How do you fix the dead space in corner cabinets?

Robin Thomas
by Robin Thomas

Lower cabinet dead space is so hard to use. Is there an easy way to utilize this corner dead space?

  7 answers
  • Marissa Morin Marissa Morin on Apr 07, 2019

    You can get a carousel that fits into the space. You make have to do some carpenter work to make room for it vrs, any shelves that may be in there. Go to Lowes or Home Depot and they can help you.


  • Ellis Ellis on Apr 07, 2019

    There is a fancy pull-out mechanism you can install. It holds items back in the corner, then you pull the shelves over and out. I've only seen it in advertisements, so I don't know how well it works or what it costs.


    I had a cabinet with corner dead space, and I used to keep my once-a-year items back there--turkey roaster, holiday cake pans, etc. Carefully nested and stacked, I managed to fit a lot back there.

  • Mike McCowen Mike McCowen on Apr 07, 2019

    I once had a completely wasted, inaccessible space in the kitchen next to the range on one side, and a bank of drawers on the other. But the wall behind it (and the range) was the laundry room on the other side, with the wall area behind the dead space next to the back door. So I cut out a large opening in the wall to access the dead corner of the kitchen cabinet from the other room! I trimmed the opening to give it a finished look, and we used the space to house a recycling bin. I suppose it might have served pretty well as a kennel, too. Mind you, this was in an older mobile home, so the cabinet itself had no back, and the vinyl flooring was continuous. But with some imagination (and perhaps the willingness to overlook some imperfections) you can exploit all sorts of hidden spaces in your home.


    Lazy Susans and other trick hardware might work, IF they fit. And installation can be tricky. And if anything falls off in the back, the mechanism might jam, or at least complicate even more the job of retrieving what's stuck.


    If the space is accessible from a decent-sized cabinet door, but just awkward, you might consider putting fairly large items "up front" (so you don't have to pull out much), and put the "hidden" items on a sliding surface, like a carpet sample upside down. You remove the stuff in front, then pull the rest toward the door to get...whatever. The carpet is fairly stiff, yet flexible, and pretty slippery upside down. You can drag several smaller items all at one time. The right size plastic bin (with or without a lid) might corral smaller stuff, as well.

  • I turned my bottom cabinet into the trash cabinet with a pull out trash can. It's a much better use of space. My top cabinet has a lazy susan and it's okay, but stuff still gets lost.

  • In my house I have two sections like that. I have my China in there as it is rarely used and a safe place as I live in earthquake country. I also store items that I only use a few times a year.

  • Pat Pat on Apr 07, 2019

    I have had lazy susans in my corner cupboards and I have had the "dead" space. I definitely prefer the dead space because like Ellis said, I put my seldom used things in the back. With a lazy susan, lots of things will fall off the back and also you have to turn them around and around to find what you want plus they do not hold big heavy things.

  • Shore grandmom Shore grandmom on Apr 07, 2019

    I put lazy susans in both my upper and lower corner cabinets. There is a little dead space but you can get to everything you need because it spins. And I have put some pretty heavy things on the ones I've had. Don't get the plastic, get the wood ones. This company sells them for just about any cabinet.

    https://www.cabinets.com/accessories/lazy-susan?p=1