[paminmd]

Hello all-

I am new to this sight, though am lucky to have found it BEFORE ordering my cabinets.

After hours spent on the Ikea kitchen planner (lousy version 2006:01) we decided on layout and cabinets. We met with the kitchen person in the store & got our 'buy' list. We are doing a small kitchen in our tiny beach condo and aren't ready for the cabinets just yet. Also, we had hoped to have them delivered, and found our store in Baltimore doesn't deliver to our condo zip code.

Because of the limited space in the condo, we are planning to hide the water heater (a short, squatty one) inthe corner lazy susan base (without the lazy susan-of course). I am going to modify the bottom of the cabinet to allow the water heater to fit- and hopefully have enough space to do a Rev-a-shelf or similar,pull out trash receptical.

Anyway, why I am here asking for advice is..... I had a design eureka when I was trying to figure out how not to use a corner wall cabinet (which I am not crazy about because of dead space). A portion of the wall has/had a bulkhead for the HVAC ductwork. Before we ripped out the existing kitchen, we thought all of the bulkhead was necessary to conceal the duct. When the cabinets were removed, we discovered that area above the existing sink doesn't need the bulkhead. The kitchen is "L" shaped and I only need about half of the long part of the L for bulkhead. On the short part of the L, I have room for DW, sink, 37" corner base. We have short ceilings- only 7'11" -and I was thinking what if I could put a 24"x39" tall cabinets above the dishwaser and to the left of the sink (over corner base)and a 24x30 above the sink. The wall cabinets being roughly 12" deep, I could put a 36" wall cabinet as the first cabinet on the long part of the "L" from the corner out- perpendicular to the 24" cabinet (the face of the24" cabinet would fall about 12" from the right corner of the 36"wide x 30"tall cabinet.) Can cabinets butt to make essentially a "blind corner" cabinet?Could I thenuse a door from a 24" wide cabinet on the 36" creating a blind cabinet? Would a filler be needed?

Has anyone tried this? can they butt up to each other? Does a 36" wide cabinet have a center stile? Would I need a filler to allow the doors to open?
Thanks for any adivce! Pam

[kmcg]

Pam - I'm not totally sure of your plan (I'm the type who needs to see it drawn) but what you propose is similar to what I did with two 36" base cabs overlapping each other in a corner. So it's a blind corner, which I think is what you're doing. I'll link to my long thread on that project; you can just ignore the part about the hardware I put inside the cabinet. The 36" cabinet doesn't have a center stile, unless it's a base cabinet with 2 top drawers (AFIK) Here's the thread: http://www.ikeafans.com/forums/view_...t=blind+corner

Kathy

[paminmd]

Thank you Kathy ! That modified corner with the swing out inner mechanism is very cool.

I am also visual. It took me forever to try to put into words what I was trying to say.

Where your sink cabinet abuts the blind, what size filler is on the sink cabinet? Is that there because you needed extra width for the width of the sink? When you open the cabinet under your sink, does it hit the hardware of the modified cabinet?

I tried to insert a pdf file showing the layout, but it didn't work.

Thanks again for your reply & for sharing your solution

Pam

[kmcg]

I used a wider fill piece (about 2.5")in that corner next to the sink cabinet because of the bulk of the sink. I have about 1" filler on the modified cabinet. It looks like you could still open the door even with no filler, but I'd use an inch on the abutting cabinet (my sink cab) just to be on the safe side. My knobs would bump if I opened the door far enough, but that hasn't been a problem. Might be if you had big pulls that stuck out farther.

If you're using a regular door that hinges on the other side, I think you would do a fill piece that also gives a surface against which to close the door. I couldn't do that because I needed the clearance to pull out the shelving.

Kathy

[kmcg]

Here's a picture of the corner before counters went in, which might help you visualizethe process:

[paminmd]

Thanks Kathy!

That's exactly what I talking about (exceptI'd be using that idea fora wall cabinet). Thanks for the picture.

Pam

[websmurf]

Hmmm I think I need to rethink my plan. Your blind corner looks fantabulous! Do you have a close up of the fille piece from the top? I am not sure i get how it works.

Thanks!

[kmcg]

Thanks smurf, and you're welcome, Pam! Sorry - I didn't take any other "top-view"pictures before we put the counter on. If you have the patience to read through that whole thread linked to above, that might help it make sense. If not, ask questions about which parts didn't make sense. Be sure to check the lee valley website and look at the installation pdfs there. I promised Susan I would do a faq, so I'll try to work on that this weekend and get you more details.

Kathy

[GardenOfDarwin]

Thanks Kathy! I look forward to your FAQ.

I'm still trying desperately to work your idea into my kitchen. The one wall where it will work is a little shy of enough space to make good use of the rest of the run even if I only do the 36" blind cabinet. The other corners are obstructed by 1.) an original chimney 2.) a HVAC duct. Curses! I'm working on sketches for my corners one at a time....

But don't tell Tigger.

Susan

[Tigratrus]

Like I haven't seen her sneaking into the kitchen repeatedly with a tape measure and sketchpad.

And the question about whether or not we could move the HVAC duct back a few inches was oh so subtle. Nope, I'm clueless...



James