help with kitchen decisions - glazed wall units??

[islandsopen]

I am trying to decide on units either side of chimney/aga.

Had decided no wall units in whole kitchen. I was going to do cupboards to the work top each side of chimney as shown in green on photo but it affects all our sockets etc so husband is not keen.

Am now considering a glazed wall unit each side of chimney as shown in blue. Any opinions on visual effect especially if units should be wall to wall in recess or centralized as photo in blue. I can have either option as from HMKofC.

I will have large breakfast cupboard with bi folds else where for toaster, microwave etc so if i have glazed wall cupboards they would just be for display things.
Thanks

Wall to wall. Glazed v solid depends on what you need to put in them. Glazed are only suitable for displaying pretty stuff.

For info you’ll need your handles mid way on the Cabinets otherwise they won’t open properly a d you’ll damage the hinges. It’s like yanking at superglue, the magnets are super strong.

Definitely wall to wall. Can you not use the sockets inside the cupboards if they come down to the work surface?

I have some glazed units that have reeded glass in them so you can kind of see what's in them and kind of not which is the best of both worlds to me as they're not bulky like solid doors but you don't have to be too fastidious with how you arrange things in your cupboards.

They are from HMKOC and I really like them. They're full height counter standing rather than wall hung.

I think wall to wall or centred depends on the rest of the layout of the kitchen, what is below the cupboards, the width and the depth of the recesses and whether they are the same on both sides of the chimney. No one can say without seeing your kitchen.

Personally, I am not a big fan of glazed cupboards. They look messy if used for storage and they rarely look good as display units. You can't see what is in them very well and they only look good if they have a few sparse items, like in the photo. Is there really much point in having a huge cupboard to display 2 cups and a jug?

IME, even if you have things that you think would look great displayed, you'll then find that your jug is a bit too tall or short to be framed perfectly by the door, you have 8 tea cups but you really need 9 in 3 rows of 3 for it to look good...

If it helps, these are my glazed. I also have solid elsewhere

I’m literally just starting to put glassware into mine. They do need a good clean. I have the mirror back option.

Wall to wall, matches the base cabinets better and avoids a cobweb trap.

I agree with your DH that those extra bits of worktop will be very useful. We have one wall cabinet and one countertop cabinet and I slightly wish they were both wall cabinets for practicality (though I like the asymmetry).

Ours are glazed and we keep DH’s ridiculous glasses collection in one and only white china and glass in the other . So do make sure you have enough stuff that will look ok on display. I’m not fussed about whether it sits exactly centrally though!

Disagree that the handles need to be midway, ours are right at the bottom and are fine.

If you want them lit inside you need glass shelves otherwise only the top shelf is lit which looks a bit odd IMO.

Are your HMKC minipie? We had to reposition our handles which were originally at the bottom because the magnets were too strong and the joiners said it would warp the doors if the handles were at the bottom

Ours are very tall though

Nope not hmkc.

Thank you all very much. The issue with the sockets is that we have them on the sides of the recesses 30cm from corner (so exactly mid way where counter top units would fit so they would need moving - which can be done but yet another job).

I have loads of things that could be displayed so no issue with finding objects of the right height and shapes. If not here I will find somewhere else in the kitchen to display then so it does not help my decision.

I absolutely love the look of the green units in the photo but wonder if the glass option will look more spacious and light (and be less work for my husband) and bonus is more worktop although i have plenty but beside aga must be useful.

Thanks for tips re the knobs. If we have glass the cupboards will be very rarely opened. Those from HMKC did you have bifolds too - did you have same issue and could you reach knobs in centre ok?

We had glazed ones (from HMKC) but although we had lots of pretty stuff to display, I actually thought it looked too busy 🙄

My talented DH swapped out the glazing for panels of MDF which I'm much happier with.

No issues with the handles being at the bottom of ours but they're not particularly tall...1m?

Here's a pic of ours after DH made the changes.

Thanks for that Hebdee - I had actually considered that it would be easier to swap from glazed to unglazed if we didnt like it so glad to hear it is feasible. At this point i just need to make some decisions. I have lots of things i would love to have on display - would prefer on open shelves elsewhere really. How did you display things instead?

Yep, I had loads of stuff I wanted to display too but fortunately we have three deep window sills where I have plants, fresh flowers and lamps, plus DH built me a tall open shelf for a few china items.

We also have open shelving beneath the island, although the jury's out as to whether that was a good idea, lol! I'm adding a couple more pics, although these were from 2020 iirc, and we've finished off lots of bits since they were taken so excuse the mess/unfinished areas (such as the peeling window sill which now has iroko to match the worktops) etc 🙄

And finally, one of our island.

Mine are dresser tops just over 1.5m tall and larder units just over 1.5m tall. Hmkc. The issue with handles and the magnets is obviously hmkc specific and relates to the magnet catches.

Hebdee - thank you windowcills and open shelves look lovely for display. My windows are recessed so i dont have that option. did you see my other post about open islands - I am so undecided. What sink do you have and does it have an overflow?

Wall-to-wall because of cobwebs and greasy kitchen dust. For the glazing, you can have reeded glass which looks nice and allows you to have a slightly messier cupboard inside sometimes when you’re busy.