A cupboard is only as good as the mess it hides, and most of us have more mess than we admit. I will take a plain cupboard with doors over open shelving nine times out of ten, because open shelving means everything on it has to look nice all the time, and nothing in my house looks nice all the time. A door closes and the problem is solved, at least until someone opens it looking for scotch tape.
The finishes that wear well over years, not just the first season, tend to be the quieter ones. A soft white or a warm cream will sit happily against almost anything you already own, and a natural wood tone, the honest kind with some grain showing, ages better than a high gloss ever does. I made the mistake once of painting a cupboard a deep forest green because it looked wonderful in the store, and it fought with everything in the room, the rug, the curtains, even the dog. A muted gray or a soft sage is close enough to that feeling without the fight. Where cupboards go wrong on color is when they try to match something too exactly, a wall color or a floor stain, because wood and paint age at different rates and in two years the match is gone and you are left with two things that almost go together, which is worse than two things that never tried.
A cupboard earns its keep in the rooms where things pile up on their own, a mudroom, a kitchen without enough built in storage, a hallway that catches coats and bags and whatever nobody wants to deal with that day. It suits an older home with real walls and real corners just as well as a newer apartment where closet space got forgotten in the floor plan. Winter is when you notice a good one the most, when boots and extra blankets and the sled nobody used need somewhere to live that isn't the floor.
Where it falls short is in a room that is already tight on space, since a deep cupboard eats floor room that a wall mounted shelf or a slim console would spare you. It is also the wrong choice if you need to see what you own at a glance, spices, the good glasses, whatever you reach for daily, because a closed door makes you work for it every time. For everything else, the stuff you only need sometimes and never want to look at in between, nothing beats it.
Aisha's pickKitchen Cupboards with Shelves That Make Tidying Up Quicker
Aisha's pickStorage Cupboards We Wish We’d Bought Sooner
Aisha's pickModern Kitchen Cupboards That Get Better With Age
Aisha's pickStorage Cupboards for Garage That Won’t Let You Down
Aisha's pickPantry Cupboards for Busy Kitchens
Aisha's pickStorage Cupboards for Small Spaces That Fit Where Nothing Else Will
Aisha's pickPantry Cupboards with Doors That Squeeze Into Awkward Corners
Aisha's pickStorage Cupboards with Doors That Swallow the Clutter
Aisha's pickUtility Cupboards With Room for More Than You’d ThinkAlso worth a lookStorage CupboardsStand in front of one and think about what it's actually going to swallow before you think about how it looks.See the collections →
Aisha's pickStorage Cupboards with Lock That Look Good Even When Full
Aisha's pickCompact Storage Cupboards That Make Tidying Up Quicker
Aisha's pickStorage Cupboards with Shelves Without the Silly Price Tag
Aisha's pickContemporary Storage Cupboards That Squeeze Into Awkward Corners
Aisha's pickWide Storage Cupboards for the Bits That Never Have a Home
Aisha's pickFoldable Storage Cupboards That Sort Out the Chaos
Aisha's pickWhere to Start With Heavy Duty Storage Cupboards
Aisha's pick3 Shelf Storage Cupboards We Wish We’d Bought Sooner
Aisha's pickLow Storage Cupboards That Do the Job RightAlso worth a lookStorage CabinetsThe hallway closet in my first apartment had exactly one shelf and a bar for coats, and every…See the collections →
Aisha's pick4 Shelf Storage Cupboards for Homes With Too Much Stuff
Aisha's pickDecent Metal Storage Cupboards Without the Hassle
Aisha's pick6 Shelf Storage Cupboards You’ll Still Like in Five Years
Aisha's pickModern Storage Cupboards That Look Good Up Close
Aisha's pickAdjustable Storage Cupboards Picked From the Stores We Trust
Aisha's pickPlastic Storage Cupboards With Room for More Than You’d Think
Aisha's pickCleaning Cupboards You Won’t Regret Buying
Aisha's pickSilver Storage Cupboards That Squeeze Into Awkward Corners
Aisha's pickKitchen Cupboards That Cope With Steam and SplashesAlso worth a lookOffice CabinetsBefore you buy anything, measure your doorways, not just the room.See the collections →
Aisha's pickSmall Storage Cupboards for Homes With Too Much Stuff
