Blind corner cabinets are a particular interest of mine for several reasons. I have written quite a few blogs about them, and I have a blind corner in the kitchen I desperately want to remodel. Because I'm a cabinetmaker, I can pretty much do whatever I wantÂwithin reason of course. And, in the end, I rather fear that I am not going to do much of anything with that corner. It will be much better than it was, but some parts of it are forever dead because we're not willing to expand the kitchen, and the space limitations we have greatly restrict our choices. I won't reproduce the arguments here, but I will say that I never did find a solution to the blind corners for base cabinets that I thought was any better than simply letting that blind corner go and simply installing drawer banks on the legs of the blind corners. Basically, it's a matter of simple math. You figure out how much space you'll get with various solutions and compare it to the space you would have with a dead corner and two drawer banks. However, I did find a number of solutions that worked well for upper cabinets, and I will incorporate something like that in our kitchen when I make it. The link below will take you to one of the ideas I liked best. I will definitely do some variation of this for the upper cabinets in our kitchen in that corner. There were also a number of other ideas I came across that that utilized the entire blind corner and did a wonderful job. I personally don't have a problem with simply boarding up a blind corner for base cabinets, but there are enough elegantÂand worthwhileÂsolutions for upper cabinets, that it seems a shame to end up with a dead corner where things go to die, which, sadly, is what I currently have in my kitchen! Here is a link that might be useful: Cabinet & Furniture Trends & Information

I did the math once. There is very little difference in storage capacity between having a total lost space blind corner and having most corner solutions. The advantage to a corner solution is that it's easier to make it work with full overlay cabinet doors, and especially the knobs/pulls which tend to run into each other. Corner solutions include lazy susans/super susans, magic corner type pullouts, double half moon swing outs, etc. Corner drawers, comparing like to like, have a similar storage capacity to pie cut susans. They excel in convenience, however, and because they easily come in three or four levels, rather than the two you usually find in a corner, and since, if you don't demand full extension, you can make them go all the way back, they can, functionally, give you the most, and most easily accessible, storage solution. The completely open corner cabinet, such as Co-co showed above, is an exception. That does maximize the storage space, though, as you can see in Co-co's photo, people tend not to maximize their use of it, and usually only put in one shelf, if any. Intermediate solutions, in terms of storage ability (hold more than corner solutions but less than totally open), are the full circle susans that create a diagonal cabinet across the corner, and Arlosmom ROTS. Full circle susans have about 20% more storage than the total blind corner, partly because it grabs area from the floorspace of the kitchen. An issue with it is that the opening is fairly narrow compared to the cabinet, but people in tight kitchens like them a lot for storing pots, mixing bowls and small appliances. These larger things are easy to choose without seeing far into the cabinet, and don't try to fall off. If something does get stuck inside, however, it's a PITA to get in there and unstick it. The pie cut susan cabinets have the same issues, but a wider opening. Only a 5% or so advantage over true blind, however. Another way to handle a blind corner is the Arlosmom "Costco cupboard". That's where you have roll out tray shelves in the blind corner that pull into the cabinet, much like the shelves by Cloud Swift's sink, above, where ROTS wouldn't work because of the plumbing. The reason it's a "Costco" cupboard, however, is that whatever is right behind the door needs to be bulky enough to be moved easily to get at the pullouts. The newer corner solution, I think by Haefele, double pullout where pulling out the face cabinet trays pulls trays from the blind corner to the door opening, is based on this idea as well, while giving you trays to hold smaller things than sleeves of coke and paper towels. I haven't measured the storage space on the last. It looks like it might hold more than the double half moons. With anything of the sort, though, any pullout system, you have to be very careful about things falling off and jamming the mechanism. It's much harder to get into those kinds of cabinets, because of the tray mechanism, than it is to get into a susan cabinet or an Arlosmom one. I have two sets of corner drawers, and two Arlosmom cabinets. The latter two are where there is something other than cabinetry on the outside of the blind corner. My cabinetmaker made the ROTS in the Arlosmom cabinets run on the shelves instead of attaching them to the cabinet sides, so the shelves are adjustable height, which is very cool. One of them is an upper, and I don't remember if there's anything stored in that corner yet. It's definitely for the stuff you never want to see but don't want to get rid of. The other is in my laundry room, feeding into the cabinet where my laundry sorters are, so pretty easy to get to.

I like cpartist's suggestion. If you decide on a dead corner, are you accounting for 2-3" of filler on each side of the corner? You'll need that space so that drawers will not be in conflict with handles on the perpendicular run. The 19" cabs beside the range could be reduced to 18", and maybe the fridge could move a few inches to the right? Measure the items you want to keep in the drawers to decide on the better depth--a tall stockpot compared to casserole dishes. ETA, I have a blind corner beside a drawer base (2" filler, plus 1" exposed cabinet face because my cabinets are partial overlay). The 12" trash pull-out is in the perpendicular corner. I just measured, and the opening is a little over 11". In the blind corner I keep items that I don't need to access often--bulky plastic storage containers with covers, used mostly for pot luck picnics. I also keep empty glass jars in the front, since I can reach behind the extended trash can to retrieve those easily. To access the items toward the back, I have to remove the can and pop the trash can housing off the base runners, and get down on my knees--not convenient, but not a huge deal. However, I wouldn't want to store items that I need often, especially paper towels, which I might need in a hurry if I've used the last one to clean up a boiled-over pot. Of course, without the trash pull-out it would be much easier to access items in the blind corner. There is no actual cabinet in the corner, and the trash pull-out is not in a separate cabinet. I used cleats on the wall, to support the countertop, with a vertical 2x4 at the inside corner (beside the drawer base) for additional support, and built a deck in the open space to attach the trash can runners. I also built a face frame for the trash pull-out, and used a piece of trim to cover the 2x4. The DW is on the other side of the trash pull-out, so I used a 3/4" plywood panel between it and the open space, to support the countertop. I chose not to put a shelf, or a half-shelf, in the blind corner, but it would not have been difficult to add one. At the time I remodeled my kitchen I wasn't confident in my skill level, therefore I over engineered in several areas. The process wasn't complicated, and involved scrap wood I had on hand, but it took some time to cut and fit all the pieces--if you can DIY, then great, you can even decide how wide you want the opening, since it's not in a stock cabinet (but a contractor will charge for time spent on all the fiddly pieces.)

I would reserve the blind space for things that are rarely used, as mimimomy suggested. Holiday decorations, perhaps, or a canning pot - it doesn't have to be kitchen things, if you can free up space in a closet elsewhere. One large thing back there makes a lot more sense than a bunch of small things. I imagine the things you now have in the hidden portions are mostly forgotten. I think your tub on the top shelf (bottom cabinet) would work better for you if it had dividers, so the contents inside are more organized. I like the tub idea, because it does make it easier to access the things in the back. One thing that would make your upper cabinet more efficient is an additional shelf (if the existing shelves are adjustable, and you can get another one in there). Right now you appear to have a few small items on the lowest, most convenient shelf - if you had two shelves that you could reach, you could store more things where they are accessible. Before you do anything, however, evaluate ALL the storage in your kitchen. You may find you have a lot of things you rarely or never use, or that you have duplicates you don't need, or things are not close to their point of use, and could be stored more conveniently. Once you do a solid purge, think about putting things away where they make the most sense - not necessarily where they were before. Good luck!