Does the liquor have to be stored in the upper cabinet? I keep mine in the lower part of the hutch and the wine glasses up above behind glass doors.

I agree with natal. Do glass on the uppers and store the liquor below. It can't be that easy though right, so what did you plan on putting in that lower?

Put the liquor in a lower cabinet. It'll be easier to get at after you've had a few :-)

You could do above as suggested. If that isn't doable for some reason - then do the top 1/2 or 1/3 of the cabinets right across the top in glass for the glasses (with maybe lights?) and the bottom ssection of the uppers in wood for the liguor, corkscrews,shakers etc. If this is an option measure your tallest liquor bottle and use that as the proportion split.
I know a lot of your stuff is in storage but something tells me that your liquor isn't one of those things.

Does the glass have to be transparent? I chose to go with glass inserts that are stained glass (matches the Meyda lighting), with a muted cab light behind. Can't see through but you still get the effect.

As much as I appreciate their contents, liquor bottles aren't that attractive in a home. Too many shapes, brands, colors and labels.

Drawers are the best bet. If that doesn't work, would your door style work with only the top part of each door in glass?

Drink more store less?

I like the idea of putting the bottles down below and displaying the glasses up top, but also like the idea celtinNE had about maybe making the glass frosted, stained, etc. if you really have to store the liquor up top.

Yummers marcolo... I wonder how that would work with Vodka

I did diss gin until I tried Edgefield Gin. Holy cow. Now I heart gin.

Good thoughts about the drawer. More later.

Maybe eliminate the countertop for that one cabinet and put the liquor at the center level with solid doors and glass door above barware. If it was me, I would try to squeeze in a wine rack on that wall too, but I guess if you don't want it showing, that defeats the purpose. Cheers!

Instead of a drawer, I keep mine on a rollout bottom shelf of a cabinet. The rollout works really well.

Marcolo- are you suggesting mixing alcohol with homemade LEMONADE. And then pouring it? Are you sure you want to give that advice on a forum full of marble countertop lovers?!? You could get yourself into some major trouble here ;)

I like the idea of doing just the top of the doors in glass, with lights and pretty glasses behind them.

This is my solution, in a lower cabinet. Hidden but convenient. The top part holds shorter liqueur bottles, and the bottom holds fifths, bigger bottles, and an occasional wine bottle.

Breezy- I hold my everyday glassware/stemware in the 36" wide glass front cabinet to the right of my sink above the beverage fridge. My mugs and kid drinkware go elsewhere. I find that 36" is too small to hold my collection of glassware and have to store the rest elsewhere. I do have a big bar in my lower level that I keep stocked for big parties, but still need a good amount upstairs for smaller dinner parties/everday stock etc. (service for 12) I don't know your collection of glass barware/stemware but before you decide for sure to keep liquor in the same cab, make sure your glasses fit. I also agree with storing the bottles below, but it depends on what you have planned for that cabinet of course!

I know I'm not adding much to the conversation, but I second (third, fourth, fifth?) the drawer. Warmfridge's is excellent.
I also like dilly_ny's idea of kind of a hutch looking bar area.
And marcolo Hendrick's with a cucumber instead of a lime is my absolute favorite drink.

I second, or third, or fourth, or whatever, it is the idea of liquor in the base, glasses above. But if you've already got the base cab mentally filled, how about doing reeded glass or some other obscured glass in the uppers? You could pick something that really hides what's in there, but still looks lighter and more open than wood doors. I wouldn't do clear glass on the top 1/2 or 1/3 part of the doors...that puts your glasses at the hardest part to reach.

Agreeing with the glasses behind the glass, with reeded or otherwise obscured glass, and think the hutch idea for the bottles is great.... If possible, do the kind of doors that fold away when opened to tuck out of view, like they do for tv armoires.

Putting booze down low just does not seem smart to me with small kids in the house.

Thanks for the drawer suggestion everyone. DH was not so hot on that idea when I mentioned it months ago. I remember Warmfridge's drawer so that's what I was thinking. DH preferred it to be up higher. We're new to the whole drawers for everything idea.

Kellie--My cab maker can put a lock on the drawer if we do that. I already asked. ;)

Briana--I did have my storage under the counter there planned, but I'll see if I can shuffle around back there.

Weisman--LOL!

Blfenton--Funny, but DH did pack all the liquor when we moved out. It took me a few weeks of drinking wine to go hunting for the booze. I've made several trips to the liquor store since. ;)

Celtin, Melissa, and Dianalo--Glass could be something other than regular glass. That could work.

Marcolo--Cabs are shaker. My ceilings are only 7.5' so the uppers will run in one panel to the ceiling. I don't think it would look right to break the upper part in glass. I've been making homemade lemonade with basil or rosemary simple syrup for years, but never thought to put Hendricks in it. Good tip!

Remodelfla--But the more I drink, the more I want to store!

Slush--Thanks.

Dilly--I need that countertop for beverage service. Contrary to how it sounds, I serve plenty of pitchers of non-alocholic concoctions also. I need a spot for people to be self-serve out of my way in the kitchen and off the food service area on the peninsula.

Weissman--I never thought of a rollout. Thanks.

Beagles--LOL! My tops will be Carrara and I make lemonade frequently. Yeah, the marble will etch. Deal.

Warmfridge--I have your photo saved from way back. I thought it was genius!

Coastal--I don't have a whole lot of bar glasses--martinis, a few old school margaritas, and some cordial glasses. Mainly it's wine glasses I need to store. 38" of uppers is more than enough.

Geo--I've had that before. Very tasty!

I was thinking of cabinet doors that are two-thirds wood, one-third glass, with a door rail in between. It would look good on its own, but not sure it fits with all shaker elsewhere.

Drawers are the best idea. They eliminate having to reach behind or remove the front row to get bottles in the back.

I also thought about the hutch, but figured you'd need the counterspace. What about a hutch plus a pullout mixing surface, like a breadboard, if the drawers won't work?

remodelfla, do try with gin. There are different types of gin, and Hendricks is quite herbal and blends well with the lemonade. I find that vodka often does not mix as well as people think with certain fruits because the harshness of the alcohol stands out. For example, watermelon margaritas taste much, much better than the same drink made with vodka, even though I'm not a huge tequila fan.

You're right Marcolo. I don't think that style of cab would work with the rest of the cabs. A pullout board might work. The base cab there is about 26" deep so I have a bit more counter than usual there. I'd just have to make sure that I could still serve big glass pitchers of lemonade, ague fresco, etc.

We really don't have cocktail parties anymore now that the kids are here. It'll only occasionally be used during a party for mixing drinks. For alcohol other than wine at a party, I usually mix up a big batch of a cocktail that fits the theme or maybe sangria and leave it at that. The area will be used for cocktail mixing more for just DH and I non-party.

Are you saying my rendering with 3 doors looks bad? ;-) I like the idea of obscured glass or the glass only in the top third of the door....But that would only work with the 3 smaller doors. Personally, I don't really like upper doors that are as wide as 19".

Rhome--I was just thinking last night that he drew it differently than your rendering. I think 19" doors are too wide also. I'll ask for 3 instead. I think yours looks great!!

Do you really think that I could add glass to the upper third and it would look OK? You know my kitchen. That kind of split door would be different than my other doors. And my ceilings are low, remember.

Sounds like I have 3 good options.

1. Move liquor to drawer below, which would mean finding new homes for everthing I displace.

2. Obscured glass on THREE doors. ;)

3. Breaking up the door style to allow for glass on the top third of THREE doors.

I do think you could make it work there if you'd like the door of a different style with the glass at the top. Just keep the same frame and edge profiles, and the same type of glass you're using in the hutch...So it's a simple variation of what you'll already have.

If you went all glass: The glass wouldn't have to be completely obscure for the liquor to be just a little masked, so you could also enjoy the same for your hutch?

Thanks for your opinion on the glass top. It also would give the DR cabs a little definition from the rest of the cabs in the kitchen.

I think I'm leaning towards all glass right now. Making the glass there and on the hutch match feels right.

Thank you yet one more time Rhome!

breezy, looks like you've got it all worked out, but I want to say that I totally agree about putting a lock on the cabinet, no matter where it is. Reason being that if the kids are little and the liquor is up high, the kids will grow eventually. And if your cabinet maker can add one for you now, it will look good, not like an after thought. So get it done no matter where you locate the liquor. Down the road, other parents will thank you that they know that their children are coming to a home where the liquor is locked up.

-Bee

I continue to be amazed at the modern world. My parents kept a liquor pantry in the basement that would shame most liquor stores, which of course they never drank but kept for holidays. As I got into high school, I would have liked to sample a little of that refreshment. However, I liked my teeth more. So I didn't.

I dislike the three doors. What you want is always behind the one you didn't open. And

Having alcohol on display sends messages that you may not be wise to send. I would either use totally obscuring glass or skip the glass. Consider a sliding door--very mod and different from rest of kitchen.

Measure the largest, tallest bottles at liquor store before designing a space. Otherwise, have a secondary space in another room for your tallest bottles. I was advised by friend who remodeled kitchen that they neglected to put in a space for a big bottle and now it's in a very odd spot, which means she sees alcohol whenever she fetches cleaning supplies. Not a good mental image either.

As for children and a lower cab--why not a lock? Very 18th century! Also keeps the servants out. Get a fabulous key unit and hang a tassel on it.