If you’ve got a kitchen with a corner in it, chances are you’ve got a corner cupboard. Also known as the place where kitchen junk goes to die – or at least to vanish into impossibly dark places where you have trouble finding them again. I know I’ve spent my share of time kneeling in front of that endless void, muttering to myself that I’m sure the crockpot is in there somewhere…
So what can you do if you have one of these cupboards in your kitchen? They do come in different sizes, so solutions can vary, but it can be quite handy to have a cupboard space that extends back a long way. Really good for those big decorative platters that never seem to fit in other cupboards.
Another great solution is a “Lazy Susan” – or in more technical terms, rotating wire racks. These clever little racks sit neatly in the cupboard, and you can spin them around to reach items stored at the back. Probably best for smaller items, and of course you end up with dead space around the racks, but still a good solution. Some of the more modern variations on this theme have even found ways to use up the empty spaces.
If the cupboard space is huge and you don’t need the height, add some shelf racks. You might still have trouble reaching all the way to the back of the cupboard, but at least you can fit lots more items in there.
Big appliances that you don’t use very often are another good item to put into your corner cupboards. Although you’ll still end up shifting stuff around searching for your crockpot, if you don’t use it very often it’s better hiding in there that taking up space in a more accessible part of your kitchen storage.
If you’re still at design stage, maybe consider the old favourite – a diagonal corner pantry. The diagonal door allows you to walk into the pantry, and the shelves are along both walls, making it easy to reach everything. And if you really don’t want that, you can just put in the shelving on both walls with no cupboard surround, so that everything’s on display.
The bottom line is that if you put some thought into how best to utilise your corner cupboard, you may even learn to love it.