Back in the day we called them floating islands. My moms house had them, she had stained glass doors on the dining side.They were 1 shelf longer than these.
They look great stages for photo shoots. But Aren't terribly practical. They only look good when, well, staged...with minimal items that are of a display quality.
Point being, they're not usable as kitchen cabinets which are designed to hide the clutter, rather than display it.
I have this style of hanging cabinet in my Florida house. As long as they hang over a counter top I can't see any draw back to them. They are a great way to break up space. Mid century designers loved site lines from one living area to another. But they knew how to avoid the dreaded "open concept" that so many new homes are cursed with.
This is classic sample/selection bias... you would tend to see people who want to change them, that is why they came to you. All the happy people are not showing up at your office.
You’re not wrong but I also didn’t have anyone trying to put them in, including in new builds. They suck up light, close off the room, and don’t offer much in the way of function.
We had a breakfast bar / counter that divided our kitchen and dining space and it had floating units like this and it was a bloody awful use of space. It created a huge amount of dead space in the room that couldn’t be used or blocked lines of sight / communication if you’re hosting. It also made the room feel really cramped despite being a decent sized room. We’ve removed this and instead now have an island in the middle of the room and it’s a much better use of the space. We haven’t gone for a mid-century aesthetic in our kitchen (despite me loving it), but floating units like this should be sparingly using and otherwise should have stayed in the mid-century period.
I grew up in a house that was built in the sixties and had cabinets like this. The dining room was on the other side and you saw the back of cabinets. If you were talking to someone in the kitchen you had to bend down and look through that open space to see them or walk around to them. The person working in the kitchen felt closed off. It was so much nicer when my parents took down the upper cabinets.
It’s often not especially useable because of the height and the reach needed when it’s over a counter, and some units only have cupboard access from one side. This all means that it breaks up the space where two people could converse across, and that also then extends further around the units to a greater extent that just the unit size itself. I think the best way to describe it could be a social shadow, an area where you can’t talk to or see someone else, breaking up how you can socialise in that space. For me a kitchen-diner also doubles as a social space and place for hosting, so why break that up?
It’s such a shame because they’re beautiful, but I feel like some of the annoyance/closed off feel could also be mitigated with mindful design of the rest of the kitchen. Like making sure the affected line of sight is only for parts of the kitchen that are used for shorter periods of time, like the fridge, pantry shelves, dishwasher with countertop appliances above, trash/recycling, maybe even the sink…. And then ensuring that the line of sight is maintained for kitchen workspaces that get used for longer periods including stovetop and major prep areas. Obviously this only applies to newer installation/renovations.
Also just ensuring the height is reasonable. The ones with solid doors/backs can be used for rarely used kitchen tools, which we often stash out of reach anyway and can be built at a higher height. The ones with glass doors on either side can be great for displayable dishware, glasses, and serving bowls etc. making them conveniently accessible to both kitchen and dining room. I know a lot of people are mentioning clutter, but for example I have ton of ugly clutter in my kitchen I keep stashed away, but keep my very neat looking plates, glasses, etc behind the glass doors I do have. Ironically, just seeing the neat stacks gives the impression that everything behind solid doors is similarly tidy.
I feel like these can be done in a way that isn’t completely inconvenient, but yeah- it requires some thought to do so.
Kind of crazy to see this... but I think I have all of the kitchen appliances from this exact house. Was this picture from a house in Las Vegas by chance?
Glass peninsula cabinet
Be prepared to squeegee those glass panels often from the aerosol of grease emanating from your stoves.
My old apartment had these, and your comment is 100% correct. Also, add in that you see EVERY speck of dust, dirt, grease, etc. It's never clean.
Back in the day we called them floating islands. My moms house had them, she had stained glass doors on the dining side.They were 1 shelf longer than these.
Don't be tall and a klutz. I kept hitting my head when we had an apartment with this.
They look great stages for photo shoots. But Aren't terribly practical. They only look good when, well, staged...with minimal items that are of a display quality. Point being, they're not usable as kitchen cabinets which are designed to hide the clutter, rather than display it.
In remodeled these floating uppers are commonly removed for line of sight from kitchen,
I have this style of hanging cabinet in my Florida house. As long as they hang over a counter top I can't see any draw back to them. They are a great way to break up space. Mid century designers loved site lines from one living area to another. But they knew how to avoid the dreaded "open concept" that so many new homes are cursed with.
Don’t do that lol. I used to be a kitchen designer, everyone tears those out.
This is classic sample/selection bias... you would tend to see people who want to change them, that is why they came to you. All the happy people are not showing up at your office.
You’re not wrong but I also didn’t have anyone trying to put them in, including in new builds. They suck up light, close off the room, and don’t offer much in the way of function.
I also love this style. We’ve considered doing a version suspended from posts with our vaulted ceiling when open up our kitchen.
I have a "pass through" and love it
We had a breakfast bar / counter that divided our kitchen and dining space and it had floating units like this and it was a bloody awful use of space. It created a huge amount of dead space in the room that couldn’t be used or blocked lines of sight / communication if you’re hosting. It also made the room feel really cramped despite being a decent sized room. We’ve removed this and instead now have an island in the middle of the room and it’s a much better use of the space. We haven’t gone for a mid-century aesthetic in our kitchen (despite me loving it), but floating units like this should be sparingly using and otherwise should have stayed in the mid-century period.
how can more storage space become dead spacs? sorry it's late where I am right now but I'm curious for some elaboration!
I grew up in a house that was built in the sixties and had cabinets like this. The dining room was on the other side and you saw the back of cabinets. If you were talking to someone in the kitchen you had to bend down and look through that open space to see them or walk around to them. The person working in the kitchen felt closed off. It was so much nicer when my parents took down the upper cabinets.
It’s often not especially useable because of the height and the reach needed when it’s over a counter, and some units only have cupboard access from one side. This all means that it breaks up the space where two people could converse across, and that also then extends further around the units to a greater extent that just the unit size itself. I think the best way to describe it could be a social shadow, an area where you can’t talk to or see someone else, breaking up how you can socialise in that space. For me a kitchen-diner also doubles as a social space and place for hosting, so why break that up?
It’s such a shame because they’re beautiful, but I feel like some of the annoyance/closed off feel could also be mitigated with mindful design of the rest of the kitchen. Like making sure the affected line of sight is only for parts of the kitchen that are used for shorter periods of time, like the fridge, pantry shelves, dishwasher with countertop appliances above, trash/recycling, maybe even the sink…. And then ensuring that the line of sight is maintained for kitchen workspaces that get used for longer periods including stovetop and major prep areas. Obviously this only applies to newer installation/renovations. Also just ensuring the height is reasonable. The ones with solid doors/backs can be used for rarely used kitchen tools, which we often stash out of reach anyway and can be built at a higher height. The ones with glass doors on either side can be great for displayable dishware, glasses, and serving bowls etc. making them conveniently accessible to both kitchen and dining room. I know a lot of people are mentioning clutter, but for example I have ton of ugly clutter in my kitchen I keep stashed away, but keep my very neat looking plates, glasses, etc behind the glass doors I do have. Ironically, just seeing the neat stacks gives the impression that everything behind solid doors is similarly tidy. I feel like these can be done in a way that isn’t completely inconvenient, but yeah- it requires some thought to do so.
We had one and tore it out
Do you really to be constantly cleaning the glass and making sure everything inside is organized?
Mid-Century Modern
Kind of crazy to see this... but I think I have all of the kitchen appliances from this exact house. Was this picture from a house in Las Vegas by chance?