Before & After: A Smart Solution for a Corner Cabinet Lazy Susan
Doing battle with kitchen storage is not on my list of things I want to do every day, or any day for that matter. A large corner-cabinet of our kitchen that is outfitted with fancy, should-be functional shelves somehow evolved into a tumbling mess of stacks. Rather than surrender the space to kitchen clutter, I decided to find a purposeful use of this space and tame our corner-cabinet madness.
Clearly, not being able to turn the fancy lazy susan shelves without a crash was our biggest problem. The stacks of casserole dishes kept the shelves from turning without catching on the sides of cabinets or the bulky hinges. Even if you got it turned, next came unshelving the heavy stacks. Something had to work well in this space and I was determined to discover the best fit.
What Worked For Me: Storing Heavy Pieces There!
My bright orange Dutch oven had been sitting on the counter for days, so I gave it try first. The shelving was plenty strong to hold the weight and the handles narrow enough to clear the cabinet sides and large hinges. It turns out that weight—something that’s a common problem elsewhere—is a non-issue in this space.
So I forged ahead with a jenga-style trial and error (for maybe 10-15 minutes) to see what other often-used, but bulky items fit this space. The Dutch oven turned out to be the first piece to the arrangement that now has me giddy to make soups, stews and anything that involves a bulky, heavy piece of cookware.
A few of the its heavy-weight relatives now live in our corner cabinet too— a crockpot, cast iron skillets and two large stockpots (that were previously hidden in the back of the pot cabinet.) The thought of never lugging these past other bulky cookware out of the low, deep cabinet that feels like I practically have to crawl into each time is a major victory in my book.
True, this took some rearranging. The bulk containers of cooking oils got to stay nearby the stove, but the tumbling casserole dishes have been redistributed in pairs to various locations (and some donated) and the stack of paper products for parties got a new home. My Grannie’s pretty bundt pan is getting hung on the wall for decor and as a sweet reminder of all the chocolate pound cakes to come.
Even More Space
A bonus of removing the stockpots from a nearby cabinet is that it gave me room to make this bottom section of cabinetry more functional overall. I transferred one pair of casserole dishes to the pull-out drawer of pots for easy access. All pot lids now live in a basket on the shelf below, which was formerly crowded with cast iron and stock pots. The remainder of the casserole dishes are put out of reach with other serving ware and the baking dishes are on a shelf near our plates and bowls. Changes like this make me excited even to do the dishes!
Do you have a corner cabinet solution that works well? A few more areas are on my list to repurpose this month including a kid-accessible area and the dreaded food storage drawer. Stay tuned!