Discuss Blind Corner Unit from Lee Valley on IKEAFANS.com. We're Personalizing the IKEA Experience. Blind Corner Unit from Lee Valley - Post here about your modification project details or questions. Share ideas and take some away - mods are cool!.
I'm starting a new thread on this topic because I know lots of people out there are trying to figure out what to do with their base corners. I originally bought the Ikea corner/lazy susan unit, but after demo we realized it wouldn't be as easy as we thought to move the plumbing over by 12" (our old sink sat just to the right of the 90 degree angle in the corner). I didn't want to devote the 49" or whatever the Ikea blind corner unit takes, so I decided to buy the one sold by Lee Valley Hardware for about $159.
It requires a 15" opening, so I figured I'd put it in a 36" base cabinet and use a 15" door. I didn't want to devote the space to an 18" door because I wanted to cram more drawers in next to this unit. Kind of a hare-brained idea, as it turns out, because I forgot that something needs to cover the 3/4" edge of the cabinet itself, but we made the 15" door work - just barely. If the pictures look just awful, please don't tell me :?because it's too late!
The workaround wasn't too awful, because you don't actually put the door on hinges. It attaches as a front panel onto an L shaped metal bracket, which is what pulls out the baskets that hold your stuff. So we installed the panel at the very edge of the cabinet front (on the left), and put about 1" of filler on the right. The filler on the right was so that the unit could clear the doors of the adjacent sink cabinet, which sits at a right angle.
When I did this sudden design change, I decided to set the 36" sink base a few inches away from the corner. I have the Domsjo apron front sink, and it sticks out a bit, so I didn't want it flush against the corner. If you're using a regular sink, I think you would need only a 1" filler on this adjacent cabinet, because you need to worry only about being able to open the doors.
My brother (a contractor) installed this stuff, so I'm not completely sure of the installation details. I believe he did the filler piece for the sink base first, and then the filler on the corner unit just sits flush against that sink fill piece.
For the door, we could have used a full-height door or a door + drawer combo if we hadn't had the apron front of the sink to deal with. But to accommodate the sink, we put a false drawer front and a shorter door (standard height - 24"). The false drawer front is a matter of some controversy. I made my brother install an 18" drawer front that I had picked up in the As Is room for a dollar, because I'm frugal and I wasn't sure I could buy a single 15" drawer front. He thought it was a little weird not to match the door width, and he might be right. Any votes on whether I should go out of my way to change this? I'm also taking votes on whether this false drawer gets a cup pull. I think yes, but would that just accentuate the fact that it couldn't possibly be a drawer?
Installation conundrums aside, this is a very neat unit! It has 2 large shelves that sit in the back right corner of the cabinet, and 2 medium shelves that sit on the left. When you pull the door panel out, the medium shelves emerge from the cabinet, and the large ones advance to the left side. When you swing the door to the left (or right, as the case may be), the medium shelves swing away and give you easy access to the large shelfs in back. All the shelves are really wire baskets, very heavy duty. This will hold all my less frequently used appliances: waffle iron, Cuisinart, blender, popcorn maker, some big stockpots.
If you decide to go this route, take my advice and have the unit on hand before you start installing your cabinets. And post here for helpif you don't understand the instructions; they are really terrible. When you order the cabinet to go with the blind corner unit, be sure to tell the Ikean that you don't need the shelves, doors, hinges, etc. All you need is the box, plus a single door and maybe a drawer.
I have to post my images 1 per post until I get to be an expert at this stuff, so please bear with the multiple posts.
Next is a closeup of the filler piece and the corner where the 2 bases join. Sorry for the poor quality. You can also see the underside of the Domsjo sink - not such a flattering angle >> blushing <<
This final picture shows the results of my choice to use the 15" door - a bit of a gap between it and the drawer bank to the left. Don't forget to vote on whether to install a cup pull or not.
It looks great! I can't wait to install this unit in my kitchen.
I'd install a cup pull, but a little to the left of center on the false drawer front -- I think if you center it on the 18" drawer front, it'll draw the eye to the fact that it's wider than the door below it.
We're planning to use this blind corner unit with a fixed drawer front and a 24" high door like you did (haven't installed any of our cabinets yet). What height items can you put in the baskets (actually, width and depth of baskets would be handy, too, if you don't mind)? I'm trying to figure out which items I can keep in there, as I debate whether to change the configuration of some other cabinets elsewhere in the kitchen.
The vertical clearance with that false drawer front arrangementis 21" total. The top basket is adjustable in height. Measuring the height of the front pair of baskets, my top can hold items 9.5" tall. I could lower the basket for a height of 14". The lower basket height available now is 11", but it could go down to about 6.5". I think the back ones would adjust the same way. The top shelf in back can actually hold much taller items, but you might have a challenge wrestling them off the basket and under the false drawer front.
The back 2 baskets are 15x18 and the front are 12x18. They all have sides that are about 3". Hope this helps!
I think that looks really amazing and I agree that a cup pull would look nice as well. The carpenters did a really good job on the filler strips, it looks like the cabinets were designed for the use you put them too. Thanks for the shots, I think it will help my partner agree that we don't have to go with the 49 inch corner cab like we originally thought.
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