We didn't put lights in our glass door cabinets and I have absolutely no regrets. I know I'm in the minority, but I really like just plain and simple when it comes to glass cabs--no lights, no specialty glass, no glass shelves.

We have two cabinets flanking our main sink with glass doors and then a cabinet dividing our kitchen and dining area with glass doors on both sides. The function of the glass in our kitchen is to break up the wood and to add visual interest. We also put glass into the sides of the glass door cabinets when possible.

hi tresgirls...

We don't have lighting in our glass cabs either. I do have a china cabinet in my formal dining room with lights. The only time I turn them on is when company is coming. For me it would have beeen a waste of money to put the lights in my kitchen cabs because I wouldn't use them..I just know myself. With the recessed lights and my windows I am happy with how it all looks. (And I don't have undercab lights either, however my sister does, and I think they look very nice, but not necessary for me.)

KA:)

Here is a link that might be useful:

I have four 42" tall glass-front cabinet doors with no lights. I am very happy without the lights. I didn't want the extra expense, or to be fussing with the lights. My glass cabinets contain my "good" china, wine/liqueur glasses and some cookbooks. You can see all the contents perfectly without interior lights. My cabinets and interiors are white, so I don't know if that makes a difference.

I think I would only put interior lights in glass cabinets if we are talking about tall ceilings, with a row of cabinets that are stacked above cabinets. E.g. 12" tall cabinets stacked atop 39-42" tall cabinets. If the top stack has glass doors, it would be nice to display items in there, and since they're near the ceiling, you would need to light them to see the contents properly.

I have 3 glass cabinets in my kitchen, one at the end of the cabinet run, and two in a built-in hutch. I didn't put lights in any of them and it's fine. I have undercabinet lights for ambience and recessed lights above the cabinets so I didn't see the need to light up the cabinets as well. I was also trying to keep a casual feel to the kitchen. My buffet/hutch where I store my formal china/crystal in my dining room has lights in it.

We didn't do it either, mainly for cost reasons initially, but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. It adds cost, heat, and makes more sense with the aesthetic I was going for- and it just seems so much more natural. I don't regret it in the least.

I don't have lights in any of my glass door cabinets (located in different parts of the kitchen), and I don't miss them at all.

Thanks for all your responses. You're helping me feel a lot better about the possibility of not having lights in the cabinets. I didn't think about including this information before, but in case it's helpful, our ceilings are just under 8' and the cabinets are painted white. Here are a couple pictures of them currently. Most of the doors to the right of the glass doors haven't been installed yet, but they'll all be solid. The hood above the range (which hopefully will be installed soon) will be white painted wood and triangular shaped.

I've had at least one glass doored cabinet in the last two kitchens I've had and neither had lights. They also didn't have glass shelves either. Both of these kitchens had white cabinets so the plates and glasses could still be seen easily. My china cabinet in my last house had glass shelves and the dust showed horribly. I couldn't stand it. I swore I will never again have glass shelves and/or lights to highlight the dust!

In my new build/next kitchen I will also have wood shelves, but I am a little worried because we are doing stained quarter sawn oak and not white. So I have thought that perhaps I should paint the inside of the cabinets a lighter color so that my pretty every day dishes and glasses will be seen and still add color to the space. I actually prefer the unlit cabinets because they seem so much more old fashioned which is what I am going for.

I'm finishing a remodel, white cabinets in a kitchen that also has 8' ceilings, glass doors on the ones adjacent to the sink. I didn't put lights in my glass door cabinets either. I'm getting undercabinet lights, and my OTR microwave has a 'night light' as well. I have lights in my DR buffet and never, ever turn them on.

So far it seems to be unanimous no-lights responses!

I too do not have lights and am glad for it. As far as ambience goes i think lights in the cabinets would not add anything positive. it is the undercabinet lights that do the trick.
You can spend those saved $$$'s on something else

My take is that if you are looking to be talked into not having lights then there's a significant part of you that probably wants lights. So i'll be honest with you both ways.

From a materials stand point its really not thats expensive. You will most likely keep it under $100, now the labor that depends on how difficult if will be to do the electrical rough. It is also not a significant source of heat especially if you use flourescent pucks. I have flourescent pucks that recess into the cabinet so the whole thing is flush with the top of the cabinet for a very clean look.

Now do you REALLY need it? Of course not. It really serves very little practical purpose however there's a lot of little extras we put in kitchens that serve little practical purpose. So you have to figure out if that extra toping on the cake is worth little money and pontentially big hassel of puting the lights in. It does feel pretty good showing off your kitchen with lit cabinets. It creats a high-end finished ambience, people comment on it and quite frankly as a TKO that doesn't exactly hurt.

tresgirls, can you share information on your yummy countertops and slab backsplash (behind the range)? Thanks! Your space is beautiful.

Now have 3 sets of kitchen cupboards with subtle intermittent matte white stripes in decorative glass, plus solid shelves and oak interior. Can't imagine when I'd use lights in these cupboards. In fact, I'm not sure why I ever would need romantic ambiance in my kitchen. Surely there are better places for it.. ;-)

We're going with some glass cabs too and I just assumed we'd light them. Honestly, I've had a zillion other things to worry about and we're no where near there. I was even considering doing glass shelves too...

Anyway, I'm am pleasantly surprised to note that a great many of you don't have either glass shelves or lights. I never even considered the dust, and I can't remember who said it, but it's true, when do you turn on the lights in the china hutch? For company? That same company who honestly, would only notice it for the 30 seconds you point out your new kitchen.

So, no lights or glass shelves for me either!

Thanks again! I'm so glad I read this.

Display cabinets should have lights. Yours don't need them unless you expect your dishes to be reading.

Thanks everyone! Based on your comments, I'm now 99% sure we're going to scrap the lights. Thanks for making me feel better about the decision.

pricklypearcactus - Thanks for the compliment! The countertops and backsplash behind the range are White Fantasy quartzite. Here's a picture of the tile we plan to use for the rest of the backsplash.

Thanks everyone! Based on your comments, I'm now 99% sure we're going to scrap the lights. Thanks for making me feel better about the decision.

pricklypearcactus - Thanks for the compliment! The countertops and backsplash behind the range are White Fantasy quartzite. Here's a picture of the tile we plan to use for the rest of the backsplash.

We have a row of 3 30" thinly reeded glass fronted cabs over a bench in our eat in kitchen and we do not have lights in them. We have under cab lights under the cabs in the rest of our kitchen but not in the 3 30" cabs. I'm not bothered by the fact that we didn't light that side of the room.

Thanks for this post- I am not going to put lights in my cabinets because I already decided on wood shelves. Now I feel better about it! Under cab lights and recessed with dimmer will be just fine!

I had planned for both glass cabinet lighting and undercab lighting. Our electrician hasn't showed up to finished yet so I've been relying on the range hood light, which is a dimmer. I haven't called the electrician and I don't think I care whether he shows up or not, I'm perfectly happy with it as is!

In the kitchen, no lights, and wood shelves. In the butlers pantry (where we have crystal and silver), we have lights and glass shelves; it's sparkly! But I do have to dust occasionally.