I think you would be better off with a blind corner, and a bigger cabinet by the sink. I had 12" cabinets on each side of the sink - one was for glasses, the other for canned goods - and even that was pretty darned narrow. Only you can decide if you would rather have a wider cab by the sink, or access to the corner.

My Mom has a blind upper corner, and while the space way in the back is inaccessible, we can reach past the door opening to get things.

I have about 34 inches from the corner to my window frame. I went with the blind corner so that I could have a larger cabinet next to the window while still allowing some space around the window frame. I didn't want my cabinets to squeeze all the way up to window. Even using the blind corner, I was only able to fit a 15 inch cabinet next to the window while still allowing for a few inches between the cabinets and the window. I wanted some sort of symmetry around the window, and it looks fine with a 30-inch double door cabinet on the other side because all the doors are approximately the same size.

The 15 inch cabinet is still a good useable size and I keep glasses and cups there. The blind corner is on the adjacent wall. I stick rarely used items in the corner ... vases, pitchers, some plastic stuff, seasonal items (like xmas cookie tins). I don't enjoy having to get into that corner, and this way I don't have to, at least not very often.

My sister has the diagonal corner cabinets in her uppers and I like them a lot. She keeps glasses in hers, and even without a lazy susan, nothing seems inaccessible. If symmetry would have permitted me to use a diagonal cabinet, I would have preferred to go that route. But I'm happy with my compromise, as symmetry was fairly important to me.

I think they depend upon the manufacturer. We had a blind cabinet (custom) in the place we sold and it was fairly accessible, but we were in a temporary rental after with a diagonal and it was not very accessible at all because the door seemed very small compared to the cavity of the cabinet. On the other hand I have seen awful blind units and diagonals that were fine, functionally.

I really liked the pie cut /easy reach I had in the first kitchen I remodeled, and might consider issues like that in choosing a cabinet line. I am not a huge fan of upper diagonals from an esthetic standpoint, but I don't like diagonals and clipped corners in general as a design feature so that's just personal bias.

Neither, I would do an easy reach.

Sadly, she said her cabinet line didn't include easy reach.

I am getting them in my new kitchen, to replace horrible cavernous diagonal cabs, and I can hardly wait!

Wiltv,

What is your double hinged upper cabinet called and what brand of cabinet is it? It looks wonderful.

Carol

Not too fond of the diagonal cabinet myself - for the reason of aesthetics and wasted space. But if there are plenty of other cabinets to use then the loss of a little storage real estate shouldn't be too bad. I would say go for the look you like best. And what cabinet co. Are you using? RTA or semi custom custom?

WillTV, I must print this picture to show a designer that this is what I would want my corner cabinet to look like! I love your kitchen. I hate my blind cabinet in my kitchen now that I am always losing what I put there and throwing out spoiled food.

For aesthetics, I don't love my diagonal upper. For function, however, I love it! I can actually fit all of my glasses and mugs on the 2 lower shelves (family of 7 and we have friends! ; ) ). I have a deluxe lazy susan on the lower inside corner with the two 'hinged' doors that open to expose it - and I have to say that if I had those two 'hinged' doors on my uppers it would drive me crazy because they are a little cumbersome to use and you have to be careful not to scratch the nearby cabinets with the pulls when you open the doors - I have painted cabinets.

skeylargo,
I should have read your post more closely. Given your choices, I think I'd go with a diagonal & a lazy or super susan.

OntarioMom, The cabinet with the double hinged door is generally referred to as an easy reach. Our cabs are custom made so we had them extend the left side of the cab by about 10" to eliminate what would otherwise have been a 9" cabinet between the range hood and a conventional easy reach. This way we eliminate the dividing cabinet wall and gain more space. It was also a less costly to do this than to build the 9" cabinet.

skeylargo,
I should have read your post more closely. Given your choices, I think I'd go with a diagonal & a lazy or super susan.

OntarioMom, The cabinet with the double hinged door is generally referred to as an easy reach. Our cabs are custom made so we had them extend the left side of the cab by about 10" to eliminate what would otherwise have been a 9" cabinet between the range hood and a conventional easy reach. This way we eliminate the dividing cabinet wall and gain more space. It was also a less costly to do this than to build the 9" cabinet.

willtv - how big are the doors on easy reach? I looked at company with easy reach but the cabinet was 24 inch with each door 12 inches so it still left me only 10 inches to the window for another skinny cabinet :(. I was looking at Jim Bishop which is semi-custom and asked about having custom made easy reach cabinet but KD told me that if door on one side was like 20" and 12" on the other than eventually the door would sag on the hinges.
Symmetry is important to my husband so the skinny cabinet on one side of the window and large on the other might bother him. I hate to loose the space in the blind corner but the kitchen will be more usable anyway so it might be OK.

I have a meeting with a KD today that is going to show me a plan and pricing using Kemper and Decora (she was really pushing Decora for some reason), not sure if either has easy reach (I kind of doubt it).

Willtv,

Thanks for the info on your "easy reach" cabinet. Do you agree with DreamItCanBe's comments that those double hinged doors are cumbersome and can lead to scratches on the nearby cabinets? If I put one of these in, it will be for frequently used dishes.

Thanks,

Carol

skeylargo ,
The 3 doors on the easy reach are 10".
It's been 2 1/2 years and no sagging yet.
To the right of the easy reach is a separate cabinet that's about 11 1/2".
Here are a few shots that might help.

Closed

Ontario,
We keep our dishes in the easy reach too.
You do have to be careful when opening the easy reach door, but there are ways to restrain their swing.
Also, we have no kids so it's not really an issue for us.

Mine is similar to Palimpsest's..

I had the blind corner for 37 years and I wouldn't do it again for love nor money. For you, I would first think about using a different cabinet line than the one which doesn't offer an easy reach option. If that is definitely out, then I'd go with the diagonal. I've never had a diagonal cabinet, but it's got to be better than that useless blind corner.

This cabinet ends about 5.5" short of the over-sink window.

P.S. Although I've heard the cautions about the hinged door banging the adjacent cabinet, I've never had that experience.

Decora does in fact have an easy reach cabinet. I love mine.

Thank you all for the response, the pictures help A LOT!
fsteph - so your easy reach you have to open the left side and than pull open the right, no middle hinge? I guess it was custom build.
The longest "leg" on easy reach cabinet Decora can do is 27" so that would leave me with 7 3/8 inches to the window so on the other side I would also have to reduce the cabinet to make it look symmetrical. We played around with corner cabinet vs blind vs easy reach in Decora and the blind looked the best :(

I guess I could take a look at Jim Bishop again as they can do any size I want I think and see if they can make me easy reach to the size I need.

Hi Skeylargo, yes, custom cabinets by Signature Cabinetry.
You got it, open the left then pull the right no middle hinge. I put the cups and glasses we use often on the left and the rest goes on the right so most of the time, I don't need to open the right.