Corner pantries often interrupt the flow of a kitchen and they also pose issues for appliance placements. To me, a corner pantry placement just seems lazy. Some kitchen layouts are fine with them, but usually, there's a better layout.

If you have a basement, attic, or garage that's where seasonal items (i.e. Christmas decorations) should go. As for sports equipment, if it's used all year round I'd incorporate it into some sort of mudroom area. If it's bulky though, or only used occasionally, a garage/attic/basement is the best place.

As for window seats, they're charming and can provide extra hidden storage, but no, IMO very few people ever actually use them.

Christmas in a big,deep closet in my office. Used to be in the basement but after I Marie Kondo-ized,I had the room to fit it all in there. Garage and side entry space for sports stuff. Only time the window seats get used are when we have large parties. But since fabric is my crack,they serve a purpose 24/7.

I think of storage spaces in my home in terms of real estate: location, location, location! Prime real estate is that which is most easily accessed, so that is reserved for things used every day.Prime real estate in the kitchen is between the sink and stove - that is your prime prep space, so it is the worst place for a corner pantry.

As you renovate, be honest with yourself - if you have several tubs of holiday decorations, make sure you plan space for it. Of course it would be ideal if you could purge things you never use (or are no longer attached to) before you start.

My house is a split entry, with a 4'-high storage space under the foyer. That space is hard to access, so it's used for seasonal things: Christmas tree, window screens, hunting clothes, golf clubs, power washer (so it doesn't freeze outdoors). There are shelves along one wall that hold paint, stain, etc.

Most sporting equipment lives in the garage, though we do have shelves in a closet dedicated to camping gear, and another for ski boots.

Nothing wrong with a corner pantry, per se. Case by case basis.

Basement, why?

Garage.

No and no, they aren't pretty.

Pantries......it depends on your kitchen size, layout, and contents. If it takes up space you could use for something else, then it's a bad idea.....but if there's a corner with bad light or wouldn't be desirable for eating or cooking, maybe it's not a bad idea. There's no one right answer for all cases.

Window seats -- yes, I've used them if they are rectangular and I can sit with my back against the wall (unlike a bow window), but usually I think of them as overflow seating for when you have a crowd of people.

I have no Christmas decorations or kids.

My entire Christmas gets stored under the stairs to my basement. I’m in the midst of finishing this room next to the stairs right now and had this area outfitted with a 30”x30” door, in my walk-closet, a motion light and when we replace the carpeting after our renovation, it’ll be “carpeted” with the old stuff. I actually tested it this past weekend, to make sure I could get everything in through the new “door” because I’ve put most of my decorations in very large boxes, labelled for upstairs or down. It’s so easy to just pull them out, put them on the right floor and start decorating. I’d hate to lose a closet for something I only need one month of the year.

While reading through Houzz, I saw several posts that said corner pantries are no good. Why?

A badly thought out pantry size and location is why. Many are afterthoughts by the builder or kitchen designer, stuck in to have the checkbox "pantry" marked off, that interrupt traffic flow or have lousy shelving arrangements.

Where do you keep your Christmas decorations?

Ideally, where they will be out of the way, safe from moisture and vermin and with respect to their being accessed only once a year. One dedicated spot that is not in the way of things you use frequently. My mom had a shelf all the way around above door level in their walk-in closet that had all the Christmas stuff.

Does anyone actually use a window seat? Or are they there to just look pretty?

If I had one, I would make it wide enough to loll on whilst reading books and watching the birds outside. Most of them are merely butt-perches .

We use our window seat. Made it large enough that it can serve as a small bed if needed. It holds all our photo albums, vt, etc. Keeps them altogether and in a safe dry place. When kids were younger they studied and read there.

IMO walk in pantries generally are a waste of space often outside the work space I much prefer a wall of fridge, pull out pantries that store twice as much stuff as a silly corner pantry. I store my Xmas stuff in a huge storage space we have in our walk out basement. I have a ton of stuff and it works for us. My Xmas stuff is in plastic bins labelled to which color they are and I have to admit I have way more than I should. When I was growing up my Mom stored extra linens in the window seat in our DR, it was my fovorite space to read.

I have a walk in corner pantry, not one problem with it

Christmas in good quality storage in attic (not Walmart boxes that disintegrate in the heat)

spots equip kept in garage

Consider window seat a ‘for looks’ only; however might be good use of an ackward angle/space

as empty nesters decorations and sports equipment have been dractically thinned down

"I have a walk in corner pantry, not one problem with it"

Yup, me too. It was a wise use of that space, and I don't have problems with shelving or storage -- it's just as I want it.

Our Christmas is in bins in our basement, we have no kids so no sports equipment, we have a window seat in the guest room -- it's two big "bins" and we store things in them -- extra blankets and tablecloths. I'm not a fan of corner pantries -- I think they are wasted space.

I like expanses of countertops so I wouldn't choose a corner pantry, but then I've never lived with one, so I can't say that I don't like them. What I do like, though, is a wide shallow pantry so I can see everything, and so things don't get lost behind others.

Holiday/seasonal decorations are in clear plastic bins on Metro-style shelves in the basement. One tip I learned here: store each string of lights in a ziplock bag, and all the bags in a bin. It works great!

sports gear, my only athlete was a runner, so minimal sports gear. But the hockey players I know? Their cars don't fit in the garage lol!