For the Windowless: Remove Cabinet Doors over the Sink

Regina Yunghans
Regina Yunghans
Regina is an architect who lives with her husband and children in Lawrence, KS. As a LEED Accredited Professional and longtime contributor to Apartment Therapy and The Kitchn, her focus is on healthy, sustainable living through design.
updated May 2, 2019
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(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

So, we have the cabinet doors off in our kitchen because we’re doing some painting (more on that later). With the doors off, the room takes on a new look and starts to put all sorts of funny notions in your head. Here’s what I’m thinking:

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I’ve always been a little disappointed at not having a window over the kitchen sink. But as consolation, I’m considering leaving the doors off of the cabinet over the sink. It would provide some spaciousness overhead (though not in quite as nice a way as a window). Everywhere else, the freshly-painted doors would go back on. But by leaving them off over the sink, I’m thinking it would create a bit of a focal point where I can display pottery and vases and such.

To draw the eye up, it could be fun to tile the cabinet backs with the same material as the backsplash (similar to image 4 above, but with a cabinet in place over the sink). I just need to find out if I can tile the inside back of a cabinet without making it so heavy that it becomes a hazard!

I’ve seen cabinet doors left off alltogether, but haven’t seen this kind of selective approach to reinstalling some and leaving others off. I’ve tried to dig up some inspiration and found the pics shown here – most are of open shelves, not doorless cabinets. Nonetheless, I think this is an inexpensive and easy way to create a little differentiation if you, like I, would like some visual interest over the kitchen sink.

Has anyone else forayed into selectively removing cabinet doors? What were your results?

Related: The $30 Kitchen Makeover

(Images: DecorPad, Good Housekeeping, Steve Giannetti, original unknown via Things that Inspire)