I have two with the diagonal door. I also did not want the bifold door. I like the idea that it is a full circle. Here is a picture of mine.

I had this in the kitchen of our previous home, and I liked it alot better than the one I have now (which is the 3/4 circle with the hinged door). As you said, I liked that 3/4 corner for kneading and rolling dough. The hinged door is a PITA, and because it flops around when open, it is always in the way. I like to keep the door open when I'm baking because that is where I keep my baking supplies. And before you can shut the door, you have to put the susan in the correct position before you can shut the door. Whereas with the full circle, it doesn't matter which position it's in. Sorry, I don't have better pictures. The old kitchen was remodeled in 2001.

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A diagonal door gives you a significantly smaller opening. So it works well if your Susan stores pantry items, but less well if you use it for food processors or big pots and pans.

Also, a D-shaped susan will let you put a larger one in there than a full circle like you show.

Thanks J and J for the pics. It really helps to visualize.

Marcolo - I was wondering if the smaller opening would be a problem. I am not yet sure what i would store in mine but likely things like my blender, hand mixer, steamer etc. smaller appliances...

Writersblock - Do you mean that the D shaped susan has a larger diameter than the full circle? My brain is trying to figure out the geometry here. Would a full circle with a smaller diameter still have more storage space than a larger pie shaped susan?

You don't see many of the diagonal doors. Why do you think that is?

My larger appliances are in a different cabinet, but these susans have lots of storage. Not having the center pole really helps. I have a ton of pots and pans and cooking items in the right susan and my plastic storage containers and corningware in the other. There is plenty of room to stack my pots and frying pans. I have no problem fitting any of these items through the opening. It is so much nicer than reaching way back in a cupboard like I had before.

> Do you mean that the D shaped susan has a larger diameter than the full circle? My brain is trying to figure out the geometry here.

Because the D-shaped on has a flat edge along the front, yes, you can get a slightly larger diameter in there, because you can come closer to the edge of the available interior space.

If you have a cabinet with the double folding door, then a pie shaped susan will let you come closest to using all the available interior space. In that situation a circle would need to be small enough to avoid the point of the cutout area, if you follow me, while a susan with a cutout can fill the entire available space.

Another advantage to the V cut out is that it is significantly easier to remove heavy items. The rotated shelf protrudes OUTSIDE the cabinet and lifting heavy items up through that clearance is much easier, especially with items on the bottom shelf.

i just measured. The rotated shelf protrudes nearly six inches beyond the inside corner of the cabinet top. A big help when lifting a food processor.

A susan built for a single door, (D shaped) will also protrude when rotated, but much less.

Suggestion: Take some newspapers, tape them together to make large enough sheets, and make mock-ups of the shelf space you can have. Then compare what you gain or lose with the two kinds of doors.

If your cabinet maker will custom build the susans, you can usually make them significantly larger than the ready-made ones which sometimes leave way too much dead space. You don't need more than an inch between the edge of the susan and the cabinet walls.

Why don't you see more diagonal doors? IMHO, they look dated and messy. Plus, the opening is much smaller to navigate. I think people are leaning towards cleaner, less fussy kitchen elements (shaker cabs, subway tiles, less ornate ornamentation, painted not glazed or crackled) and a diagonal corner doesn't work in that kind of design.

I have a standard corner susan. The big advantage for me is what Bellsmom described in her first graph above. Look at Jstehl's pic above. You must reach IN to grab whatever you store in there, versus reaching done on a pie cut Susan where the shelves rotate OUTSIDE of the cab.

We have the hinged door. I have no need to leave them open so they are always closed after items are taken out (well, nearly always.) I'm pretty sensitive about things hitting into our cabinets, and the hinged door has never been a problem.

Thanks to suggestions I've seen on this site, I use the entire cabinet--the space on the susan, the space under the susan, the space on the sides and the space in the corners. I store an extra mw turntable and toaster oven pizza pans under the susan, extra cutting boards along the 2 easy-to-reach walls of the cabinet, and extra jars of juice in the 3 corners of the cabinet (off of the turntable.) The large opening allows me to do this.

And, as others have mentioned, I like how the susan protrudes out of the opening as it is turned.

We have the diagonal door. Love the extra counter space. Love the simpler non-fussy door. In the extra space within, we have a few wire holders on the interior cabinet walls that hold lids, and a wire holder on the inside of the door that holds plastic wrap etc.

Sorry, no photos.