The kitchen is, without doubt, an essential room in your home. Today’s kitchens are the hubbub of activity where we hang out with friends and family. We cook together, dine together, and enjoy family activities, homework, pay bills and feed pets.

Without question, kitchen remodels have changed over the years where, not only do we want a functioning place, but a design that is both attractive and organized. Even with older homes, today’s kitchens can have an updated, modern look by choosing a cabinet style that suits your taste.

Upper Cabinets History

Originally upper cabinets were an invention of the 1930s. They were boxes with doors hung on the wall with a countertop below. During the mid-century, they became standard issue in kitchen designs. Closed cabinets were the perfect storage place for boxes of pre-packaged foods, dishes and glasses where it didn’t matter is things looked messy behind the door.

Closed Upper Cabinets

Pros:

• Standard upper cabinets with doors offer plenty of storage with a clean and composed look. Cabinet styles and hardware such as pulls and knobs can conform to minimal or traditional tastes, making this a good option when going for a specific, cohesive look in a kitchen.
• If your life is busy, upper cabinets conceal clutter and disorganized dishes that you may not have time to straighten up. You may not care what lies behind your closed cabinet doors. Closed kitchen cabinets maintain a clean and tidy look no doubt thanks to the many upper cabinets that help keep things tucked away and off the countertops.

Cons:

• The main con of using closed upper cabinets is that they simply can make a kitchen feel smaller, darker and more cramped. Closed cabinets hide lots of imperfections, but they can express less of your personality than other options.

Glass Upper Cabinets

Pros:

• Glass cabinet doors are becoming very popular in many new home constructions. They are often a preferred choice because they are good for displaying and illuminating your kitchenware and décor items in a versatile manner and enable you to see directly into the cabinet while looking brilliant.
• They are easy for visitors to see the things you want to showcase. These types of cabinets are considered an adornment of your home.
• There are various types of glass used for each distinctive design. They range from pebbled glass, seeded glass, textured glass, swirled or frosted glass. They can even take on an antique look to go along with the wood type of the cabinets. The decision of what kind you use is based on what catches your eye to complete the look you are trying to achieve. There are many types of unique designs which have several knobs and doors, so you get the benefit of choosing a design that is right for you and your family.

Cons:

• As you might expect, these type of cabinets are unforgiving if your life is so busy that you cannot organize yourself.  They will expose your flaws and disorderly method of storing your kitchen items, so those who need to hide the mess, stick with closed cabinets.
• The glass will need to be regularly kept clean because unlike closed cabinets, the glass will show every bit of dust and fingerprint on its surface.

Are Glass Cabinets Right for Me?

Closed kitchen cabinets offer a sense of privacy, as the contents are hidden from view. This design can be an advantage for those who want to keep their dishes and groceries out of sight. Glass kitchen cabinets, on the other hand, provide a greater level of visibility; everything stored in them can be seen from all angles. Although glass cabinets may take up more visual space in the room, they can still let light flow through to illuminate the otherwise darker areas of your kitchen.

Ultimately, there is no right or wrong choice between closed and glass kitchen cabinets — it all depends on what best suits your needs and tastes.