I have two corner Lazy Susans in my kitchen (upper and lower cabinets near the stove, and my kitchen is so small using them is a must, not an option. I just avoid loading them up with really heavy things and avoid stacking as much as possible. If you do place heavy items on them, try to place them towards the center pivot area, not on the outer perimeter (physics, pure and simple) and it will turn smoothly.

I have several shallow baskets in mine for holding small items so they don't get lost. I can off-load the baskets to find and remove the item I want. There are all kinds of small containers, dividers, etc., you can use if you keep an eye open. I have a small container designed for holding sweetener packets I use for holding packets of True Lemon and True Lime. Find solutions that match your problems items.

-Grainlady

My mom made hers work pretty well. It does hold light stuff. And you can't overload them, as grainlady points out.

Hers (well, Dad's, since she passed away a couple of years ago) is the most-used cabinet in the kitchen. It has colanders, measuring cups, and leftovers containers.

I think the usefulness of a lazy susan depends on what you are storing in that cabinet, how much you have to store and how easily accessible you want the items to be. They are great for large pots and pans if they are placed correctly.

There are several threads on the Kitchens forum about lazy susans, super susans, and other corner utilization devices. Here's a link to a search of that forum. Look especially at the second thread in the list.

Here is a link that might be useful: Threads on Kitchens forum

The cheap plastic ones with a center pole can be pretty useless - I used to have two of them in my kitchen. In my remodel I put in a super susan - the turntables are mounted on shelves rather than on a pole, so they can support a lot more weight. I use it for small appliances, and it is wonderful!

When I put heavy stuff (like a crock pot) on the old one, eventually the turntables would slide down the pole, and I had to take everything out and adjust it - a royal pain. The other one I used for Tupperware, but it never stayed organized.

They can be great if you find the right thing to put in there. Larger items, not too heavy, would be perfect. Maybe cereal boxes, cake mixes, etc?

The house I grew up in had maple shelves on a center pole and it held pots and pans and the Pyrex bowls, pretty heavy. It's 45 years old and only recently started to stick a little.

We also had a carpenter-made one in one of the bathrooms that was awesome. Things did fall but the cabinet was rounded in the back to the shape of the shelves, so there was no space for things to fall into.

I think a lot depends on the quality of the lazy susan.

I appreciate y'all weighing in! I agree with the consensus here which, to me, says, depending on the quality of the Lazy Susan, the exact height/weight/placement of the objects is very important. Which is something that drives me nuts. I want it to be orderly and pretty and functional without needing a degree in engineering, having things topple over, fly off this merry-go-round into the cabinet's nether regions, or tear and shred and leave the contents strewn all over like the time I made the mistake of putting a bag of rice in there. Even the ones online (with pics) where they talk about organizing them look cluttered to me. I'm still trying to figure out what to even put on it. We have an island and I see where you can install rails in cabinets where you can hang pots, pans, and lids and pull the whole thing out when you need something and it seems handier, easier than trying to put that stuff on the Lazy Susan.

I especially appreciate the link, Graywings--I will definitely check that out!

I forget to mention, I place items I use the most closest to the door panel, so I only have to open it a little to get out what I want most frequently without having to go half-way around the unit.

If things tend to slide on the hard plastic shelves of the Susan, you can line the bottom with "grippy" (rubberized) shelf-lining material so cans/jars don't slide around.

-Grainlady

I only have 4 small cheap plastic ones in the cabinet for spices. Has worked perfectly for 30 years.

I'm not a fan either. I used the Lazy Susan to hold canned food in a previous house.

Grainlady--you've been a big help! Thank you!
OldFixer--I'm also looking into organizing my spices so your input is also helpful. I've looked at a lot of spice racks and it seems like a Lazy Solution could actually work for that issue.
Adellabedella--Thanks for the validation. We can put a man on the moon but the common cold and Lazy Susan issues still confound us??!

Yep - I use mine for spices, too - works great!

I have the built in cabinet type, not table type and It's great. There is not much else you can put in..in a small area of your cabinets. I don't see any benefit from the table type, things to fall if you spin it to fast.

I have a lazy susan cabinet that is a two-tier unit is attached to two fixed shelves so that each rotating circle is quite separate from the other, and I found it to be a complete waste of space. I ripped one tier of the susan off of the shelf and find it far more useful to store bulky, infrequently used items such as roast pans, specialty baking supplies, extra dishes, etc. The rest of my kitchen has drawers and pull-out shelves and once you have these, you realize that the best thing to do is design your kitchen to avoid blind-corner base cabinets. That being said, I can stuff a lot of gear into that cabinet, even on the susan tray that is still there, though I never rotate it.

I am enjoying reading the pros and cons of Lazy Susans--they are really helpful!

Cupofkindness: I have wondered if having the space in my blind cabinets would be of more use than the Lazy Susan that is there. Sometimes I think so when I see the square footage there is and compare that to the space some of the larger appliances that I own (that I'm grateful to have) but that I really don't use all that often. Sometimes it seems that it would be less of a hardship and make more sense if a couple times a year, I got down on the floor to dig out a few appliances as opposed to engineering the perfect height to weight ratio of unrelated items that seems to be the exact ideal dimensioms to store on a Lazy Susan.

They are great for small appliances, just turn and lift. Mine is really sturdy and holds a LOT.

Egad, I have 4 huge lazy susans and love them! We remodeled the kitchen about 9 years ago and I put in two uppers and two lowers. All spices go in one UPPER. (This is the only way I can organize spices alphabetically.) Below that holds heavy containers of dried fruit, sugar, flour, etc., Pyrex bread pans, oils and vinegars, my huge McCoy bread bowl where I stash chocolate chips and other baking goodies. Opposite corner UPPER holds canned goods and they are plenty heavy -- I've organized (and labeled) them by Chinese, condiments, fish, Mexican, mixes, preserves, snacks, soups, tomatoes, veg. When I open that cabinet it's easy to see which way to turn it to find what I need. The 4th one (lower) holds more baking pans, beans, pasta, dog treats,various glass canisters all heavy.

About once every 2 years we take out some things and tighten the fittings. Takes all of 5-10 minutes. Wipe down and carry on. I would not like my kitchen half as much without them.

We've had our for almost a decade now and we haven't really found any problems with it. I actually makes my life a little easier especially when looking for the spices and canned goods I'd want to use. Ours was very cheap and it did make a huge difference in the kitchen.

I have LS corner base cabs and couldn't live without them. Center pole, heavy rubberized plastic shelves with solid bottoms and 2" rims. They are fixed on the pole so if you rotate one, both shelves rotate together. Max weight 60 lbs. per shelf.

Very occasionally I have had stuff fall off, but not often. I tend to put big things on them: my sets of stainless mixing bowls, my meat slicer, my food scale, a small bin that holds some bottled Chinese sauces for handy access, box graters, some stoneware baking casseroles, the containers for flour/sugar/rice....that sort of item.

One of the reasons I got my line of cabs was that the cheaper ones used wire shelving for their LSs, and I absolutely did not want that kind. Those never work for me, so I opted "up".

Had them for 25 yrs now and LOVE THEM.

We are renovating our kitchen and I am absolutely not getting lazy susan's. I hate them. They are the cheap plastic with the hole in the middle. I did see lazy susan's standing up on their own, and people used them in the bathroom for organizing their make-up, etc.

ridgebackmom, I agree with you about a cheap lazy susan - but a super susan is a completely different beast. The turntables sit on a shelf - no pole, and able to support a lot more weight. Mine is in an angled cabinet, so I could put a drawer above, but they work fine with a cutout as well. As you can see, I have some pretty heavy stuff in there, no problem.

I have never been a fan because one wrong spin...by a child or a grandchild or if you are in a hurry....and you will jumble everything and usually lose something in the very back where it's almost impossible to retrieve. I prefer drawers and I have seen some that slide back into the dead space then swing out. You can also use dishpans or similar bins/basketry to hold things then store them behind each other and move them manually from behind each other as needed.

I have also seen a really ingenious lazy susan if you like that sort of thing...and it's much more functional with all the kinks worked out. You can make them! Take 2 identical round cake pans (any size but the same size) and fill the bottom one with a single layer of marbles. Then put the other pan on top of the marbles. This is good for your upper cabinet to hold spices or table condiments.

I do want to point out that while lazy susans do help utilize hard to reach spaces in the backs of cupboards, by definition they are ROUND and round things offer less storage than square of the same size...you lose all that space where a square container reaches to the corner. Remember this principle when you choose canisters, tupperware, and other bins and baskets for tight spaces. Round things are a space waster.

I suggest you get rid of the lazy susan next time you get a remodel of your kitchen. Get drawers put in & that will take out any need or wasted space in corners. Nearly everyone with corner cupboards tell me they cannot stand them & would get drawers put in instead next time they do a kitchen makeover.

I wish there was a way to put drawers in a blind corner cabinet without sacrificing most of the space. Corners are a challenge to design around.

I love using Lazy Susans' for spices, herbs, dried condiments.

I have a kitchen and pantry full of turntables as well as a pie cut like Littlebugs'.

Here are a couple.

Mustangs. You are my hero! lol

Thanks Snookums! I'm glad that you appreciate my use of turntables.

I love mine and use it for spices. I actually set it in the pantry on a shelf, and get spices as I need from there when cooking.

Just saw this two years late. Our corner cabinet has the two tier center pole type from a custom cabinet maker. They look similar to the pic from littlebug five posts up. However, they are very solid. Yes, on occasion I have had a spray bottle or something fall off in the back. It isn't really hard to retrieve. We fill both racks up solidly with HEAVY cleaners without a problem. No concern with lighter items at the edge. More often ordered the other way to keep a couple small stacked items from falling off the edge. They essentially work perfectly. Spices would be an absurd waste of space. BTW I have spices alpha organized on two of those ( Ron Popiel-esque) cheezy plastic pull out racks like this . They have also worked perfectly for several years now.