I have a small kitchen 10 x 10 and we got a lazy susan. I was shocked at how small it was when we opened the box. It really wasted a lot of space. I don't know what my other options were because I thought I was getting a large lazy susan and that's what I had my mind set on.

Hopefully you can find something that will maximize the space. The large drawers are fabulous. I have 6 and I love them.

Thanks. I assume your lazy susan was a 36 by 36?

It is a 36 and the turnarounds are maybe 18" across. I put my spices on them because it's too small for much else.

We have 36x36 corner cab with lazy susan. Not counting the pie shaped cutout, the rest of the turntable is 27'' across. I use it for all my sauce pans, most of my frying pans, lids on a rack, and my non stick wok. It's one of the best used spaces in my kitchen.

There is a difference in usability between a lazy susan with a pole in the middle (gives very little space) or a 'super susan' which rotate using a turntable below the wooden surface and therefore utilizes a lot more of the 'circle' space. Even between super susans there are differences of how much 'outside' space is wasted.

We have two LS base cabinets. One came with the pole system. It wastes tons of space, not only because of the pole, but because it is sized about 3" too small, so really wastes about 6". Other cupboard was missing inards, a blessing in disguise! Right now, I have large appliances in there, but DH is going to design and build a Super Susan that will be adustable, and will use up every available inch!

This picture of a Super Susan is from my files, not sure if it's from GW. Note how close to the edge the shelf goes. No wasted space!
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I just discovered lazy susan blind corner units. There are a couple of threads on GW where people talk about them.

Lazy Susan Video This site has a cool little video showing how they work.

Lee Valley Blind Corner Unit

After seeing my friends lazy susan set-up I opted for a blind corner. Like you, I was surprised by the lack of usable space. I'm also a person who prefers less movable parts as I see them as maintenance issues in the future. And I was concerned about cleaning around and behind the turning shelves.

This meant I had to move my bank of drawers from one side of the stove to the other. I have a lot of little used bulky things in the blind corner space.

You need to decide what will work out better for your situation.

Joe, We put in a Haefele blind corner unit and are really glad we did. Virtually no waster space in the corner cabinet. It wasn't cheap, but since we're never moving again, we got it...
http://www.hafele.com/us/products/magic-corner-blind-corner-base-corner-kitchen-hardware.asp

Joe,

I understand your struggle. I moved into my new house about a month ago. The kitchen has 3 corners. (I wasn't crazy about this, but short of scrapping the house design, we couldn't do much about it...) I opted for 3 super susans that were full circle, no "piece of pie" cut out. I wasn't sure how I'd use them.

Frankly, it's working out great. I do a lot of baking, so I have all my baking pans in one and baking supplies (flour, sugar, etc.) in another. The third houses plasticware on one shelf and bowls on the other. They're also great for storing blenders and other small kitchen appliances.

That being said, I also have 3 large drawers (2 under my cooktop that house pots and pans, and another under my undercounter micro that hold glass microwave stuff). I really like these drawers too!

I'm not sure what I'd do if I were you, but it would be hard for me to give up any storage in my kitchen!

I too am getting a blind corner Hafele unit for me. It will be great to finally use those blind corners! I say go for the blind corner unit. I think you will love it. Everyone raves about the quality of the Hafele unit. Sorry, I am not finished with my kitchen yet, so no pictures.

I posted a link to the system. It has a video which shows how it works.

I am not too far (3--4 hours) from the bay area. My KD is great and is a dealer for them. If you need any info, I can give you his name. Nice guy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hafele blind corner system

I am putting a super susan in one corner and the other corner, well, you will all think I'm crazy, but it will be dead - not blind, dead. I'm closing it off. It is between the stove and sink. Our stove wall is so short that to fit a LS cupboard in there would push the stove up againast the doorway which I don't like. Our old sink base goes way back into that corner (blind corner) now and we have nothing back there. It is a complete waste. So this time I am getting a smaller sink base and sliding a 9" cab in there, thus cutting off the corner, to store my cutting boards. It'll get my cutting boards off the counter, and that in my opinion is a better use of that space! I'm sure I could have reconfigued the whole kitchen to do something more useful with that corner, but DH insisted on as little change as possible...grrr.

I'm thinking we should put a time capsule in there for the next remodelers...!!

I think a super susan holds more than the magic corner and is not at all susceptible to breakage. It's a turntable on a shelf, pretty simple. Definitely try one at a kitchen store before dismissing it. I tried the magic corner and found it to be too many steps for me. I currently have a super susan and will install one in my remodel. Like Cambro5, I will also have a dead corner. I'd rather have drawer bases at the end of the adjacent runs than a corner cabinet of some kind. I find the storage uses of drawers more versatile.

Here's my super susan now. It must have ball bearing glides because it will spin all the way around with one push (I have a regular, horrible lazy susan at the beach house and it takes muscle to turn it 6 inches...I hate it!)

I plan to store canned goods in my new one because I'll have pot drawers under the new cooktop instead of a range like I have now.

As far as cleaning behind the shelves, hmmmmm. Never have in 12 years. I've never worried about it; I guess it's like the dust under the range or behind toekicks, out of sight, out of mind. HTH

The work area of my kitchen is U shaped, with one arm of the U a peninsula. I have 2 blind corners--one will have a lazy susan, but the one on the peninsula side will have a cabinet on the outside of the peninsula. Yes, I'll have to walk arounnd the peninsula to get to it...and duck under the counter overhang, but I plan to store items that I don't use on a regular basis there.

I have a lazy susan in one corner, but I just couldn't face another one in the other corner. It was dead space in the old layout, and I decided it might as well be again - until my brilliant GC worked out that he could create a tray/cookiesheet/cutting board slot there, angled at 45 degrees into the dead space. There was a 4" space next to the cabinet on one side, that we suddenly realised could be used instead of covering with trim, and by angling it, he was able to increase it to 5" wide, and still have enough room for the door to open.

I had blind corners in my old wall cabinets and they were just useless dark holes. This time, one corner has a 45 degree corner cabinet, and the other corner just has cabinets on one wall.

Prior to our remodel, that "dead" space was actually the back sides of three drawers that were off of our dining room (that had encroached into the kitchen's dead spot). With the remodel, I wanted to reclaim that space as our kitchen isn't that big. We changed that space to a super susan & I LOVE it. It holds all of our mixing bowls, glass measuring cups, salad bowls, small appliances (ice cream maker, snow cone maker, blender, vegie shredder, etc.), & other things as well.

It has freed up tons of other storage & frankly, it is easy to keep well organized as well as access.

Good luck on your choice.

I have two blind corner magic II units from Haefele in my kitchen. The doors that opens them were designed to look like a bank of drawers so aesthetically it is very pleasing.

Our counters are 30" deep around both corners so there is still some wasted space behind and back in the depths of the cabinets but because the counters are so deep we would have lost a lot of drawers, not been able to fit in the Microwave drawer, etc had we done a lazy susan.

Thanks so much for your helpful input and links!!

I just have ordinary shelves that wrap around the corner and then a door that is hinged that will form a crisp corner. Its not a "blind" corner, but rather, an EZ reach corner.

I had a lazy susan and a base blind corner cabinet in my old kitchen and I hated them both. Getting rid of them was non-negotiable when I remodeled my kitchen.

I have good, big corner base cabinets now. They are so useful and the added counter space above is great.

I'm afraid I hated the idea of both of them so much that I elected none of the above even if it meant less storage space in a medium kitchen (14 x 10). My KD originally drew 3 alternatives -- lazy susan corner, blind corner, or nothing at all -- and I voted for nothing. My mother has one that I hate -- very plastic/chintzy/cheap, things fall off the sides, etc. I'm sorry! Here's a pic showing the corner where I might have had room for one, and how the cabs don't go around the corner.

My first and basically only instructions, during the kickoff of our kitchen design, was "no corners." I had a design in mind that would eliminate them because I had hated the corner space in my old kitchen. The KD talked to me about super susans, I mulled it over for a while, and got convinced to use super susans in the 2 corners. A situation where the KD definitely knew better. I love the 2 ss's. They hold all the items I never really "planned" into the kitchen---sodas, and juices, large plastic containers for cakes and pies, extra lunch boxes and insulated snack bags, overflow from the pantry. One shelf of a susan is full of canned and jarred juices (48-64oz sizes.) There's a lot of weight on it and it's been holding up just fine (3 years.)

You might also be able to grab some of the space for a neighboring room and use it to store something that makes sense for that other room.

I ended up with a pie-cut lazy susan but the doors fold into the unit itself so that the opening doesn't have the piano-hinged door hitting neighboring cabinets. (I think Hafele calls it Suzie-Q or something like that but it was part of the Brookhaven corner susan cabinet.)

The reasons for our decision were
1) some corner cabinets had minimum door openings and we didn't have that much space.
2) the lazy susan unit did not require additional spacers to allow the door to open. (GC explained that when you have a corner, spacers are usually necessary so drawer knobs and doors have some way to open.)
3) The previous corner cabinet was just shelves but I was always reaching into the back for something and I hated it.

jayne

I have a small kitchen as well (10 x 9) and we put two Kraftmaid Lazy Susan Angels in our layout. The susan is 27 1/2" deep and a full circle with no post in the middle.

I LOVE them! Not only do they hold a lot, they gave me a bit more counter space too which is something I really needed. I now have prep space next to my stove, where I didn't before.

We considered the blind corner pull-outs but it didn't help with the counter space so we opted for the susans instead.

Here's some pics (don't mind the plywood in the floor, haven't gotten to that part of the project yet):
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I've been intrigued by these corner drawers as an alternative, but haven't seen them in use anywhere on GW.

Anybody got 'em?

Here is a link that might be useful: Blum corner drawer system

Here's a website that had some interesting comments from people who actually design or install cabinetry.

Jayne

Here is a link that might be useful: comments from cabinetmakers about corners

Crissiemw,

How wide is the door for your corner cabinet? If I use an angled door, it will have to be very small.

Your cabinet looks great!

Thank you.

I'm not a lazy susan fan. Had one in my previous house and just didn't like it (not a super susan though...those might be better).

I've got two corners in my semi-completed new kitchen and I'm really pleased with my final solutions. For one corner, I added two sliding shelves that go back into the blind area. This is my "Costco cabinet". It's for stuff I buy lots of and have to store, but don't need to get my hands on daily. To get to the sliders, I have to remove what is in front of them. I don't find this to be a big convenience, but it might bug some people.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o275/msteinen/DSCN5203.jpg[/IMG]
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o275/msteinen/DSCN5204.jpg[/IMG]
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o275/msteinen/DSCN5206.jpg[/IMG]

The second blind corner backs up to the powder room. I had a cabinet built that makes use of the blind lower space with two big drawers (used for newspaper recycling, paper goods storage and towels for drying off the dog when he comes inside wet). The top of the cabinet is recessed into the wall studs, so it's much shallower than the lower drawers. When closed, the cabinet protrudes into the powder room by about 3".

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o275/msteinen/DSCN5208.jpg[/IMG]
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o275/msteinen/DSCN5212.jpg[/IMG]
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o275/msteinen/DSCN5213.jpg[/IMG]
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o275/msteinen/DSCN5209.jpg[/IMG]

FWIW, I read someone's mathematical comparison of the storage offered by lazy susans with two round shelves and cabinet space with 3 rectangular shelves that sacraficed the blind corners, and the cabinets came out ahead.

Good luck with your planning!

OK, trying to add the photos again...

Blind corner #1

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Blind corner #2

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arlosmom
Thanks for posting those photos. I love your idea. I may use it in my kitchen. did you install those sliding drawers in your cabinet after the cabinet had been installed or were they built into your cabinet from the begining?

Thanks!

Just to chime in...we had a 36" x 36" lazy susan in our old kitchen...the kind w/the pie-cutout (squared corner rather than diagonal front) + center pole. It held a lot! I don't know the diameter, but it was so close to the walls of the cabinet that about all that would fall would be a toothpick. (I thought I had something fall, but there was nothing there when they demolished...)

With the exception of my 9"x13" pans, all my pots, pans, pizza pans, colanders, etc. fit in it. I had planned to have another one for an appliance garage this time around, but the two corners ended up being (1) a corner prep sink and (2) a 27" cabinet turned around as a pet center. My DH requested the pet center idea. If I did not have a separate, step-in pantry, I would have nixed that idea (I had veto power). But I can store my small appliances in the pantry...although they will take away food storage space.

I have seen the blind corner units (in showrooms) and they looked like they wasted space and that it would be easy for things to fall off the shelves. My KD mentioned that some of her clients complained about having to crawl into the space to get fallen items quite frequently...so she discourages people from using them...from what I saw, I have to concur with her.

BUT...to each his own!

HTH!

We have a super susan. No pole, with an adjustable shelf. You can put anything in it like the Geo Foreman Grill, food processor, etc. The hinged door on the outside is 11" each side. Three years, nothing has fallen off. It holds SO MUCH MORE than the double pull out I had previously, and everything is easily accessible. We were able to get more drawer space on either side of it too.

-Babka

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I had two corners in my last kitchen . . . we chose to angle the corners, like in chrissiemw's pic above. One corner had a heavy duty metal susan on a pole. It held up well, but I stored fairly light things on the top shelf. The other corner had a three-bin recycling center in it, like the one shown below.

My new kitchen will also have an angled corner, this time with a super susan. I really like working at the angled corner.

We had a useless blind corner before, so we've really enjoyed the lazy susan, and feel like we have a lot more useable space.

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Raestr,

The door is only 14 1/2" wide and the opening is 13 1/2" wide. I can fit my full-size crockpot and large sauce pots in there with no problem.

I have a small kitchen with both of these issues. There is a Rev a shelf version of the KV unit that's less expensive. Allows for a drawer above and doesn't attach to door. On the other hand, I have a curved wall which will have a curved backing on a 36x36 cab. I was thinking of a double lazy susan w/o pole but it looks like most of you like two shelves and individual super susans w/o ..makes more sense so you can adjust height. Any special place to buy a kidney/pie shape super susan?? When I looked the largest was 32" only..is there a 36" one??

One other thing I just remembered. Some people who are nervous about losing stuff in the back of a lazy susan mentioned having installed a piece of cabinet material across the back corner of the cabinet to block it off. Of course, this is easier to do when ordering the cabinets as opposed to after the unit is installed.

jayne

I couldn't get corner units to work well in my plan, so I have two closed off (dead) corners. The cab at the base of the peninsula was pulled forward and is accessed from the seating side (as is the wall cab above it, which has our everyday wine glasses):

The dead corner in this photo (to the R of the range) will be accessed from the other side of the wall (basement landing) for general storage (Costco paper towels, etc.)... when we get around to it. :-)

This corner could be accessed from the other side of the wall too, if we ever decide we need to.

For my kitchen, not forcing corner units into our plan allowed larger cabinets where I most needed them - it worked very well for me. It also saved us a few bucks. :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: My Eventually Almost Mostly Finished Budget Craftsman Kitchen

IMO, the real trick is in knowing how much storage space you need. If you know that, then you know whether you really need a corner storage unit or whether you'd be happier with the more useful larger drawers on the sides.

Personally, I chose to WASTE an inside corner just because the real estate on both sides was so valuable -- right by my cooktop and I have lots of pots and pans that thrive in large drawers. For my kitchen, it was absolutely the right call.

What a lot of interest over corners! I feel better about blocking off my corner now that I see so many others have done the same thing! I love the idea of fitting a cabinet in my dead space that faces into the room behind - for me, a bathroom. Unfortunately the toilet is right there - but that was a great idea!