Definitely not glass front - that location is too high to display things.

Most useful would be a cabinet with side-by-side pull out shelves. The stepstool will get you up there, but the cabinet will be deep and things at the back will be out of reach without a pullout.

Cabinet faced front for sure. I have single door that opens upward, It's very functional. I keep items in plastic bins from Target on the shelves so I can just pull the bin down that I need.

Cabinet front. I have a very hard time accessing mine even with a step ladder. It is a large space so I keep large platters and turkey roasting pans up there. But, it is then difficult to manage large objects when on a step ladder.

We redid our kitchen when we first purchased our house, but that was in the 80’s. When our first refrigerator died, all the new ones were too tall, and no longer fit below the cabinets above. What we did was to save $ by just having an open shelf above, until we were ready to redo the kitchen for the 2nd time. It would have been hard to impossible to match the existing cabinet door fronts and color, anyway. When we did the redo, we kept the open shelving. In the back, I hide serving pieces, gravy boat, things rarely used, and in the front they are hidden by 2 large square matching baskets - where I keep plastic leftover containers. I can reach the baskets easily, and if I need to access the other things in back, I get out a stool. Since the baskets and contents are light weight, I can easily just pull them out to get at the things in back.

No open shelving above the refrigerator -- dust magnet and it will be difficult to clean all the way back. I would also forego the glass doors and just get regular doors.

A couple of options:

Option 1: Full-depth cabinet (24"D) and store vases and pitchers. Put the things you use the most in the front and those that you use rarely in the back. (I also store my napkin holder and trivets there - but I'm the shortest in my family at 5'10" so I can reach to about the middle without a stool.)

Option 2: Shallow cabinet (12" to 15"D) pulled forward so it appears full-depth. You will likely have to attach it to the ceiling, though, since it won't be against the back wall (unless you build out the wall).

Regardless of option, I recommend not bringing the cabinet all the way down to the top of the refrigerator. Instead, install it about 3" to 4" above and fill the gap with filler that's finished to match the cabinet. The filler gives you the option of removing or reducing it if needed in the future while still making the refrigerator look built-in.

Speaking of that...to make it look built-in, create an alcove that's at least 37" to 38" wide by installing finished end panels on the sides and the cabinet above. Then, slide the refrigerator in. The end panels should be deep enough to cover the refrigerator box, not doors, and no deeper. Deeper ones would block the movement of the doors and prevent them from opening fully.

The 37"-38" assumes you have a 36"W refrigerator and will never go wider. If you think you might go wider in the future, then consider putting in a couple of 6"W pullouts on either side of the refrigerator to give you options in the future. However, 36" is the most common width for refrigerators, especially counter-depth, so I don't know if you want to go any wider.

If you have a narrower refrigerator, I would still create the 37"-38" alcove since that will be the easiest and, likely, least expensive option for replacement in the future. [I think 36" is the narrowest in the Thermador Freedom series.]

If wider, then the width + 2" would work. [I think they also come in 42" & 48" widths.]

(The extra couple of inches is to allow air clearance around the refrigerator as well as room to easily move the refrigerator in/out of the alcove.)

We love the pullouts above our fridge.

Nice AnnKH! The fact that they're each 1/2 width makes them much more useful than a single pullout.

Hmm....I may "steal" that idea for over the freezer & refrigerator in our new house!

It is a perfect spot for extra vertical storage.

Shaker Cherry Kitchen · More Info

We did the same as Wilson853. It’s super functional.

I would switch the shelves in the last two examples. All things are more accessible if you switch them.

Put the trays/cooling racks/etc. on the top shelf and the serving platters/baskets/whatever on the bottom shelf. Why?

You only need to grab the bottom of the trays to get them out. However, to get the serving pieces out, you need to reach the whole thing.

With the serving pieces below, you can easily reach them, unlike when they're on the top.

Since you only need to grab the bottom corner or so of the trays, cooling racks, etc., it will be more likely that you'll be able to reach them.

Note that this type of storage actually works better over ovens (double or single), but it will work over refrigerators as well.

Old picture of what I did over my ovens (I no longer use foil pans):

I did the same as Wilson853 but I’m tall, almost 5’9”.

These ideas are so helpful. Thank you Houzz discussion platform