What to Put in Glass Kitchen Cabinets — And the Things to Never Keep in Them if You Want Your Storage Looking Its Best

Glass kitchen doors sound good in theory, but in practice, they're opening up your storage to scrutiny. Suddenly, everyone can see how organized (or unorganized) your cupboards are, and if you want to keep them looking good, you can't just shove any old object in them and hide it from view.

So, what can you put in glass kitchen cabinets if you want to make sure they pass inspection? The short answer is: pretty much anything, but only if you're dedicated enough to making them feel organized, tidy, and aesthetic. You also need to consider the type of glass kitchen cabinet ideas you've chosen for your space. For example, frosted glass is far more forgiving of what you put inside, and while you might be able to get away with more when using reeded glass, plain glass puts all your kitchen's contents on show.

There are, however, a few easy options for filling glass cabinets that not only look good, but make total sense for your space. Here's what the experts recommend for the most handsome storage in your kitchen.

1. Elegant Glassware

For the least visually intrusive contents for glass-fronted cabinets turn to, well, glass. Storing your drinking glasses, carafes, champagne flutes, and even glass jars can create subtle interest, without making your kitchen cabinets look messy.

In the kitchen pictured above, designer Maureen Ursino, founder of Ursino Interiors, filled these glass cabinets with the owners' glass collection. "I like the varying silhouettes that glassware can offer without being overpowering" Maureen says.

2. White Dishes

I'll say it: plates and dishes are probably the best thing you can keep inside glass cabinets. Yes, they look good, but it also means they're easy to find and easily at hand for guests, too. However, this only really applies if you've got a good, cohesive range of dishes for your kitchen storage.

However, even if you haven't got oodles of matching dinnerware, interior designers Mallory Robins and Elizabeth Bennett, co-founders of KOBEL + CO, think it can be easy if you just keep it simple. "You can't go wrong with classic white dishes inside of a glass cabinet," the designers tell me. "We believe spaces should be functional, not just beautiful. If it's a valuable piece of real estate in your kitchen, make sure your go-to pieces are getting top spatial priority. A stack of classic, clean white or ivory everyday dishes will always look beautiful and polished."

Take inspiration from their project above and mix up shapes and sizes across different shelves to keep things more interesting than simply stacking all the same plates together.

Mallory Robins and Elizabeth Bennett

Mallory and Elizabeth are the founders of KOBEL + CO, an interior design studio based in Kansas City, renowned for their modern take on Mid-western style. As well as their projects being featured across interior magazines and websites, the studio offers virtual consultations via The Expert.

3. Beautiful Serveware

Ifyou like to invest in pretty kitchenware, it makes sense that you'd want them on display. But, you'll soon find the drawbacks that come with storing the likes of serving dishes out on open kitchen shelving.

"These elements can look great on show in a kitchen but you don’t always want them out in the open area gathering grease from cooking and dust," agrees Romaine Alwill, director of Atelier Alwill. "So it is a practical way of getting around this but having some display elements."

In the kitchen above, Romaine used a reeded glass door to house the storage for these serving bowls. "It lightens the feeling of joinery in the kitchen and adds texture and contrast with the transparency," she says.

4. Mugs and Coffee Cups

Is it just me, or does every kitchen now have to have a coffee bar? Whether you've got a dedicated set up or not, it's fair to say that, for the interiors-obsessed, an aesthetic coffee mug collection is a must. It tracks, then, that cups are a great choice as to what to put in glass kitchen cabinets.

It's a practical choice, too. If any guests are in your home, the thing they're most likely to have to find for themselves (or put away after washing up) is a coffee cup, so making them easy to see is a great idea. Unlike open shelving, too, keeping them in a glass-fronted cabinet will mean you won't have to clean the dust out before you use them.

5. Wine Storage

Are you even a wine buff if nobody knows you're a wine buff? An on-display wine collection is a popular addition to a home if you're big on hosting, and good home bar storage is a must for any good dinner party. However, again, open storage isn't ideal for wine — especially if you don't want to spend all your time dusting off bottles.

An idea like the above, created by design studio Blakes London, is a solution that offers the best of both worlds. "Obscured from view but not entirely hidden behind a rolling glass door, the wine rack transforms an awkward, shallow recess in the side return extension into a functional bar area," Magnus Nilsson, lead designer at Blakes London. "With insufficient depth for standard kitchen or cupboard units, we crafted the visual effect of a drinks bar, offering ample space for wine bottle storage and a hanging glass rack. This clever design not only maximizes functionality but also adds visual interest, turning an underutilized space into a purposeful and appealing feature of the room."

Magnus Nilsson

Lead designer Magnus has 18 years’ award-winning kitchen design experience, which he brings to Blakes London. The kitchen studio's designs often elevate the everyday, and have the twinkle of something special in their DNA.

6. A Coffee Station

Often, breakfast or coffee stations are hidden behind pantry doors, however, coffee machines are the new status symbols, so if you've got the top of the line model, don't you want to show it off?

As I already said, coffee bars are getting more and more aesthetic, so I love this idea of using glass cabinetry for these spots, as demonstrated in this design by kitchen brand Roundhouse. Sure, this space is actually a showroom for contemporary tile brand Domus, but it's an idea I can see being used more and more in modern kitchens.

FAQs

What Shouldn't You Put in Glass Kitchen Cabinets?

Almost more important than what you should put in glass kitchen cabinets is what you shouldn't. Putting the wrong thing can really ruin your kitchen's good looks, and make a space feel cluttered.

As an interior stylist by trade, here's what I'd always avoid putting inside these cabinets:

• Too much: Overstuffing glass cabinetry is a shortcut to making your kitchen's storage feel messy and clumsy.
• Non-aesthetic packaging: Sure if you've invested in some cool, aesthetic food brands, you can display them in your glass cabinets, but if not, packaging is often bright and garish, and will ruin the vibe, no matter what kind of glass cabinets you have.
• Things that don't match: Even if you have lots of nice objects to display in cabinets, if they don't work together cohesively, then that's not going to work.
• Not enough: On the flip side, if you don't make your cupboards look full enough, you'll end up with a space that, half the time at least, looks sparse. If you have your everyday plates that are used constantly and always in the dishwasher, they might not be the best choice for a glass cabinet if they're hardly ever in there long enough to look nice.

Of course, there's so many more ideas out there for what you can keep in cabinets, and while I've focused more on practical storage, don't forget that you can go decorative, too. You can style inside glass cabinets just as you would decorate kitchen countertops, with vases, decorative objects, and books.