Kitchens have corners — that’s a fact. But not many of us know what to do with these awkward spaces other than install a corner cabinet, chuck in some kitchen bits and pray you’ll be able to find them when you need them. But the experts have a whole host of clever design tips to overcome tricky kitchen corners. Sometimes that might mean eliminating corner cabinets altogether with an alternative layout.
But if corner cabinets are necessary (as they often are in small kitchens), our design bods also have cool ways to organize a corner cabinet so it works hard. "Corners in kitchens are a fact of life; it’s just a case of how you deal with them," says Jayne Everett, creative director of Naked Kitchens. "Some avoid them by opting for a galley layout or a single run of units with a parallel island, while others — particularly those working with a smaller footprint — embrace them to make full use of the space."
The key, say the experts, is finding the best way to create usable, well-organized corners, rather than simply sticking with a standard corner cabinet that seriously underperforms. "Corner cabinets earned a reputation for awkward, hard-to-access storage because older kitchen designs often used them poorly," explains interior designer Juliette Byrne. "Examples include deep dead corners, tiny doors leading to huge, inaccessible spaces, and Lazy Susans that waste vertical space. In those situations, the corner cabinet became the least useful storage in the kitchen." So it’s time to turn the dreaded corner cabinet into a super useful part of your kitchen; here’s how the experts do it — no cutting corners involved.
1. Eliminate corners with a galley kitchen
Galley kitchen layouts do away with the need for corner cabinets — add a central island for extra function.
A galley kitchen layout consisting of two parallel banks of units is one way to avoid corners altogether, say the experts.
"Instead of turning the corner, we often stop short and form two separate runs, keeping everything within easy reach," says William Durrant, owner of Herringbone House. "Any apparent loss of storage is mostly perception; usable storage will always serve you better than nominal storage you come to dread."
"Two runs of cabinets facing each other means no corners at all, which allows for more storage flexibility," agrees Al Bruce, founder of Olive & Barr. "It’s a great option for smaller kitchens, allowing you to use every bit of wall without any wasted space."
Alternatively, a freestanding island unit and a straight run of cabinets create the same linear layout without any corners to design around.
"A straight run and large island means you can avoid tricky corner cabinets as the island can accommodate the storage that would have been on the other run of cabinets," says Claire Birkbeck, kitchen designer at Neptune. "It can also make the space feel bigger as you’re not enclosed by runs of cabinets."
Al is founder of UK Shaker kitchen company Olive & Barr. He studied as a cabinetmaker 25 years ago and has a natural flair for design and a deep passion for the handmade kitchen industry
2. Zone your kitchen to avoid corners
A zoned approach to your kitchen layout is a great way to avoid corner cabinets.
Zoning your kitchen layout is one of the cleanest ways to bypass the corner conundrum, according to the experts.
"I love designing a straight, unbroken run of low-level base units running wall to wall," explains interior designer Lara Clarke. "Instead of wrapping the cabinetry around the bend, we place the full-height larder units and appliance housing on an adjacent wall, leaving a deliberate, breathing gap between the two zones."
This way, there are no tricky corner cabinets to resolve, and your zoned space gets an effortless and functional flow.
"A single linear run of units with an island, combined with a shorter secondary linear run, is often the most functional and visually resolved solution," adds Brani Hadzhi, creative director and co-founder of Multiliving Scavolini Store. "It also allows you to position tall cabinets, fridge, ovens, and freezer as a distinct bank on their own, which gives the kitchen a clear hierarchy and improves both flow and proportion."
3. Swap a corner cabinet for drawers
Swap out a standard corner cabinet for more practical drawers.
Love 'em or hate 'em, when it comes to kitchen corners, it’s about making them work properly — and sometimes a set of drawers is a far more usable feature than a corner cabinet, making your kitchen storage more accessible.
"One strategy I use is to eliminate the corner cabinet entirely and use wider drawers on either side instead," explains Katerina Tchevytchalova, founder of K’Arte Design. "Deep drawers are generally far more ergonomic and practical than reaching into the back of a corner unit. It’s always more important to maximize usable, practical storage than to have lots of storage a homeowner rarely accesses because it’s too awkward to reach."
"A standard corner cabinet can create deep areas that are difficult to reach and wasted space in the back with items that get forgotten," agrees interior designer Juliette Byrne. "That’s why a cabinet that technically holds more but is difficult to access may function worse than a smaller, easily reached drawer."
Add more light to your space with a wall light, like this vintage-style one.
Katerina is founder of K'Arte Design, a luxury interior design and art consultancy. She spent five years at Kelly Hoppen Interiors and worked with several of London's leading design studios before launching her own practice
4. Install a countertop cupboard instead
Countertop cabinets, or appliance garages, that sit directly on the work surface are perfect for unused corners, especially when fitted with space-saving bi-fold doors.
Wrapping a wall cupboard around a corner is generally never a good idea. "You’ll create very little additional useful storage and instead get overloaded with claustrophobic wall cupboards,” adds George Glasier, co-founder of Pluck.
So when a corner situation can't be avoided, consider fitting a countertop cupboard instead. This style of cabinet sits directly on the counter and creates extra storage with a cleaner silhouette.
"This not only reduces the sense of dead space visually, but it also provides storage that is far easier to access," explains William.
Add space-saving bifold doors so you can access what’s inside without eating into valuable countertop space. It's a super popular way to turn a dead space into a designated breakfast station.
"Bifold dressers make for the perfect appliance hideaway, while ensuring you can still access things easily," adds Isabella Pacelli, junior sales designer at Roundhouse.
5. Make the switch to open shelving
Use open shelving instead of a wall cabinet to make your corner more usable.
Open shelving is another brilliant answer for a tight corner, say the designers. "With no doors needing room to swing open, every inch of the worktop below stays usable," says Jayne Everett of Naked Kitchens.
You'll also get really useful shelving storage to stash your bowls, plates, mugs, etc. "Modern solutions such as simple deep shelving or pull-out spice racks can make these spaces highly usable," adds Tom Howley, creative design director at Tom Howley bespoke kitchens.
"The challenge isn’t the corner itself — it’s ensuring access and storage are well considered."
6. Create a walk-in corner pantry
Transform an awkward and unused kitchen corner into a walk-in pantry...ingenious!
We love kitchen pantries, and an awkward corner is a great opportunity to create something really special.
In fact, corner walk-in pantries take less space than you’d expect and offer so much flexibility with floor-to-ceiling storage.
"We have developed a walk-in corner pantry which turns the problem on its head," explains William. "Rather than reaching in, you step inside, and an awkward space becomes a room of its own."
"One solution I tend to avoid is the diagonal corner pantry," adds Chelsea Tallentire from Makers. "While practical in some situations, it can protrude into the room and interrupt the flow of the design. I find that alternative pantry configurations like an L-shaped arrangement or walk-in pantries often deliver a more elegant result. And you get a kitchen that feels both highly functional and visually composed."
7. Cut back on corners with an L- or U-shaped kitchen
L-shaped layouts only have one corner area to resolve.
Corner cabinets are traditionally awkward spaces to design, say the experts. But sometimes your room layout means corners are unavoidable, especially in a smaller kitchen.
That’s when designers opt for a classic L-shaped kitchen layout with one corner, or a U-shaped kitchen with two.
"Corners are often a necessary part of an L-shaped or U-shaped kitchen, so the goal is to make them work efficiently rather than eliminate them," says Tom Howley. "Modern solutions such as pull-out spice racks or simple, deep shelving can make these spaces highly usable."
"For smaller kitchens, it may be that every inch of countertop is necessary and a corner cupboard can’t be avoided when designing a U- or L-shaped layout," agrees George. "In this case, embrace the cupboard! It can be useful extra storage for items that we all have in our kitchens, perhaps bulky and infrequently used appliances or serving bowls."
8. Maximize corner cabinets with clever internal fittings
Clever, wire-racking systems pull out to reveal the entire contents of the corner cabinet.
When corner cabinets are unavoidable, the key is to optimize storage inside with clever internal mechanisms.
"Pull-out corner systems, LeMans units and rotating shelves all provide much better accessibility than traditional fixed shelving, so the space genuinely earns its place," says Katerina.
"A corner with no pull-out solution is, in practical terms, a dead space," adds Brani of Multiliving Scavolini Store. "It can look resolved from the outside but quietly frustrate you for years. What a pull-out does is prevent that corner from turning into a deep cavity that works against you every time you need something from the back."
Something like this Warmiehomy Blind Corner Pull Out Kitchen Storage Organizer on Amazon would do the trick.
Remember, kitchens come in an array of shapes and sizes and often come with extra challenges like quirky-shaped rooms, odd proportions, and corners. "When in the planning stages, establish these elements and discuss with a designer how to make the most of them," adds Al at Olive & Barr. "It may be that a tricky corner provides the ultimate kitchen larder, or could offer the space for a dining nook, flanked with floor-to-ceiling cabinetry."
In small kitchens, in particular, storage space is often limited, so seek out opportunities to incorporate extra shelving and cabinetry wherever possible.
Another idea you could try is the 'magic kitchen corner' to save you from losing any more items to the dreaded corner cabinet.
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