Do More With Your Corner Cabinets

A good set of cabinets is all but essential in the kitchen. Not only do they keep your plates, bowls, and assorted other implements organized, but they can also provide easy access to dry goods and other items that you need to use frequently while cooking. The more cabinet space you have, the less clutter you’ll have in the kitchen itself, because you can store your various kitchen gadgets until they’re needed while still having them close at hand.

Corner cabinets can be a bit of a problem, however. While these cabinets tend to provide the most interior space, a lot of this space isn’t easy to access because of the narrow opening that the corner cabinet provides. Fortunately, this isn’t an issue that you just have to accept. There are a few different ways to address this problem so you can make better use of all that space without having to contort yourself in the process.

Install a Lazy Susan System

One of the most popular ways to make better use of corner cabinets is to install a multi-tiered Lazy Susan system inside the cabinet. You’ve likely seen one of these before as they’ve enjoyed significant popularity over the years. The assembly is made up of two or three large round platforms connected by a central spindle around which the platforms can easily rotate. You place items on the platform, turn it, then fill it up all the way around; when you need something, you simply turn the platform until it becomes available.

A lot of these systems use two platforms, one at the bottom of the cabinet and one near the center of the cabinet’s height. You may occasionally see Lazy Susan systems that have three platforms, however, or possibly different configurations as well. Keep in mind that there’s a trade-off as you add more platforms; while you have more storage space with each platform that’s added, the amount of vertical space you have available for your items decreases with each addition.

Add Pull-Out Shelving

Another option that’s increasingly popular is pull-out shelving. These shelves either pull out straight or rotate out from within the cabinet on tracks, letting you gain full access to the shelf’s contents and then slide it back into your cabinet space while done. Some may even feature complex sets of hinges and tracks to maximize the amount of shelf space that you can have in the cabinet; these setups typically have one shelf attached directly to the door and others being pulled along after it for easy access.

Regardless of the specific configuration of the shelves, the idea is to bring the shelves to you instead of making you reach into the cabinet to try and access items at the backs of the shelves. This makes using the entire space within your corner cabinet much more convenient, since the shelves can fill up that space when not in use, then be easily pulled out when you need them.

Revitalizing Your Cabinets

There are other ways that you can make use of corner cabinet space, including replacing your existing cabinets with new cabinets that have corner cabinets with an angled interior for easier access or a set of L-shaped drawers that make better use of the available space than a standard cabinet might. You might even consider eliminating the corner cabinets altogether and adding a floor-to-ceiling corner pantry instead. Depending on the layout of your kitchen, there may be other corner options available to you as well.