Speaking of cabinet glass... Clear, frosted, etc?

15 years ago

31 year old guy with no design taste. Trying to figure out what type of glass would look best in my upper cabs. They will be lit with low voltage lights.

Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated!

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Comments (11)

natal
15 years ago
My vote is for clear. Why bother with glass if you're trying to hide what's behind it? Now shower doors are a totally different subject ... 20 years past 31 and there's a damn good reason. ;)
pcjs
15 years ago
I would think it depends if those are for storage or display - display you want clear, storage you want something to hide what's in there and it would depend on your backsplash and lighting.

For shower doors - clear is the man looks good, frosted if not .

P.S. kitchen looks great, did you enjoy the beer? :)
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This is just my personal opinion, but I hope it helps. For me, I don't like bright light, so I have all my lights on dimmers, even the canned lights in the kitchen. I also don't like direct light shining down on the island. It reminds me of a spotlight and removes the ambiance from the room. I'm in the process of remolding a new home and just as in my current home, I have canned lights throughout the kitchen, which will be the main source of light, all on dimmers, and I have two 18 inch pendant lights, Restoration Hardware Machinist Pendants, (see pic below) over the island. For me, the pendant lights will be more for decorative purposes, ambiance. The bulbs are low wattage and will remain on even when not using the kitchen and the canned lights are off. This will give enough light to be able to see when making a quick trip to the kitchen w/o having to turn on the canned. This has worked well in my current home where I have a huge island and a chandelier hanging directly in the center, with several 15 watt bulbs. My point is, if you don't use a glaring wattage bulb and don't hang the pendant at or just above eye level, I don't think it matters whether you have a clear, frosted or solid globe/shade. If you look at photos online, the majority of lights over islands have clear or no glass, which to me, it's not meant to be the main source of light. Now, if you don't have additional lighting in the kitchen and the island lights are the main source, then maybe it would be a good idea to use a solid shade/dome and a higher watt bulb, but in warm tone and not in white. I hope this helped. Good luck!
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I'd have to disagree with ccombs cab guy: divided doors and obscure glass work well together in most settings. Perfectly clear glass and large, uninterupted panes are fairly recent inovations. Here's a thought for those of you with clear glass, but wishing for something more obscure: Michaels and other craft stores sell faux stained glass supplies, including some clear [start white but dry clear] acrylic mediums that you can dot, swirl or splash accross regular glass to give it 3d texture and cut back the clarity a bit. One even gives a crackle effect. It will last for years, cleans about like plain glass, but can be scraped off with a razor blade with no damage to the glass [assuming some degree of competence] if you decide obscure glass isn't for you. Generally better to apply it to the back of the glass, especially on divided doors.
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remodelqueen
15 years ago
I vote for clear.

natal- I agree w/you about the shower door! lol :)
redroze
15 years ago
Catamount - I agree with the above posts, it depends on what you're going to put up there. Please don't say sports memorabilia!!!

Your shaker cabinets have a very clean look which makes me think you should go with a clear door, or a watery/distorted look if you want to give just a hint of what's inside. Overall though, clear would be your best bet if you're lighting them up.
bluekitobsessed
15 years ago
I vote for clear since they're so high that the only thing you're likely to put up there is display/rarely used stuff. I want to insert guy joke here...the collection of Billy Beer/Hot Wheels shot glasses/whatever -- but I'm just not funny....
boysrus2
15 years ago
I went with a ribbed glass which my local glass company calls "Crystal Fluted". Larger panels are on my kitchen hutch.

{{gwi:1592849}}
igloochic
15 years ago
I love that glass. I have it in my master closet. It's great with the finish on your cabinets! Nice choice!
kelleg69
15 years ago
I was thinking about ribbed for your kitchen too. It would look good.
catamount90
Original Author
15 years ago
Oooh I like the ribbed! I think ribbed it is.

Thanks!
Jodi_SoCal
15 years ago
I vote for something other than clear unless you have some very nice things to display in those cabs.

Ordinary things (like in my cabs) just look better behind interesting glass.

Here we used ribbed (Reeded) on the horizontal instead of the more common vertical.

{{!gwi}}

Jodi-
mcr1
15 years ago
A heavily seeded glass would look nice. Try looking at outwater or architectural glass effects.

http://www.arcglasseffects.com/

http://www.outwatercatalogs.com/

I think that anyone can order from outwater, I dont think that is the case from A.G.E. The reeded glass looks great also, I think it makes it a touch more modern (IMO)and the seeded glass is slightly more shaker style to me.

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Speaking of cabinet glass... Clear, frosted, etc?

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natal

pcjs

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Speaking of cabinet glass... Clear, frosted, etc?

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