What have you got inside Howdens walk-in corner larder

[WishIWasACavewoman]

New kitchen delivered on Xmas eve for DH to fit over the Xmas break. But it turns out that what we thought was the tall corner larder unit is actually the walk in corner larder.

Tall corner larder comes with shelves, wine rack, and roof.

Walk-in corner unit comes with... nothing.

They are about 15cm different widths and the kitchen is designed to fit so not easy to just swap over. Plus, the store is shut till January so we'll miss DH's window for installing it if we wait. Best plan seems to be to work out how to kit out the one we have. Howdens don't seem to supply shelves etc to go into the walk-in unit.

Has anyone solved the conundrum? What do you have in yours?

This is the one we thought we were getting. The one we have is literally sides and doors only.

is it too late to change it? howdens stock is usually available to pick up? imagine it might be quite a big price difference though?

ps sorry, should read your message properly - that Howdens is currently shut

Yes, the depot is shut. Their website is really hard to navigate too. Ideally I'd ask them if they have internal fittings we could add, but no can do so I thought I'd ask you lovely lot!

We had exactly the same issue back in September. My kitchen fitter messaged to ask if we were aware it was basically just an empty unit...we were not. Luckily, the next day he managed to source some shelving from the Howdens depot and fitted them for us. It was quite straightforward in the end and we are pleased with it.

I know Howdens is closed but any generic shelving would work if cut to fit. It's a massive space and very useful

@supersalmon1 that's really helpful. Wish they'd told us! Do you mind me asking which shelves you have? I've seen them running round 2 sides all the way up, and single shelves sort of alternating into the back corner. Did you have to buy the wall-facing back panels separately too?

I think those shelves would be deeply irritating as half of each shelf is in the dark and awkward to reach into. The beauty of corner shelves is that they are easily accessed, but that unit just ruins the point of a corner unit.

If your DH can use the 15cm width difference to build a wine rack then you could have horizontal shelves inside across the whole width. Then either use the 15cm width difference outside for a wine rack, built from shelves cut up, or create one inside but at the edge, not in the middle.

PragmaticWench I rather agree... sadly the one we have, and that the kitchen is designed to, is the smaller one so we don't have the spare 15cm. But, I am still angling for a wine rack... think you're right that getting one inside and at the edge, is the way forward

The kitchen fitter sourced some bog standard shelving from Howdens and cut it to fit - nothing else was needed. It's against the wall so we didn't need/want any other panels. If you want to send me a message I'll send you some (messy) pictures.

Are the back boards quite solid? I would run some batons around the unit and fit your own wooden shelves. That would mean that you can run them into the back corner to maximise storage and you can have whatever shelf spacing you like. You can paint them to match or contrast?

We have a solution! Fortunately DH is handy. We have bought 3x cheapo wall cabinets (carcass only) and wine racks from B&Q, who are open, and are mounting them inside the corner unit space. I will post a photo when done. Really appreciate the advice and especially the inspiration from @supersalmon1 to source our own innards

photo always appreciated - sounds like a good solution.

Not finished yet obv but you get the idea - these are 1m units from B&Q and some leftover worktop. There will be another unit on top in the same orientation as the bottom one. The 2 long ones will be wine racks (not that that's the biggest priority or anything)

That looks like a much better solution tbh. Not so dark and very accessible, well done!