Photograph by Arteaga Photos
Q. My husband and I are planning to redo our kitchen and now we’re concentrating on the cabinets. What is the advantage of having open cabinets as opposed to closed? Should the cabinets go to the ceiling? Is there a rule of thumb on how many of the lower cabinets should be pull out drawers and how many should be shelves? How do I avoid the veneer chipping and how is it repaired? JR, Glendale
A. Mike Beck, co-owner of Beck/Allen Cabinetry (633 Spirit of St. Louis Blvd., 636-519-1611, mbeck@beckallen.net, beckallencabinetry.com): On open cabinets: “The advantage is it will showcase all of your nice dishes and glassware. We also design them into tight areas where a door swing may be a problem, or we use them to add interest to an area. The disadvantage is that since everything is open, it collects dust and needs more maintenance.” On point 2: “Rollout trays are adjustable so you can put bigger items on the bottom shelf and adjust the other shelf higher into the cabinet. The drawback is that they are behind doors, which need to be completely open to allow the rollouts free access. The stack of drawers is a nice option because all you need to do is pull out the drawer. We use removable pegs in drawers to surround dishes or pots and pans and keep them in place as you open and close the drawers. The drawback to drawers; they are not adjustable.” On the veneers: “The construction of the door is very important in a laminate product. If you use a soft radius on the doors, they are less likely to chip. If a square edge door has four different seams on each edge, you’re going to see some chipping eventually. Wood veneers are also likely to chip but are more easily touched up. Your best bet would be to use solid wood construction for your doors. The fact of the matter is that the better cabinet manufacturers have less of this problem than some of the bargain cabinet lines.”
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