I love the look of glass doors on cabinets! The picture above is particularly appealing to me because I like the woodwork of the cabinet itself.
I’ve had the same discsussion a hundred times over the years: “Glass cabinet doors or not? Practicality vs. Beauty” The feeling that many folks have is that if they have these glass doors, that they’ll have to keep them looking like this cabinet. Perfectly arranged with nothing but pretty things inside.
I wonder if that’s true. I suppose a glass cabinet door does tend to steer you away from keeping Fruit Loops right there in front. (what’s that dude’s name, Toucan Sam?… I like him) But I like the openness of them myself.
In fact, it’s really becoming more common to see kitchens with open shelving where upper cabinets would have gone.
We have these same dishes and we have a white kitchen (for the time being, until I can build my dream kitchen) but we only have a couple of open shelves. We keep the dishes on the open shelves and bury the plastic cups and paper plates in the cabinets with doors!
In my estimation, this kitchen shown here would only have enough storage capacity for about 18 hours worth of food for our boys. But it sure looks great and it would be much easier and less expensive to build.
At today’s crazy cabinet prices, the kitchen above looks like it would save at least a couple thousand dollars in cabinetry cost, possibly much more!
So, what’s the vote? Glass doors, open shelves, or cover it all up…. maybe a combination of all three. Share with me your wisdom!
photos: House Beautiful
More Great Kitchen Remodeling Posts
Replacement Kitchen Cabinet Doors — An Alternative to New Cabinets
Banquette, Booth, or Built-In? Cool Kitchen Table SeatingBump-Out Additions — Small Spaces , Big Impact
above our sink did not have any cabinets (it faces a wall) so i put in some open shelves. it competes the area nice. i actually like a mix of open shelves, glass fronts, and regular cabinets.
does that just make me undecided? 🙂
I LOVE the look of glass cabinets (especially like you’ve shown them), but I’m kind of in the camp of, “then I’d have to have beautiful dishes and display them neatly” camp. My stacked mis-matched coffee mugs that threaten to tumble out on you would drive me nuts if they were in plain view! (Really, I’d love to have one set and have the rest closed.)
definitely must cover up. i’m terrible at keeping up appearances… that’s why i need a kitchen full of cabinets to hide my mess!
Alissa’s last blog post..Together
I love the look of glass doors on cabinets as well, but I am too pragmatic to actually do that in my kitchen. I love being able to stack my dishes away from prying eyes. I have enough things to make my kitchen looking messy as is (mainly my three darling children…don’t look at my floors please!) without adding dishes to it. Plus, I am a recovering perfectionist, so stacking the dishes just so would take a lot of time. Maybe if I did a small wall….but then again what about dust? The nice thing about cabinets is they cut down on dust so you don’t have to wash your dishes AGAIN before you use them! So, alas, I must turn from beauty to practicality. 🙂 Fortunately for me, this really awesome blogging dude shows how to make your cabinets look fabulous with NO sanding!
Mrs. Q’s last blog post..Ever Seen One of These?
I like no uppers at all, but if they must exist then open shelving would be great. I also love glass doors. In a small kitchen no uppers gives it a roomy, light feel to it. Makes it look bigger. Less is more.
Susan’s last blog post..House Offer
Our first apartment when we got married was built circa 1930 and had the original glass front cabinet doors – all the way to the ceiling! I loved them – they just suited the space, and it didn’t matter that our dishes were our ugly ones from when we were both single.
Now I have the closed cabinets, and while I do like them for the sake of hiding all those kid dishes, I would love to have one or two glass front cabinets, just for the beauty. I personally wouldn’t be able to handle open shelves – I’d have to dust them way too often!
Andrea’s last blog post..BBB:: Discussion for April 9
I loved my glass cabinets and cannot wait to add them in this house. I simply selectively chose the cabinets that I could fill up with dishes only. And my dishes are white. Safe as can be for behind glass doors. No special stacking required, they just look great however you put them in. 🙂
melissa @ the inspired room’s last blog post..Easter Decorating and Traditions
In our first house, all the upper cabinets were glass fronts. Given that it was a very small kitchen, there was no way to keep the upper cabinets looking good – that was were my dry-goods were stored, cups, EVERYTHING. So, when we re-did the kitchen, we replaced them with solid doors. I was much happier with the look of the kitchen.
In this house, we don’t have any upper cabinets (welcome to Germany!). But we do have three glass shelves. I hate them. Besides always keeping them pretty (so the bottom shelf is the only one that has anything practical on them – 4 pretty coffee mugs, beautiful Villeroy and Boch glasses), I HATE the dust. I wouldn’t want to pull down dishes for use that I have to wash first. Yuck.
So, whenever we end up in our final house, I will use a mix of glass fronts and open shelves. But they will be simply for decoration (or for light – I love when the upper cabinets are glass on both sides so you can see them from both rooms).
I love these glass door cabinets but I do think they look prettier if things that are inside are kind-of coordinated or at least have some “show quality”.
What I REALLY love is that bathroom that you have on your “Dream Kitchen” page!!
I want one of those!
Actually I have had open shelves in the past and it wasn’t so bad. I just had plain white dishes, red glassware, my white coffee mugs and some other bowls that I didn’t use very often up on top. Everyone really liked the shelves – and the complete collection was probably around $100. I miss those shelves.
Amy
One of the first things I did in our new house was tear down all the upper cupboards. We now have a wooden shelving unit that was from an old general store as well as two other open shelves to hold some lesser-used and more decorative kitchen items. For closed storage we have a dry sink with lid and a massive jelly cabinet.
It’s funny; most people would have preferred the old kitchen as it had tons of storage including a full length pantry with pull-out shelves. I love my open kitchen and smaller amount of storage–it’s far more cozy and I can keep of track of things.
In the kitchen, I prefer to cover it all up. Though I keep all my dishes in a china cabinet with glass doors in the dinette. In the kitchen there is already so much visual clutter that I prefer not to add more. Plus my house has a very open floor plan so the visual clutter in the kitchen is also visual clutter in the family room and dinette. So I prefer to minimize it.
If I had a rather small kitchen without an open floor plan, I’d probably opt for open shelving or glass doors for some of the cabinets to make it feel bigger.
Barbara’s last blog post..Just a Minute… In March
If I were remodeling a kitchen, I would have all open shelving above and doors on lower cabinets. I love the wide open feel of open shelving. Maybe it’s just that I’m too lazy to open and close cabinet doors when it’s time to put up dishes. 🙂
songbirdtiff’s last blog post..Cookie Jar (Jack Johnson)
I love a mix of glass cabinet doors and open shelves. Or just shelves. You can keep the cluttery looking items in the bottom cabinets. Here in Sicily we have some open shelves on top and I stack our mixture of white dinnerware on them. I love it.
Right now I have a combination of glass and closed – but I dream of having opening shelving too- I probably would be the happiest with a combination of all three.
teresa’s last blog post..I’m really liking….
My cabinets look just like the ones in the picture, including the hardware! The lower cabinets have solid doors, the top have glass.
I also have a whole wall of open shelving. I love the look of the open shelving, but dust is a pain. Right now I use it more for decorative items, but I’m not satisfied with ‘the look” as of yet! I am always
searching for an inspiration for the open shelving.
i think a combo of all three is good: open shelves for the things one uses all the time (that are presentable) and glass for the pretty pieces that need protection but look great on display, and closed cupboards for the actual stuff used in the kithen combat. the open shelf stuff has to be used frequently or dust “could” accumulate. at my house someone sprinkles it lavishly on a regular basis. i don’t get it! but your photos are lovely! jkj
I love open shelving but the sand and dust that blows in during summer makes them impossible to keep clean and I’d rather be at the beach then cleaning up the sand…{maybe just 1 or 2} with glasses & dishes that get used daily.
sue@solsticehome’s last blog post..out & about…sandwich cape cod…check this house out!
Some one used the term “visual clutter”. All glass cabinets make my eyes have to look at too much. I prefer my stove to be the focal point. An open shelf above it for display. Closed cabinets for me except for a couple of display ones on the wall opposite the stove, so they are not competing. That’s just my preference.
Wow, anothe Dyann! Great! About the cabinets etc., I have a small kitchen but it is open and with window over the sink which helps to make it feel open. We shop for a 4 month amount of groceries (for the two of us!-we hate to shop!) and so we need cabinets. We have a free standing dish cabinet with glass doors. I like the kitchen with the shelves, and it gives me the idea to do that as I am soon going to be re-doing the kitchen. It is dark with icky brown everything except the lights and appliances. So thank you for submitting that idea!
love the glass, love the open shelves! They are so freeing!
The Nester’s last blog post..Decorating With Lamps Part 1
I LOVE glass doors…added them to a whole bank of cabinets in my kitchen a few years back and it made my small kitchen feel a lot bigger. 🙂 I keep my everyday dishes there and came up with an arrangement where they look pretty, but are functional, also. I wouldn’t keep food or pot/pans behind glass doors but, hey…almost everything else works pretty well. 🙂 I love the cabinetry in that first pic…you are sooooo right…the woodwork is just plain beautiful!
Susan
Susan’s last blog post..Welcome to the 33rd Tablescape Thursday!
I am looking to purchase old or used glass front wall kitchen cabinets. I have looked and looked and have been unable to find any. Does anyone out there know where I can purchase them or where I should be looking? I don’t mind repainting or replacing the hinges or the hardware. If you come across any please let me know. Thanks, Yvonne
Wonderful Glassware, Kitchenware, Contemporary, Crystal Glass, Tumbler, Crockery collection Available at #NewGlass