Introduction
The kitchen is the heart of the home, where families gather to cook, eat, and spend quality time together. However, kitchens often have neglected corners and awkward spaces that get overlooked when it comes to storage and design. With a bit of creativity and smart planning, these corners can become decorative focal points that enhance the form and function of your kitchen. This article will explore 13 ideas to inspire you to transform the forgotten corners of your kitchen into beautiful and practical spaces. With a mix of clever storage solutions, cozy dining nooks, and decorative touches, your kitchen corners will no longer be an afterthought!
Utilize Dead Space for Hidden Storage
That awkward narrow space between the fridge and wall doesn’t have to go to waste. Turn it into concealed storage space with a custom-built floor-to-ceiling pantry cabinet or tall narrow bookcase. Install pull-out drawers and shelves to hold baking sheets, cutting boards, spices, cans, or cookbooks. For a more budget-friendly option, use a freestanding narrow cabinet or shelving unit. Just make sure to measure the space carefully to find a piece that fits. This out-of-the-way storage is perfect for bulky or rarely used items to declutter your main cabinets.
Build a Breakfast Nook
Carve out space for a cozy dining area in a kitchen corner to create a defined spot for morning coffee and meals. Install a banquette or bench with comfy cushions in the corner, and complement it with a small table and chairs across from it. Choose furniture sized perfectly for the space in materials like wood, wicker, or upholstered fabric. Add charming details like curtains, a rug, or pendant lighting overhead. Store table settings, placemats, and napkins in the banquette cushions or use a floor cabinet for additional dining storage. With the right lighting and furnishings, your kitchen corner can become an inviting nook for casual dining.
Display Your Tableware
Bring your beautiful dishes, glasses, and serving pieces out of hiding with an open corner cabinet display. Remove the cabinet doors and install glass-front cabinets or shelving to show off your tableware and other decorative kitchenware. Place plates upright in plate racks and line up mugs and glasses by height. Intersperse with napkin holders, serving trays, or coffee canisters. Light the shelves well with under cabinet lighting or spotlights inside the cabinet. Keep things dust-free with glass cabinet doors. The transparent display transforms a plain corner into an eye-catching exhibit.
Craft a Built-In Wine Rack
Wine collectors will appreciate a custom corner wine rack, conveniently located in the heart of the kitchen near the dining area. Size the rack to fit snugly into the corner and build cubby holes with rounded openings to easily slide wine bottles in and out. Stagger the cubbies and orient bottles horizontally and vertically for visual appeal. Underlight the rack with LED strip lighting or install a pendant light above to spotlight your wine display. Glass doors can help regulate temperature if the corner is too cold. Keep your best vintages and everyday table wines within reach for cooking and easy access when entertaining.
Maximize Corner Cabinet Storage
Instead of letting corner cabinets go underutilized due to their awkward shape, maximize every inch with specialized storage solutions. Install carousels or pull-out shelves on rollers to fully access items in the back. D-shaped lazy susans efficiently corral spices, cans, or baking supplies. Vertical dividers keep cutting boards, baking sheets, and large platters organized. For a blind corner, add slide-out shelving that extends all the way into the opening. The right organizers can quadruple your corner storage capacity so you can neatly arrange pantry and cooking essentials.
Craft a Cozy Reading Nook
Give bookworm family members a comfy spot to curl up with a book by tucking a chair, ottoman, and side table into a kitchen corner. Choose a space near a window for relaxing natural light. Arrange the chair so it’s facing out toward the kitchen, rather than flat against the wall. Hang a decorative light or swing arm sconce overhead and use the side table to hold books, magazines, or a cup of tea. If space allows, add a narrow bookshelf for cookbooks and reading material. Finish it off with a rug, pillows, and blanket to create a cozy escape.
DIY Custom Spice Racks
Take advantage of wasted space between cabinets by building your own custom spice racks. Use decorative old door jambs or salvaged wood cut to size. Stain or paint the wood to match your kitchen. Install shelving ledges along the inside edges of the corner to hold spice jars. For easy access, arrange the jars alphabetically or group them by type like baking spices and dried herbs. Label the tops of the jars for identification. The vertical racks are perfect for organizing a robust spice collection while keeping your cabinets decluttered.
Freshen Up with a Mini Indoor Garden
Bring fresh greenery into your home and harvest herbs and veggies grown just steps from your kitchen. Install floor-to-ceiling shelving into an unused corner, ensuring adequate lighting and ventilation. Use the shelves to grow a variety of potted plants like basil, thyme, oregano, green onions, peppers, or even dwarf fruit trees. Incorporate self-watering pots and drip irrigation tubing for easy care while you’re away. The indoor corner garden lends fresh flavors for cooking and adds warmth and vitality to the kitchen’s ambiance.
Designate Space for Coffee/Tea Station
Create a dedicated corner to stash, display, and brew your favorite coffees and teas. Mount shallow shelving or wall cabinets specifically sized for your coffee maker, electric kettle, and other gadgets. Store mugs, coffee cups, and glassware in hanging racks or on shelves with mug hooks. Keep coffee beans, loose leaf tea, sugar, honey, and other drink essentials in nearby canisters, jars, or baskets for convenience. The customized beverage station tucked into the corner keeps everything you need for your daily caffeine fix in one organized spot.
craft Corner Shelves for Display
Fill awkward empty corners and gaps between cabinets with easy DIY corner shelves to display your prettiest kitchenware and linens. Wooden corner shelves come in triangular shapes that fit perfectly into 90-degree corners. Or make your own by cutting shelves and nailing boards into a triangle. Style the shelves with vintage cake stands, pretty ceramic bowls, rolled up cloth napkins, or a bowl of fresh fruit. The simplicity of corner shelves transforms boring spaces into attractive displays.
Incorporate a Mini Home Office
Carve out workspace in the kitchen for paying bills, looking up recipes, or homework. Tuck a narrow desk or table into a corner, allowing enough space to pull up a chair. Add task lighting, charging station, office supplies, and a bulletin board for reminders. If the corner is tight, install retractable butcher block desktops that fold down when needed and tuck away when not in use. Even the smallest kitchen corner workspace allows you to multitask and keep household clutter consolidated in one area.
Create a Message or Chalkboard Centerpiece
Make an ordinary corner pop with a custom chalkboard, dry erase board, or bulletin board display. Use painter’s tape and chalkboard paint to transform a plain wall section into a writable surface for leaving notes and reminders. Or frame out the corner with trim molding and hang a large piece of chalkboard or a cork board. Add an aluminum rail at the bottom to hold chalk and erasers. For a modern touch, use floor-to-ceiling glass chalkboard sheets. The messaging center facilitates communication and allows for creativity.
Display Collections in Corner Cabinets
The triangular shape of corner cabinets makes them perfect for showing off collections in an organized way. Illuminate and highlight treasured items like antique dishes, figurines, crystal, folded linens, or vintage cookbooks. Install extra interior shelving, glass shelves, or risers to accommodate items of different heights. Try using corner cabinets solely for display rather than storage to avoid the awkward access issues they present. The collections add personal flair to an often underutilized space.
Conclusion
With a dose of imagination and DIY spirit, the overlooked corners of your kitchen can be completely transformed into beautiful and functional spaces. Clever storage solutions help eliminate clutter and keep essentials within arm’s reach. Cozy banquettes and compact workstations allow you to dine, work, or relax in wasted space. Displays for dishware, wine, spices, and collectibles turn plain corners into decorative focal points. Your kitchen corners no longer need to be an afterthought! Use these ideas to create a kitchen layout that optimizes every inch and suits your family’s needs. Reclaim your awkward corners and make them the highlight of your kitchen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some common questions about creating functional and decorative spaces in overlooked kitchen corners:
How can I add more storage to my kitchen corners?
Some great options for corner storage include installing custom pantry cabinets or tall narrow bookcases, using freestanding cabinets or shelving units, building pull-out shelves and roll-out trays, or adding specialized organizers like corner carousels or vertical dividers.
What are some good breakfast nook ideas for a kitchen corner space?
Great breakfast nook options include a banquette or bench with a small table, corner window seats, dated cafe chairs and a bistro table, or a curled cushion seat built into cabinetry with access to corner storage.
What should I put in a kitchen corner display cabinet?
Corner display cabinets are perfect for showing off dishware, glassware, serving pieces, cookbooks, linens, unique kitchen tools, antique kitchenware collections or any decorative items. Proper lighting and glass doors help keep displays dust-free.
How can I build a wine rack into my kitchen corner?
Custom built-in wine racks fit right into the corner. Install cubbies at various heights and widths to hold bottles horizontally and vertically. Underlighting and a glass door helps showcase the wine.
What is the best way to organize a kitchen corner cabinet?
Using lazy susans, pull-out shelving, roll-out trays, vertically divided storage, and slide-out mechanisms maximize corner cabinet storage. Group like items together and label containers.
How do I create a cozy reading nook in my kitchen?
Place a comfortable chair facing outward into the kitchen and add a side table, floor lamp, and a shelf or cabinet for storage. Position it near a window if possible and add pillows, throws, and footstool for maximum coziness.
What are some ideas to spruce up boring kitchen corners?
Some fun ideas include creating a mini indoor garden, beverage station, home office, chalkboard, or shelving to display collections. Even just painting an accent wall or adding wallpaper only on the backsplash can help liven up a dull corner.
What kind of lighting helps highlight a kitchen corner?
Task lighting like undercabinet lighting, pendant lamps centered over a corner workspace or seating area, spotlights inside displays, or LED strip lighting installed along rails or shelves help illuminate corners.
How can I integrate additional work space into my kitchen?
Try squeezing in a small desk or install fold-down butcher block in an unused corner. Add office supplies, charging station, and task lighting. Or get creative repurposing storage like wall cabinets or rolling carts to double as work stations.
