The Best Space-Saving Blind Corner Kitchen Cabinet Ideas
Any time you purchase a new home, chances are you’ll encounter a few things you don’t like. Some pesky something that you’re willing to give into because the benefit of purchasing the house as a whole makes it worth it. Like dated carpeting, or a small closet, or an ugly living room paint color, for example. While your list of must-haves probably includes a particular pocket of Charlotte, square footage, and an ideal number of bedrooms, the current real estate market means that to get the house you want to serve your most critical needs, you’ll likely have to look beyond outdated aesthetics. Besides, aesthetics are something you can upgrade quickly and with relative ease, unlike the neighborhood or school district.
Unfortunately, you may also find yourself dealing with functional design flaws, like blind corner kitchen cabinets that impact your ability to best use much-needed storage space. With the right blind corner kitchen cabinet ideas, you can alleviate or even eliminate this common nuisance.
What Is a Blind Corner Cabinet?
Let’s talk specifics first. What even is a blind corner cabinet? It’s not a term we throw around here often at ReVision as it isn’t something we’d suggest installing if you can help it. However, they do exist and there are certain times when they have to be accepted and made the best of. A blind corner cabinet is a cabinet that is situated where two rows of cabinets in a kitchen meet at a 90-degree angle, such as in an L-shaped or U-shaped layout. For optimal function and to make the best use of available storage space, we typically prefer and recommend lazy-susan cabinets (more on these below).
However, some builders install a blind corner cabinet instead. This consists of a cabinet base slotted in behind a perpendicular base cabinet, which blocks access to the corner area. The only way to access corner storage space, then, is by reaching through the open side of the blind corner door to access the other side. Ever pulled a muscle reaching into the depths of one of these? It’s not pleasant.
Pros and Cons of Blind Corner Cabinets
There’s really only one reason why your kitchen might include a blind corner cabinet — there’s not enough room to install a more expansive corner base. Often this is a matter of limited square footage, but sometimes doing so would throw off other more important features of the design (like appliance placement or symmetry around a window).
Unless you want to move walls, however, this problem may prove difficult to address. Other culprits might include poor layout planning, or perhaps the original builders had an excess supply of one cabinet size and were forced to make it work.
Unfortunately, this leaves you, the homeowner, to deal with serious downsides, namely, the fact that corner space is inaccessible unless you’re willing to crawl halfway into a cabinet to reach whatever it is you’re storing there.
The good news is that there are a few blind kitchen cabinet ideas that succeed in adding function to this otherwise wasted space.
Improve Function with These Blind Kitchen Cabinet Ideas
If your kitchen design requires that you choose a blind corner cabinet or an inaccessible void that offers no storage whatsoever, a cabinet is still going to be more functional, even if the space provided is limited and difficult to access. Here’s the best way you can make them more usable:
Pull-Out Systems
So-called “magic corner” systems, consisting of a series of sliding drawers or shelves, are the best way to make a blind corner cabinet function. The three most common types are:
- The Lemon Wedge – where two lemon wedged shaped shelves spin from a fixed point near the door hinge. Once they rotate out 90 degrees, they also slide forward a few inches to give a little more access to the items at the back of the shelf. While there is still a lot of unused space in the cabinet due to the shape of the shelves, they do provide at least some improved access to the blind corner.
- The Peanut Pull-Out (shown above) – ok, no one else calls them that, but to us, the shelves slightly resemble the shape of a peanut. These are similar to the lemon wedge, but they’re larger, and they pull forward and out instead of merely rotating, which makes them more accessible. They also come with a convenient non-slip shelf bottom and a short metal railing to keep items from sliding around during motion.
- Corner Pull-Out Drawers– there are several variations on this idea, but essentially, a set of upper and lower drawer boxes sit in the front and back of the cabinet. To access the ones in the back, you have to pull the front ones forward and out. While these look fancy and are functional for smaller items, storage is limited due to the smaller drawer space. They’re also pretty clunky, more expensive and don’t always move with the ease of the alternatives mentioned above.
Taking a full inventory of what you intend to store in this space will help you decide which accessory is the best for your unique needs. Each comes with a weight limit and height restriction, since the vertical dimensions can’t be adjusted. This will limit what items will reasonably fit on the shelves or in the pull-out drawers. Regardless of which accessory you choose, it will improve the functionality of your blind corner cabinet.
What’s Better Than a Blind Corner Cabinet?
If you’ve got the space available to avoid a blind corner in your kitchen, take advantage of it! Here are some alternatives that offer more storage, and accessibility:
Lazy Susan
Lazy Susans rank among the easiest and most functional solutions to improve the accessibility and storage capacity of your corner base cabinets. We prefer what’s often referred to as a super Susan. Instead of two flimsy plastic shelves with a space restricting pole in the middle, a super Susan consists of a fixed shelf with two rotating, wooden platforms. One mounted on the bottom of the cabinet, and one mounted on the fixed shelf. Each shelf features a wooden ledge to keep items from slipping off while they spin.
Corner Drawers
While less common, corner drawer banks offer another practical solution and any custom cabinet manufacturer can make them if they aren’t a standard SKU. Typically offered as a bank of three or four drawers, the corner drawer base is a great solution when there are no appliances nearby that could impede the operation. Cabinet hardware installation can be quite tricky, so it’s critical to choose your hardware ahead of time.
Work with Qualified Professionals
Finding the right solution for non-functional blind corner cabinets is a lot easier with professional help. With a range of blind kitchen cabinet ideas to explore, remodeling experts can help you find the perfect solution for your kitchen, whether you prefer working with existing configurations or opt for layout upgrades with all-new features.
Stop struggling with annoying blind corners and speak with a qualified professional at ReVision Design/Remodeling. Our knowledgeable design team is ready to assist you redesign your kitchen to be more functional and accessible regardless of your corner cabinet situation. We’ll present various cabinet ideas to best suit your unique storage needs. Contact us today!