Hi breezy... My vote is still for #1.

I'm having a difficult time seeing the open storage in #1 as a "mistake", but someone must have in the other thread.

Also, the door maybe bigger in #2 as a "pro", but the narrower cabinet seems less useful.

Have you already chosen to use knobs on the doors, or could they still end up being handles? I think the opposite door swing between upper/lower will be more obvious if you end up using handles.

Just my thoughts. It's so "clear" when it's not one's own kitchen! :)

I prefer the balance of number 1.

Go all open and you will not even need a cab box, just some shelves.

Can you let just the function drive this decision? I think you can drive yourself crazy making up thought-stories about why one looks better balance-wise than another, but it's mostly just spin in some sense. That is, you can make up a story that sounds good to justify any and all. And adjudicating between those stories is pretty difficult at this point. So I'm wondering whether shifting gears and just measuring the yardage of your books could give you the answer you need?

I vote for whatever gives you the biggest feeling of peace.

Not liking version 2. The door is still too big...Bigger than the base below, so top heavy. I think I prompted this latest idea, but to make it work, as I saw it when I suggested the smaller door and more shelf, that the door needs to be 12" and the shelves at 24"...with the knob on the right of the door, like the one below it. I know it seems like a petty thing, but it makes that cabinet 'end' the run by 'facing it'...not just be half a cabinet facing nothing. I hope that makes sense.

Jilly--the doors are about 10.5" each, so small. Door below on the base cabs is the corner susan. I've ruled out all open shelves after several suggestions because I need closed storage there and because the items stored there won't be used everyday, dust would be an issue. Now I'm starting to rethink my stance.

Angie, scrapbook--thanks for your votes.

Ironcook--I'm leaning away from knobs on doors. I like pulls better. I hadn't thought to consider that aspect. Thanks.

Dianalo--see my comments above.

Aliris--What a well-spoken way to tell me to, in essence, flip a coin. I need that reality check at this point. Thank you.

Rhome--Yes, you did prompt this idea. The door is 12", but with the framing, the open shelves are slightly less than 24". I didn't even notice the knob placement. If I choose this, I would switch the door swing. Thanks for the catch on that.

Aliris, is right, of course, that what matters most is what you want and will feel good about. Things in black and white line drawings look like bigger deals than they are when up. Do what will make you feel most confident when you walk away from ordering.

We can't promise you'll never gaze at it from the family room and wonder if you made the right decision or occasionally wonder if you would've liked it better another way. But if you have that kind of personality, that will likely happen no matter what. (Says one who does.) The truth is, probably no one will come in your kitchen and wonder "WHY did she do THAT?!" or think it's wrong, because, first of all, they just don't care as much. And 2, it just isn't going to look 'wrong' no matter which you choose. If that section doesn't actually work for you, that's when it'll seem wrong. If you decide this based on something that's particularly important to you, when you start to doubt, you can hold onto that reasoning and be glad you made the decision you did.

Rhome--you didn't add any extra angst to what I already put on myself. Tonight, I can't tell if I want more closed or more open storage. Thanks for your sound advice about how to look at it.

I think the small shelf in #1 looks squished, but I like the balance the small doors create in the room.

As long as you guys tell me that the shelves in #1 doesn't look squished to you, I'll go with that.

Where are you going to keep your cooking oil, vinegar, soy sauce, and other items you need to get to quickly when you are at the stove? (Sorry to bring this up, but when I look at the drawing, I don't see a place for them.)

I love open shelves in a kitchen. It's such a great way to add a little interest.

I think if you go for a closed cabinet, you should go with option 2. The view of the lower door will be obscured by the island from most angles, won't it? Even if it is visible, I promise no one will notice.

Can you walk away from this for a day or two and come back fresh early next week?

If you're going to reevaluate and form still rules the day, I want to remind you about not forgetting the hutch option. Though I haven't any further advice on how to actually make it *work*. I, for example, sure don't have one of those appliance garages. I can utterly assure you its door would never once get closed in my house. That's why I'd suggest glass doors across all -- you could get that hutch feeling that would balance the ovens on the left; you could protect things from dust -- a stated need, and you could get your bookshelves. You could play aournd with having clear glass in some places and darker in others, like the ovens? Again, this is wild idea-generating; I wouldn't do it myself. Way too form-conscious for me personally.) Could you build in an open box for the espresso maker and a closed appliance-doored garage for the mixer? I forgot the objection to that -- too heavy to move? Too big?

Dunno.... I say work on a different problem and come back to this later!

If you're using at least some of the shelves for cookbooks, then I think it's option #2 unless you only have a few cookbooks. Just make sure the cab opens the same direction as the one below it.

However, if you're using it for dishes of some sort, I think option #1 could be very nice if you put some nice bowls on the open shelves. And if you think dusting will be an issue, #1 might be the better option for you.

I'm not sure that #1 is perfect but I do know that I do not like #2.

Jilly--soy goes in the fridge. I don't use vinegars at the stove. I use EVOO the most and that goes in a tall glass bottle with pour spout on the counter near the range with the kosher salt and pepper grinder. I like open shelves too. I've never had them but the pics I see here and on Houzz call to me. And the island will block ten view of the lower cab from most angles in the house.

Aliris--I can walk away until Sunday night. My cab maker is waiting on this decision and on the beverage area in the DR side. I'm signed off on everything else and promised the last two choices Monday morning.

Flowers--I have dozens of cookbooks, but will only store the few I need the most on those shelves. I'd also like to put non-book items there too.

Blfenton--hmmmmmmm. Any idea what would make it perfect? All shelves? All doors? Back to the Justin Bieber posters?

I just asked DH which he liked better. He didn't hesitate to pick #1. I'll mock that one up with the cabs here to see how 12" of shelves feels.

Thank you everyone.

Basta. Another one behind you: congratulations!

Next....

Did I say I was letting DH decide? ;)

Visually, I'm liking option 2 better. I'm typically not a symmetry person but for some reason I prefer how the top shelves and narrow cab in 2 more closely match up to the bottom cabs. Now as to function, that all depends on what you plan on storing in the cabinet. If you're using it for rarely used items, they tend to be big/bulky. Will what you want to store fit easily in the narrower cabinet in 2? They both look good so I would not let form over fucntion drive this decision.

The shelves will be a difficult area to clean, have you considered no shelves and just having a double door cabinet that is a bit larger that does not hit the right wall? IMO they are sort of odd looking shoved in the corner.

The DW is underneath; that is the determining factor.

Forgive me for not having examined the earlier threads, so disregard this if irrelevant -- is there a reason you've placed the DW next to the wall? To my eyes, it looks a tad crammed in over at the end. I have one in that position and regret it. The wall gets dirty more often with splashing, and you can only access it from the one side.

In your shoes I might put the open upper shelves to the left of the upper closed cab instead. It would make the window look less boxed in, and more importantly you can reach things out of them more easily while working at your stove (oils, spices etc) and if you're right-handed, you can more easily unload glasses etc from the dishwasher up into the closed right-hand cab.

If you don't do all open shelves (sigh), then I'd also suggest to have the closed cab at the end and not on the left. It blocks things in as shown in #2. If the open shelves were on the window side, the whole kitchen would feel more open. I'd especially want to see actual shelves and not a cab box. You could then round the ends of the shelves on the window side.

Not liking version 2. The door is still too big...Bigger than the base below, so top heavy.

I agree. Whether you go with one door or two up there, it should line up with the door in the base cab below it. That is, if it's one door, it should be the same size as the one on the base cab, and lined up with it; and if it's two doors, then the left-hand door should be the same size as the one below and lined up with it.

Okay, don't shoot me here, but could you have all cabinets with glass inserts all the way around including the side next to the cooktop? That way you'd have your "open" storage and not have to worry about dust. Of course I can't find my favorite picture right now.

Sigh, can't find it. In one of Susanka's books. Here is a link for the idea. REALLY makes it for display then. I like how it lets light permeate the corner.

Here is a link that might be useful: Glass on adjacent sides

Remodelfla--I appreciate you saying both look good.

Athome--That has been my plan for 6 months. Something was bugging me in the back of my head about it like that. I thought it looked too heavy. Those are my only uppers.

Davidro and Circus--DW is not there. It's on the right of the cleanup sink.

Circus and Dianalo--My initial thought with the shelving was to put in on the left. When I asked about it, people had the idea of shelves on the right instead. Consensus seemed to be that shelves on the left would get dirtier because of the rangetop proximity. You can see how I wonder about the shelves in the corner looking squished. They wouldn't be on the right. I'll see if I can photoshop something.

Ideagirl--Thanks for your #1 vote.

Clueless--I hadn't thought of that idea. I have some not-so-pretty things to store there, but I do obscured glass. It would have to match the glass in the hutch cab to the right of the cleanup sink. You can see it in the rendering I just posted.

I sort of like the full cabinets better than either shelf idea but I would also be interested to see what it would look like as one larger double cabinet that does not quite meet the right side wall. The thing that is really throwing off the balance in the space is the angled pantry, will it have any painted wall around it or will it all be painted to match the cabinets? I am not saying that you should change the pantry, just wondering if that expanse of white will be broken up or not.

Athome--I see. The tiny bit (and I mean tiny) of drywall around the corner pantry will be painted the same color as the cabs. I am not changing the pantry at this point. I've been actively working on my layout for 18 months now. We're finally done reframing and the windows are in. Does that help?

I photoshopped this idea. Shelves on the left.

Does this look better?

Much better! What do you think about it?

I don't think the size of the upper door compared to the lower should be a deciding factor. You will never see your kitchen as it is in the drawing. First, you almost never look at uppers and lowers together and visually match them the way you do in a drawing. You tend to look above the counter and below the counter unless you have an open expanse with a distant view. You will have an island buffering the view and there will be a return on the base cabinets so that wider upper is anchored by another 24 inches of base that we aren't seeing any detail on. We say all the time that uppers and lowers don't need to match, and I don't see this as a special case where they have to.

Visually, I prefer the two doors in this post or a wider single door. The single door above looks like a near miss, not intentionally different.

Functionally, I prefer a larger single door. I prefer opening one door rather than two where possible. In general, I would not want a door opening where it would block my view into a cabinet, but the narrower doors may be small eouogh that it wouldn't matter here -- not sure. Make sure the doors will open wide enough that you aren't making it harder to use the space (could be more of an issue with framed or inset cabinets).

Make sure that the cabinet is wide enough to give you some usage options. For example -- my 22.5 inch cabinets are above my baking area. One side has mixing bowls, the food processor, extra bowls for the mixer and processor, my scale, a cake plate, etc. I have just enough width for 2 large things side by side in that cabinet. The other one, right above my spice drawer, has my measuring cups, funnels, extracts, soda and baking powder, sprinkles and other decorations, food colorings, vanilla sugar and all those miscellaneous things I use when baking. The bottom shelf is open but the next has an expandable tiered riser and another two small turntables. If those were 18 inch cabinets, my use would be a lot different. Two 10 inch bowls wouldn't fit side by side. The expandable tiered stand would fit a smaller cabinet, but the two turntables wouldn't and anything more than the width for one would have limited use.

I do agree with stepping back from the drawings for a bit. See if you find yourself coming back to one or look at your storage needs. In the end, I think rhome is absolutely correct that no one is likely to be second guessing you on this. There is not one right and everything else is wrong, but your use or preferences may favor one over another and it might not be a favored option. This is your your kitchen -- it should be the option that works best for you.

As I said, I do not think that you should change the pantry but it does influence how the right side cabinets would look best. If the white will be that heavy on the left then the three full cabinets on the right as pictured in the 3d version above would be the best match.

I think it LOOKS good, but need to study the function of it more. The surf on the shelves won't br used everyday, but the stuff in the cab will. Gotta think.

In your other drawings you've shown the open shelves as part of a box, (probably because they were going from "wall to wall" sort of) and these ones you have shown as completely open - is that your intention? The reason I'm asking is because with them set up this way, lining everything up with the bottom doesn't seem to be as important to the eye.

Would your door on the cabinet be wood or glass? And how deep is this "unit" going to be? Your wall ovens will come out 24", your vent will be out (what 18"-21"?) and if this is only the normal 12" upper cabinet depth it might look a little shallow. I just think you need to be careful and make sure that it can hold its own weight-wise and I don't think that the latest drawing does that.
How tied are you to the idea of shelves? Just throwing out anotther idea here - what about keeping it as your original 3-door cabinet idea and making the doors a combination of wood and glass. You could do all glass, or wood on one and glass on two, or do the 2 door configuration as all glass.

Sorry, I also meant to add that if you do cabinets in this area I would make them 15" deep if you aren't already to balance out the depth of the whole upper wall.

A lot happened since I looked at this and started a reply, then got interrupted in posting.

Seeing the whole kitchen is good for both balance and perspective. I'm not sure I have a preference on shelves left or right, but I'm not seeing glass for the things you want to store there. Also, while glass would carry glass all the way around the corner, all the rest of the glass is in longer panels. I'm not saying that is good or bad, but pointing it out for your consideration.

As far as the open cabinets on the left being more likely to get soiled because of the cooktop -- that's 3 and a half feet away. I don't think you will have platters from the cooktop over there. If your mixer is below, you are likely to have some puffs of flour or powdered sugar cause some dusting issue -- probably on either side. At least, that's how it would work in my kitchen. I'd probably put the bookshelves at the end of one or your cabinet runs or island if you can borrow 10-12" on one of those. It would give you more space for books or display too.

The open ended shelves feel funny to me (like things could fall off, and not as good for confining books) and the fact that you'll want to access the cabinet more, pushes me back to #1 of this thread.

Thank you for your opinions everyone.

I just mocked up these up in the kitchen. Having the cab on the right makes it harder to acess being in the corner. #3 is out.

#1 is my vote out of the 3 but do you need a cabinet there at all if you have ample storage elsewhere? I'm still new here so please forgive me (I couldn't find the whole kitchen) - but can you do an open corner unit and eliminate the squareness?

Ah, if "not pretties" are going in there then forget the glass. I vote for #1. If you're using it everyday I wouldn't want to lean over a counter to open doors.

A couple of you posted while I was typing above. Sorry.

Lascatx--Thanks for coming back. The base cabs on the wall will be blocked by the island. ****I**** need to decide. I was just wanting to make sure there wasn't a preference here on the how it LOOKS because I'm too close to this now. There isn't a consensus on that. ;)

Athome--Looking at the whole room in color does make a difference.

Blfenton--Always nice to see you. The hood will be the same depth as the ovens, 24". I hadn't considered how the shallow uppers would look IRL with the deeper items down the line. I'll look to see if I have enough wall space to do deeper. The problem is the window over the clean-up sink next door.

Rhome--You're right about the access to the closed cab. It's more difficult on the right next to the wall so I've ruled out #3.

Celtin--No worries. It's fun to be new! I do need the storage there. I'm not sure what you mean by "open corner unit." Do you mean this attached to regular doored uppers on the end?

I think those look dated. Sorry!

Clueless--Yes, not all are "pretties." I will use the uppers every day for at least my coffee cup. Espresso machine is below them!

Hi, I like #1, because the tiny lower cabinet matches the sizing of the tiny upper cabinets. I don't like the balance of #2 because the upper and lower doors don't relate to me. The little shelf on the end will be able to pick up light from the window and show off colored glass etc.

Not really. I was thinking of something more like this which runs from the counter to the ceiling.

{{!gwi}}

In the corner but still has the closed (for the junk) and open option. But you may need the counter space. IDK just my 2c.

A cab next to a wall can have a door open towards the wall. You just can't open to fully 90 degrees. It does not matter much because it is not like a fridge where you need to take out shelves from time to time.
I think that the naked shelves look better than the boxed in kind. They are also cheaper and easier to get.
I was describing the rounded end shelves like in the box (A) you show, but with no back or sides.

Where has my mind been...Renderings coming up. The best way to see what the options might look like IRL.

Celtin--I do need the counter space there for my KA mixer and my semi-auto espresso machine. That's a cute piece.

Dianalo--The cab in the corner, regardless of which way it opens, wasn't convenient for me for daily use when I mocked it up in my temporary house. It's too much of a reach and lean.

Rhome--You're a peach! That should help a lot!

Have you seen mamadadapaige's corner cabinet/ shelf+ garage? Hope she does not mind that I put a link to a picture of her kitchen on this post. I like how her shelf is deeper than the cabinet next to it but you may not have space with your window, anyway her layout is similar to yours so you may get some ideas if you have not seen it already.

Here is a link that might be useful:

First one. Both for form and function. (Definitely not the middle one)

Athome--I've drooled over Mama's kitchen so many times. Everything about it just seems right, IYKWIM. I wish I could do that in my corner, but I need the counter space for my two appliances. But I'm still going to give it one last measuring tonight just to see..... ;) Thanks!

Blfenton--Thanks for looking again.

Alright. I promised myself while making lasagne tonight that I wanted to enjoy eating the delicious mess knowing I had put this decision to bed. So I'm going with my gut instinct from Rhome's renderings.

!!!!!!!!! #1 !!!!!!!!!!!!

Decision done. Many thanks Rhome for helping me with this one. Seeing the black and white turn into 2D color makes all the difference. I owe you, again.

Thank you everyone! Now back to my dining room cabinets decision....

Hope that was some-yummy lasagna!

The cheesy, tomato-y, basil-y goodness tasted even better tonight than usual. ;)