The Pesky Corner Kitchen Cabinet

by Shannon Smith

     That pesky corner kitchen cabinet – you know the one – the wide, angled sides, the too deep center space, and the narrow front opening, and it seems these are everywhere.  I decided to tackle the one in our apartment, and I wanted to share my methodology.

     As with many organizing projects, it is important to clean out first, so get ready and pull everything out of that cabinet, and wipe the shelves down once emptied.  Once every single thing from every single shelf is on the counter, begin grouping like things.  I used these categories: 1) extra spices 2) baking goods 3) sweeteners 4) nut butters.  As disorganized as this cabinet had become, I was surprised I only had four categories.  Your categories may be different depending on how you use this cabinet. 

     The next step was to toss everything that had expired or had no present or future use (this is where I had to be honest with myself about my fantasy baking life).  Once I got real with myself, I was able to pass some unused ingredients to a friend who actually lives my fantasy baking life.

     Once I narrowed down what I would actually use, I could begin to see the volume I had left and could begin selecting organizing containers. Be sure to measure the door width since some organizing products won’t fit through the opening.  I selected lazy Susans and rectangular containers.  One of my rules is “out of sight, out of mind,” so I chose clear containers that would not need labeling. I will say that the clear containers are what I prefer, but you choose your preferences and label the clear or the solid containers if that is your preference. 

     Replace the things in your cabinet being sure to work with the items more frequently used on the bottom shelf with the things less used on the top shelves.  Schedule an annual cabinet clean-out where you re-evaluate the items you kept and added to, so you can keep the clutter maintained.

     This is the simple method I used to organize the pesky corner kitchen cabinet.  I hope you can use these same steps to put the headache of the pesky corner kitchen cabinet to rest for good!

Messy corner cabinet before organizing.

Sorting contents into categories.

Organized finished cabinet.