In your previous thread, some others were suggesting lighting in the glass front cabinets to help highlight your displays. Without that, not much will be seen no matter what you put there. If lighting is just simply not an option, you might try for something colorful in an attempt to have it show up?

They do have lights on in the first picture. They are more of an accent not super bright.

Do you like polish pottery?

ericakn- I’m a plain Jane. Lots of pattern and color kind of freak me out. I love Restoration Hardware decor for that reason it‘s soothing to my eyes. Crazy right?

Not at all! I have stuck with the blues and whites so it is visually calming and makes my heart happy.

Sorry, I see the lights now. Do you have any inspiration photos of stuff you like? If you want white and silver, can you do some sparkly things to add some texture? I was in a Pier 1 store recently, not sure if you have them in your area, but they have a lot of merchandise out now in whites and silver for the holidays, very decorative and varied in options plus affordable.

The glass size is a bit too small to really feature display items of the size that you’re using. Just leave them empty, or get frosted glass for them.

Olychick- I’m going to try it tomorrow. My plan is to white out all the ones above the fridge area and the ovens to look like the cabinets. I think I would like to leave some. I picked out everything when we built a year ago and I’m not sure what I had in mind for those cabinets but fell in love with the design and just went with it. If I find smaller pieces fog the rest do you think it will look right? I looked at the glass films but didn’t really find a style that I thought would look right. But I’m open to that idea as well.

the kitchen has a ton of detail mostly because of the ceiling. I'd get a runner or a couple mats ..near the fridge and in the aisle . If your concern is the glass in the upper cabs the goal is then to bring the focus away because the glass size is small...they are done and installed and best to focus elsewhere. I don't see a problem really...personally I'd want to layer in some warmth...floor mats ..maybe potted plant or basket on the island...art work on wall to left of doorway..... Put a sofa table behind that couch and put some special things on it. You don't have to do anything but there are some of these things you can do slowly over time but the installed part of the kitchen seems complete , finished and well done when I look at it.

"If I find smaller pieces fog the rest do you think it will look right?" Lori, I'm not sure what that means. But just for a visual, just take some white paper like printer paper and tape it on the inside of the cabinets (a few of them) to see if you think eliminating the glass/dark hole look pleases you.

Your kitchen is SO gorgeous, but honestly, all I see when I first glance at the pics are the dark squares at the top of the cabinets. It's not "bad" but I think those small dark squares detract from the amazing ceiling and overall impact of the design. So, I'm just suggesting try eliminating the dark and see what you think. Some other people have put mirrors instead of glass cabinets, but not sure that would work - it might just reflect too much of the ceiling. Maybe try a piece of shiny aluminum foil in one, just to see? Or try foil in the back of a couple and see if it bounces more light in there so they aren't so dark.

eta: while looking for pics of upper cabinets with mirror instead of glass, I saw this kitchen. The upper glass cabinets look similar to yours but the difference is how light they are inside and there is just one white object in each window. This looks pretty great. Are the interiors of yours painted white, too?

@lorishopaholic Everyone has a different design aesthetic, but just to throw this out there, I like the glass cabinets. Were it not for our budget concerns, I'd be putting some in our own remodel. You likely invested a lot into getting those glass fronts and as you said, you fell in love with the look when you started the renovation. I know that frosting them out would make them less prominent and perhaps alleviate the issues of blank voids you're feeling as some have suggested, but I hate to see you give up on them just yet.

You like a classy, elegant look. Do you think some florals would work, like pastel garlands consistent across the top? Whatever you style it with needs to be small, so glassware or small silver serving items might also work. I can also see a decorative plate collection or ceramics collection up there. If you decide you don't want the clear glass, then you could also do more of a patterned or etched glass look. This would be more subtle than the crossbars but still provide more interest than a solid frost. On the artistic end, you could do pictures or stained glass in the fronts in white and silver, taking care not to make it too busy as others have noted.

Sorry, just a typo. Lol. I was trying to ask if I find smaller pieces for the rest of the cabinets. But, I see what you are saying. I wondered about mirrors too. I might have to have a piece cut to get a good visual.

Oh, I should have tried to figure out a typo...I just saw "fog" and wondered what I was missing. If you have the lights on full bore up there, but think brighter lights might be the answer, just try a battery operated lantern or flashlights or a wadded up string of christmas lights...just for the visual of brighter, of course, not for the solution

Olychick- I love that picture you posted! so my cabinets aren’t painted white inside they are just a natural light maple color. Maybe I should put some white paper up on the inside (before I spend the time painting the insides) and see if that lightens things up.

Yes! That might be the answer! I'll bet it is.

So that explains why they seem so dark even with lighting. It would be standard for the insides of glass-fronted cabinetry to be finished the same as the exterior. That will make more of the installed lighting power if they could be refinished to white. Mirrors would block off all the work done with the intra-cabinet lighting which would be sad to lose.

Would change hardware on uppers, from those rings, to small plain knobs.

The uppers are just too short to work as displays. They also should have been constructed with the finished interior. To deal with that, get rid of the clear glass entirely. It emphasizes their shortness and darkness. Put in frosted or rice paper or something. Or wood.

Just gorgeous!

I put mirrors in mine instead of glass. I don’t know if that’s the right solution for you because you have so many and an ornate ceiling (which I LOVE!) but might be worth trying.

Just chiming in to say using those tiny cabinets as decorative may not work for you. They are so tiny that white stuff is just going to get lost in there.

So if you're not looking for colorful stuff, I love the idea of mirrors or frosting the glass.

Olychick thank you for noticing that they weren’t painted! I had no idea it would make such a huge difference! I’m still painting but had to snap a few pictures for y’all to see.

Painted

Unpainted

That does look better! I have to say, you're a fast worker! I'd still be looking for paper to tape in there to test the look.

So much better painted!! Keep going!!

I kept playing with items and everything just looked cluttered to me, so I had my tint guy come and Frost them. So much happier not having to worry about it and not look at clutter. Unlit vs lit.

KR that looks so good! Do you just leave them empty now or do use them for storage?I’m assuming empty or you would see weird shadows? I didn’t know if I would like the frosted look but yours has changed my mind. I’ll probably play around with some single items like they picture that is posted above with the white vases. But if all else fails I have a back up plan! Thank you!

Nothing in them at all!