Pros and Cons of Forgoing Upper Cabinets
It’s a new season, and guess what: it’s time to do some remodeling work in your kitchen. Those upper cabinets have been sticking out like a sore thumb for a while, but do you dare forgo them? Should you leave them as they are, or should you just ditch them and stick some shelves in there instead?
There are certain advantages and drawbacks to forgoing upper cabinets, all of which you need to familiarize yourself with. In some cases, it might be the best decision you could make – but in others, you might want to rethink your plan. This article should help you come to a decision.
The Advantages
Ditching your upper cabinets might not be such a bad idea, and here is why:
- Lower Cabinets Are Easier to Use
Upper cabinets are generally our main way for storing items from the kitchen, and rather than getting spacious lower cabinets, we prefer to go for taller upper cabinets. However, not only are lower cabinets much easier to access, but the right choice can also hold a lot of space.
“It adds an element of universal design. Storing dishes on pullout shelves in lower cabinets or deep drawers is safer and more convenient than storing them in overhead cabinets for people of all ages, sizes, and abilities. And as storage goes, clients are always amazed to see how much a deep drawer can hold,” says HammerSmith Inc. design expert, Warner McConaughey.
- It Makes the Kitchen Feels Larger
When you install wall cabinets, you bring the full perimeter of the kitchen forward. The doors of the cabinets will be pretty much where the wall starts, in your field of vision. This is why the kitchen tends to feel smaller when it is jam-packed with cabinets. However, if you remove the upper cabinets, the kitchen will immediately feel bigger.
- You Can Install Shelving
With upper cabinets gone, you can now install the next best thing: shelving. Compared to upper cabinets that you will have to open and close each time you need something, shelving just allows you to reach what you need. The items will be right in your reach, and you’ll be finished with your kitchen tasks much faster than you would with cabinets.
- You Spend Less on Renovations
Perhaps the most obvious advantage to forgoing upper cabinets lies in the fact that you’ll no longer spend as much on renovations. Upper cabinets can be quite expensive, not to mention that you may have to pay for their installation as well. Overall, if you decide to ditch the upper cabinets altogether, you will have one less thing to pay for.
The Disadvantages
If you want to forgo upper cabinets, you also need to keep in mind certain disadvantages:
- You Lose Storage
If you used to have upper cabinets, you probably had a very good reason for that: you needed storage space. Therefore, if you forgo those upper cabinets, you will also forgo the precious storage page that you used before.
“If you want to avoid uppers, ask yourself if you can really accommodate the necessary storage space elsewhere,” advises interior designer Sean Leffers. “Maybe in a gorgeous old pine cupboard? In some kitchens, though, upper cabinets are the best solution so they will never go away entirely,” he adds.
- Shelves Can Clutter
When you ditch the shelves, the chances are that you will go for the next possible thing to store kitchen items: shelves. The issue with shelves is that, unlike cabinets, you see everything on them. Nothing is hidden from the eye.
With kitchen cabinets, if you do not have the time to tidy up, you can just throw everything in a cabinet, close the door, and no one would know what’s inside. On the outside, things will look tidy. However, when there aren’t any cabinets, you won’t have any hiding places to stash your items.