Corner Cabinet Solutions
Thoughts on ways to provide access to buried inside cabinet corners. October 28, 2014
Question (WOODWEB Member) :
I am looking for help with a cabinet package design provided to me by a designer. I uploaded the plan and the current 3D view I produced. My problems with the design are the unused blind corners, and the huge difference in wall reveal between the pantry and fridge sides of the door (seen in the 3D image). The best solution I can come up with for the unused corner on the peninsula is to make a sliding panel access on the paneled side you see in the 3D drawing. What sort of hardware is available for sliding cabinet doors? Any traditional swinging door would only be able to open to maybe 30 degrees because of the column in front of it.
For the other unused corner, I think the 36" DB next to the fridge should be cut in half and a door accessing the corner put in. What sort of suave corner hardware is out there? The customer wants to have the trash right next to the sink. If I reduced the length of the fridge run of boxes to equalize the wall reveal issue, the available space for the DB/Corner access goes down to like 30".
This is a top end job. Inset, beaded face frames, mortised butt hinges (at least until they see the installation quote), a few different door styles, finishes, etc. The client wants this to be the last time they ever redo their kitchen, and functionality is as important as the aesthetic quality. It is going into an antebellum plantation house, hence the small restricted space for a kitchen.
I don't think the designer’s plan is up to par with the house or the customer's desires, and I have been looking at the plans too long. I have tunnel vision and can only see the problems, no solutions. It is a total gut remodel of the kitchen. All mechanical is movable, etc. What do you guys think?
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Forum Responses
(Cabinetmaking Forum)
From contributor M:
Refrigerators become a huge problem when the home owner is dead set on the location. Are there other possibilities for its location? Why the open space to the right of the fridge? I would do my best to get the fridge moved and it will open up all kinds of possibilities.
From contributor D:
I have found that Hafele has excellent sliding solutions for cabinetry such as Eku Clipo 16 . Hafele's blind corner solution Lemans transforms blind corners into impressive and useful kitchen storage areas.
From Contributor B:
You could move the fridge to the left of the door in the corner and the door can be moved. I would consider placing the DW in the middle of the peninsula. This will open the corner up and be more ergonomically correct for putting dishes away. If they won't go for trash under the sink then you could put it to the right of the fridge and that will open the corner to be used as either a Super Susan or easy reach corner cabinet with little or no wasted space. The wall space being uneven may be for electrical switches? It also looks to me like there should be wall cabinets wrapping around to the fridge just looks like a big hole.
From contributor C:
I'd want a diagonal upper in that corner and continue the uppers from there to the fridge. I hate blind corners, but there are options such as half moon shelves that swing out, slide out, or the thing that pulls straight out then slides to the side then the shelf that was in the blind corner slides out.
From Contributor K:
Every once in a while, we run into a blind, where a lazy susan isn't an option (for whatever reason), external access is difficult or impossible, and fixtures such as the Eku are too expensive. We simply install a drawer in the blind cavity. That sounds crazy, I know but if you add a pullout to the base cabinet adjacent to the blind corner you can then set your blind corner drawer a couple of inches higher. To access the blind corner drawer, slide the drawer in adjacent cabinet out, and then pull the blind corner drawer over the now exposed slides. Voila. Obviously the customer still only puts their holiday urns and dishes back there, but it does make them marginally more accessible. Every customer we've done this for has raved about it. It’s one of those things we do where the right answers don't work, or the planning, as in the situation you are dealing with, was insufficient.
