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littleriverbb

No upper cabs - what to do with glasses and plates?

littleriverbb
15 years ago

I am working on setting up a kitchen that lots of windows and doorways, but not much in the way of cabinets. There are a few lower cabinets, but the only uppers are over the refrigerator and too hard to reach on a regular basis. There is a decent size pantry off the kitchen, so storage of food shouldn't be an issue, but I am really wondering about what to do with glasses and plates. There is a space about 20" wide between two windows (over the base cabinets and near the sink & DW), where I think I could put in some sort of open shelving or maybe a small hanging plate rack or something, but it would sort of be all by itself so I am just not sure how it will look. Any thoughts?

Also...I did already do a couple of searches in the forum to get some ideas about open shelving options, but if anyone has any additional photos of smaller shelves or plate racks in their kitchen, I'd be very interested in seeing them. Thanks!

Comments (8)

  • erikanh
    15 years ago

    I think open shelving near your dishwasher is a great idea ... perfect place to store your glasses and mugs that get used frequently and therefore won't have a chance to get dusty. Many people store their plates/bowls in drawers and use padding underneath to keep them from shifting around.

    My space has lots of doorways too, and I planned my kitchen around a 10-foot long window that looks into our backyard and woods (installed today yippee!!). I also planned my kitchen to have very few wall cabinets, but lots of base cabinets. The only wall cabinets will be in a hutch area near my dishwasher.

    Have you seen this article about kitchen with no wall cabinets?

    Good luck with your project ... can't wait to hear more about it!

    Erika

    Here is a link that might be useful: Off the Wall Kitchens

  • brunosonio
    15 years ago

    We put everything in deep drawers in the base cabinets, with only one upper cabinet for glasses. If you have cushy padding in the drawers and use Blum soft close hardware, you won't have any rattling around and your dishes are safe.

    It's also easier on the back...no having to lift plates and heavy dishes to upper cabinets out of the dishwasher.

  • rosie
    15 years ago

    What are you planning for your under-sink cabinet? That space is right alongside the dishwasher and, in an upperless kitchen, should be considered carefully for dish storage, even half of a 36" cabinet is an 18" that'll hold a lot of dishes, and silverware.

  • littleriverbb
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks to all for your thoughts. I'm not sure if the drawers in the base cabinets will be sturdy enough to hold the plates, but I'll give it a try.

    Erika - Thanks for the link to the Off the Wall Kitchens. I had seen the link in one of the other posts I had found when searching the threads. I am seriously considering the shelf across the windows and in my case, the wall in between - I had thought about trying something like that, but I couldn't picture it and I was afraid it might be kind of "weird". I'll still probably try to find a long scrap of wood to hold up and see if I like it, but it might be the right solution for this kitchen. Thanks again.

  • oldjgw
    15 years ago

    I thought no uppers was crazy but now I love the clean open look. We have a small shelf on either side of the range about 6 inches deep and a foot long for some cooking timers etc and a longer but narrow shelf for about 12 wine glasses.
    We did have a china type cabinet built but all the every day stuff is in deep draws like brunosonio. Open shelves have some art, glasses, tea pots and cook books

  • momof3kids_pa
    15 years ago

    we have ikea cabinets, i put the plates in drawers - which I originally didn't plan to do, but when I went to ikea and saw a sample kitchen with it done... i loved it. ikea has these adjustable plate thingies that are pretty cool, i did get them, but now i realize i could have done without them because we are using the drawer liner stuff so i could just stack them and they wouldn't move around. but they are cool so i'm keeping them! i LOVE that the kids can get to the plates and bowls easier -- "Set the table" has never been so easy!

    The reason I switched to the drawers is because I wanted glass door uppers with interior lighting and needed to use glass shelves so the light would flow through. however, my plates are really thick heavy ones and I was afraid to overload the glass shelves. but again, i thought putting the plates in drawers would be awkward, but living with it... I LOVE IT.

    Oh, and I did split up my dishes because the are so heavy even on the drawers. so i have 6 in the upper drawer, 6 in the bottom, plus split up the bowls.

    {{gwi:1562826}}

  • danielle00
    15 years ago

    we will have minimal uppers as well. my preference, even in my old kitchen with uppers, was to keep plates in drawers. it is so much more convenient, IMO.

    In our new kitchen, I am going to keep the plates in our island (on shelves) so the kids can empty the dishwasher easily and access them when they set the kitchen table.

    We are also considering a two-tier plate rack above the dishwasher.

  • tigger
    15 years ago

    Have you seen the drawers that have pegboards? I first saw them in British kitchen magazines but don't know anyone who has used one in the US. You can adjust the large pegs however you want in order to place different sized plates, bowls etc in them. We're having a few put in drawers because I thought it was a neat idea and we also don't have many upper cabinets. You can buy them separately also. Here's a link to a photo:

    Here is a link that might be useful: Pegboard drawer organizer