour, Sugar, and Grains: Airtight containers for bulk ingredients like flour, sugar, rice, and oats are perfect for corner cabinets. This keeps them fresh and prevents spills on your main cabinetry.
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Baking Mixes and Specialty Flours: Store pre-made cake mixes, specialty flours (like almond or coconut flour), and other baking staples.
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Baking Utensils and Gadgets: Keep your stand mixer attachments, cookie cutters, pastry brushes, and other specialized baking tools organized in bins or drawers within the corner cabinet.
For the Everyday Cook: Small Appliances and Serving Ware
Beyond baking, corner cabinets can house a variety of everyday kitchen essentials.
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Small Appliances: Less frequently used small appliances like blenders, food processors, or waffle makers can be neatly stored here. If you have a particularly deep corner cabinet, consider placing them on pull-out shelves for easier access.
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Serving Platters and Bowls: Large serving platters, punch bowls, and oversized serving bowls can be stowed away, ready for your next dinner party.
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Cookbooks and Recipe Binders: If you have a substantial collection of cookbooks, a corner cabinet can be an excellent place to keep them organized and accessible, especially if you have a deeper cabinet that can accommodate their size.
Optimizing Corner Cabinet Storage: Tools and Techniques
The key to making your corner cabinets work for you lies in clever organization. Without the right systems, they can quickly become a black hole for forgotten items.
Leveraging Specialized Organizers
The market offers a plethora of organizational solutions designed specifically for corner cabinets.
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Lazy Susans: These are arguably the most popular and effective solution for corner cabinets. They come in various sizes and materials, from plastic to wood, and are excellent for storing spices, oils, vinegars, canned goods, and even small appliances.
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Pull-Out Shelves and Drawers: These transform blind corner cabinets into highly accessible storage. They allow you to pull the entire contents out, eliminating the need to reach into the back. They are particularly useful for heavier items like small appliances or cookware.
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Tiered Shelving and Risers: These simple yet effective tools can double your usable shelf space. Use them to store canned goods, spices, or mugs, allowing you to see and access everything easily.
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Vertical Dividers: As mentioned earlier, these are perfect for storing items like baking sheets, cutting boards, pot lids, and platters upright. This not only saves space but also prevents items from falling over when you open the cabinet.
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Drawer Inserts and Bins: Even within a corner cabinet, using smaller bins or drawer inserts can help compartmentalize items, preventing them from becoming a jumbled mess. This is particularly useful for smaller items like spice jars or kitchen gadgets.
Strategic Placement: What Goes Where?
The placement of items within your corner cabinets should be logical and based on frequency of use and accessibility.
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Frequently Used Items: Place items you reach for daily or weekly on the most accessible shelves, preferably at the front or on a lazy susan.
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Less Frequently Used Items: Items used seasonally or only for special occasions can be stored in the back or on higher shelves.
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Heavy Items: Store heavier items on lower shelves or in pull-out drawers to make them easier to lift and prevent strain.
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Bulky Items: Utilize the depth of corner cabinets for large, bulky items that might not fit neatly elsewhere.
Beyond the Practical: Decorative and Niche Uses
While practicality is key, corner cabinets can also serve aesthetic or niche purposes.
Displaying Kitchen Decor
For corner wall cabinets, consider using them for decorative purposes.
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Decorative Dishware: Showcase your favorite serving platters, decorative bowls, or vintage china.
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Cookbooks and Kitchen Art: Display attractive cookbooks or small pieces of kitchen-themed art.
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Glassware: If you have particularly beautiful glassware, a corner wall cabinet can be an elegant display space.
Niche Storage Solutions
Think outside the box for less common but highly useful storage applications.
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Pet Supplies: Store pet food, treats, and bowls in a designated corner cabinet, especially if it’s easily accessible from the kitchen entrance.
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Cleaning Supplies: For under-sink corner cabinets, organize cleaning supplies with bins and caddies. Ensure childproof locks are in place if necessary.
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Extra Linens: Store spare dish towels, oven mitts, or placemats in a corner cabinet.
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Board Games or Entertainment: In larger kitchens, a corner cabinet might even be repurposed to store board games or other family entertainment items, keeping them out of sight but easily accessible.
Maintenance and Keeping Your Corner Cabinets Organized
Even with the best organizational systems, corner cabinets require occasional attention to remain efficient and clutter-free.
Regular Decluttering
Schedule regular “decluttering days” to go through your corner cabinets. Discard expired items, donate unused gadgets, and re-evaluate your storage system. Aim for at least twice a year.
Deep Cleaning
When you’re decluttering, take the opportunity to deep clean the cabinets. Wipe down shelves, remove any spills, and check for any signs of wear and tear on organizers.
Adapting Your System
As your cooking habits and needs evolve, your storage solutions should too. Be prepared to adapt your corner cabinet organization to suit your current lifestyle. Perhaps you’ve taken up a new hobby, or your family’s needs have changed, requiring a shift in what you store and how.
By approaching your corner kitchen cabinets with a strategic mindset and the right organizational tools, you can transform these often-awkward spaces into highly functional and valuable extensions of your kitchen’s storage. The question of “what goes in corner kitchen cabinets?” no longer has to be a source of frustration, but rather an invitation to creative and efficient organization.
What are the most common challenges people face with corner cabinets and how can they be overcome?
A primary challenge is accessibility; items stored deep within a corner cabinet often become lost or difficult to reach, leading to wasted space and forgotten ingredients or tools. This can be particularly frustrating with bulky pots, pans, or seldom-used appliances. Additionally, corner cabinets can become cluttered quickly due to their expansive yet often underutilized volume.
To overcome these challenges, strategic organization is key. Implementing pull-out shelves, lazy Susans, or tiered shelving systems dramatically improves accessibility and visibility, allowing you to utilize the entire depth of the cabinet. Grouping similar items together, such as baking supplies or small appliances, further enhances organization and prevents items from becoming buried.
How can I best organize the contents of a corner cabinet to maximize space and functionality?
Maximizing corner cabinet space relies on understanding the unique dimensions and ensuring that every inch is put to good use. The most effective approach involves categorizing your kitchen items and assigning them to specific zones within the cabinet. For instance, consider dedicating one section to baking essentials like stand mixer attachments, extra flour, and cookie cutters, while another could house seldom-used cookware or seasonal serving dishes.
Leveraging vertical space is crucial. Utilize tiered shelves, risers, or even stackable containers to store multiple items in the same footprint. For deeper cabinets, consider installing pull-out shelves or lazy Susans that allow you to easily access items at the back without needing to unstack or move everything. This ensures that everything, from spices to small appliances, is within easy reach and doesn’t become a forgotten relic.
What types of storage solutions are ideal for corner cabinets, and why are they effective?
Ideal storage solutions for corner cabinets are those that combat their inherent depth and awkward angles. Lazy Susans are exceptionally effective because their rotating nature brings items from the back to the front with a simple turn, making them perfect for spices, oils, cans, or small jars. Pull-out shelves or drawers are another excellent choice, allowing you to slide out the entire contents, providing full access to the cabinet’s interior.
Tiered shelving or risers are also highly recommended, especially for cabinets storing pots, pans, or smaller appliances. These solutions allow you to stack items vertically, increasing storage capacity and improving visibility. For larger, less frequently used items like slow cookers or serving platters, consider using the deeper recesses of the cabinet, but still employ bins or containers to keep them contained and prevent them from shifting.
Are there specific items that are better suited for storage in corner cabinets than others?
Corner cabinets are ideally suited for storing items that are either bulky, used less frequently, or belong to specific categories that benefit from being grouped together. This includes seldom-used cookware like large stockpots or roasting pans, seasonal serving dishes, extra pantry staples in bulk (like large bags of rice or flour), or small kitchen appliances that are not in daily use, such as waffle makers or food processors.
They are also excellent for storing items related to specific activities. For example, a baking corner cabinet could house all your baking ingredients, tools, and accessories, from extra sugar and chocolate chips to muffin tins and cookie cutters. Similarly, a cleaning supplies corner cabinet could hold extra bottles of detergent, sponges, and mops. The key is to group like items and utilize solutions that make accessing them easy, even if they are stored deeper within the cabinet.
How can I prevent my corner cabinets from becoming cluttered and disorganized over time?
Preventing corner cabinet clutter requires a proactive approach focused on regular decluttering and strategic organization. Make it a habit to periodically review the contents of your corner cabinets, perhaps quarterly or bi-annually. During this review, remove anything that is expired, broken, or no longer used. Donating gently used items that you no longer need can also be a great way to declutter.
Beyond decluttering, consistent organization is vital. Assign specific homes for every item and ensure that items are returned to their designated spots after use. Utilize the storage solutions mentioned previously, such as lazy Susans and pull-out shelves, to maintain easy access and visibility. Labeling bins or shelves can also be highly effective, especially for less frequently accessed items, clearly indicating their contents without needing to open every container.
What are some creative or unconventional ways to utilize corner cabinet space?
Beyond standard kitchenware, corner cabinets can be repurposed for creative storage solutions that enhance functionality. For instance, a dedicated “coffee station” corner cabinet can house your coffee maker, grinder, various coffee beans, filters, mugs, and sweeteners, keeping all your morning beverage essentials in one accessible location. Similarly, a “craft corner” could store art supplies, stationery, or small hobby items, keeping them out of sight but readily available.
For families, a corner cabinet near the dining area could be transformed into a “homework hub” or “game central,” storing board games, puzzles, activity books, or art supplies for children. In smaller homes, a corner cabinet could even house a compact recycling or compost bin, if appropriately designed with ventilation and liners, or act as a discreet storage for pet supplies like food, treats, and leashes.
How do I measure my corner cabinet to ensure I buy the right storage solutions?
Accurate measurement is the cornerstone of purchasing effective storage solutions for your corner cabinets. Begin by measuring the interior width and depth of the cabinet. For corner cabinets, pay close attention to the diagonal measurement from one interior corner to the opposite. Also, measure the height between shelves or any obstructions like plumbing pipes.
It’s also important to consider the type of door mechanism and its swing radius, as this can impact the usability of pull-out solutions or the full rotation of a lazy Susan. When purchasing, ensure the dimensions of the storage solution you are considering are slightly smaller than the interior dimensions of your cabinet to allow for easy installation and movement. For rotating solutions, verify the diameter and height to ensure they fit comfortably within the available space without hindering the cabinet door closure.