Kitchen cabinet wish list: designing to personalize

By Jim Mallery
RefacingCabinet.com Columnist

Part 4, last of a four-part series, Kitchen Cabinet Wish List

The first three parts of this series examined ways to maximize your kitchen cabinet space and also suggested some items for your wish list. This final article of the series looks at some finishing touches for that dream kitchen.

5 Ways to Glam Up Your Kitchen Cabinets

1. End Shelves. Open display shelves at the end of a run of cabinets, or at your kitchen-sink window add elegance to your kitchen. The downside? You may be too cramped for cabinet space to allow several inches dedicated to displaying your finest glassware, vases or knickknacks.
2. Glass Doors. Glass cabinet doors always add a touch of class to your cabinets, as long as you don't have too many. If you have nice stemware or festive plates, bowls and platters, glass doors on a couple of your cabinets are excellent. Forget the glass, however, if your nicer items are displayed in a hutch and all that is left is your melamine and boxes of corn flakes. To increase the effect of glass doors, put a mirrored back in the cabinet and add interior lighting.
3. Stemware rack. How about a rack to hold your stemware--the kind where you slide the wine glass upside down into a slot? They can be inside a cabinet or in a niche surrounded by cabinetry. As with glass doors, a little lighting and a mirrored back increase the effect.
4. Wine rack. And speaking of stemware, why not include a small wine rack? If you can afford to donate a little cabinet space to frivolous usage, a wine rack adds a nice touch. Just don't put your good stuff there--it should be in the temperature-controlled wine cellar. But a kitchen wine rack works just fine for a few bottles of table wine.
5. Crowning touch. To cap it all off, wrap the tops of your kitchen cabinets with crown molding. If you are buying new cabinets, your manufacturer should be able to provide crown molding in the same finish as your cabinets. Otherwise, a little shopping at lumberyards and home-improvement stores should uncover a nice molding that can be stained or painted to fit well with your kitchen décor.

The last four articles have presented space-saving, useful, and a few frivolous suggestions for your kitchen cabinets. If you are about to make big changes to your kitchen, keep these ideas in mind. They just might transform your kitchen cabinets into a wish-list-come-true.

About The Author

Jim Mallery, a semi-retired journalist and onetime registered contractor, has extensive experience remodeling, repairing and rebuilding homes.