toddimt! Thanks so much! I just measured across the opening last night, because my husband had me worried that there just wasn't enough room for anything in that little space! It's over 17", so once the carpenter finishes I think it'll be perfect. I was so so happy to see those specs. Carpenter is out of town so I can't ask him. Are you pleased with your drawers? Can you fit much in them? Do you wish you'd put in a Super Susan instead? I'm still very excited to get the drawers, but I'd love to get other opinions. Thanks so much for your quick reply.

"...corner susans...don't quite look like the rest of the kitchen..." Huh???? They looked just fine in our old kitchen w/partial overlay doors. Our lazy susan was the only thing in our kitchen that looked and performed as well at demo as it did at installation 13 years earlier. I wholeheartedly recommend corner susans. As to stuff falling off, if your cabinets are made so the back and side walls closely follow the contour of the round shelves, there are no problems. However, I don't know if all cabinetmakers, especially small custom shops, are able to (or willing to) make them that way. We had that kind (curved walls) in our old kitchen w/builder-grade cabinets...and that susan was great! It held all our pots & pans, colanders, cake & pie tins, and various serving pieces. Everything was in front...you simply rotated the susan, the doors rotated inside, and you stopped where the item you wanted was...and it was right in front of you...no digging around for things. Nothing ever fell off. The hardware worked smoothly the entire 13 years. No taking up aisle space in front of the cabinet when open. No door-banging b/c the door was attached to the susan (like Marcolo's picture). Be aware that if you store smaller items on a blind corner pullout and something falls off, you will have to crawl inside to retrieve the item b/f you will be able to close it. My KD strongly discourages blind corner cabinets b/c of all the complaints she's gotten from customers who insisted on them and then later regreted them. (I thought they looked "cool" the first time I saw them and asked about them. After she showed me how they work, told me about the pitfalls, and told me about all the complaints she's gotten, we decided not to get one.) Other good uses of corners: Drawers (Plllog's kitchen) Corner sink bases (b/c under sink storage is usually poor so you combine them to give you better storage everywhere else.) Installing a 27" or 30" cabinet and turning it 90 degrees to face the back side of the corner...but this only works if the back side is open, like in a peninsula. Yes, some people love their blind corner units, but, to me, they're a "last resort" option...only if absolutely nothing else works. YMMV

This may seem easier said than done, but take your time. You need time to research and search for options. Take time to form different ideas about how to approach things, and take time to resolve one problem and let your head clear before you try to make a thousand decisions on another one that can get overwhelming even under the best of circumstances. If you are doing a whole house reno and it's more than paint and flooring, your timing is ambitious and then some. Many folks doing things DIY are in for 4-6 years, not months. Giving yourself more time can be stressful, but it eliminates other stresses, can spread out the finances and give you time to make decisions that might avoid hasty mistakes. Clean the place and make it functional, but I'd wait until you can get the right foundation for any reno before starting, whether you plan to save up and do it all at once or work a plan to phase in changes. This house wasn't a whole house reno, but we knew the kitchen needed new appliances and counters when we bought it. We planned to take 6 months to make sure everything else was good, life happened and it was at least 4 years before we got to doing the kitchen. In that time, our plans evolved and I am so much happier with the result. I haven't looked at IKEA cabinets for some time, but they did have some wood doors -- those can be painted. Also do some searching for threads here and elsewhere (isn't there an IKEA kitchen forum somewhere?) to see what others have done to use IKEA boxes and other doors. Scherr (possibly a wrong spelling?) is one I know folks have talked about being able to order drilled to fit IKEA boxes. That opens a host of other options -- styles and colors that are still a good quality, budget option. If that doesn't work for you, you can shop for recycled cabinets, for furniture pieces that might allow you to make even part of the kitchen unfitted -- whether you go for the look as a style choice or as a transition so you can phase in the kitchen you really want. An armoire can be a pantry, storage for dishes, pots and pans -- lots of things. Cabinets, desks, dressers or tables can become islands. IKEA butcher block, salvaged counter remnants, preformed granite and laminate are all budget choices for counters -- and some folks have used a sheet of plywood (you buy the better furniture grade -- not the rough stuff that goes under a roof, etc.). Second, don't get penny wise only to be pound foolish. Get your layout right and keep the choices that effect the layout. If you are going to be in the house a while and if you would really use them, the double ovens and cooktop are not choices you can change later without some pretty significant changes or another reno. How you cook is one of the most fundamental choices going into a kitchen. If that's what you really want and need, that's not the first thing you cross off your list. Fight for it. If it were my kitchen, I know I'd always regret that decision. So would all the family that come for holidays, etc. If you put in a counter that you plan to change, plan for the removal so you make it easier. Also, if you do that, don't tile a splash. Use paint - one less thing to take out or get damaged later. This post was edited by lascatx on Sun, Apr 21, 13 at 13:10

suzi-yes that's right they are rectangle. And I am aware that I'd have lost a triangle (that would be my wasted space that I didn't need for anything) - and the circle in the rectangle does have some wasted space on the 'corners' anyhow. I thought it out and was prepared to do that. I just offered up what I have and what I contemplated as an option in case it was helpful for the OP. I would have been more than happy to do so and it would have housed the stuff that I have in my kitchen just fine, wouldn't have missed it a bit and susans are pricey. Some people love them, some people like them and some people just don't have them. You don't have to have a susan as a solution. Space calculations have been done showing that it's not really the loss of space that it can appear to be. I am okay with not preferring them even though many or even most enjoy them and find them useful. closing-off-a-blind-corner calculations beth09-I know it! I actually have a drawer stack that's somewhat empty - hahaha. It is a shock to the system. You will find what works for you. I will say the super susan (no pole) pie shaped does seem much sturdier than my old regular susan with pole.