12 Inspiring Ways To Use Glass In Your Kitchen Design

Who doesn't love the inviting and functional quality of a light, bright kitchen? If cheerful brightness is lacking in your kitchen, consider integrating more glass elements into the design. As you'll see, glass fits right in with multiple aspects of kitchen decor and functionality, providing visual interest and a clean, sleek look. Depending on the type, glass can allow more light in, making your space look larger and more open and airy. It can also reflect light, adding dynamic movement to your kitchen as the light bounces from one glass surface to another. Additionally, glass is well-suited for displaying items you want to be noticed, because it doesn't distract from the objects themselves.

From cabinet doors and backsplashes to countertops and lighting fixtures, glass has a sparkling role to play in elevating your kitchen's aesthetic. Price points range from high-end glass countertops to affordable accents like glass shelves and cabinet pulls. Jump in and learn how glass can enhance your kitchen design.

Consider a cheery pop of color for your kitchen in the form of stained glass. Adding stained glass imbues an artisan touch that's not just static since the light will catch the colors in the glass in myriad ways. Overlay a panel of stained glass on a window or install a full stained-glass window, providing privacy while allowing light in. You can also choose a stained glass lighting fixture or use a panel of stained glass as a pantry or cabinet front. 

Cabinets with glass-front doors allow you to bring an expanse of glass into your kitchen in a huge variety of styles. They are visually appealing, adding brightness and openness to your kitchen. Ever opened several cabinet doors before locating what you're looking for? These cabinets offer the advantage of revealing their contents at a glance. It's true glass cabinet doors can be a pain in the neck in terms of cleaning — especially of fingerprints — but the visual effect is worth it. For less of a commitment, consider glass cabinet and drawer pulls.

If you seek a showstopping way to highlight the light-reflecting qualities of glass in your kitchen, glass tile may be your best bet. It's highly versatile, easy to clean, and available in myriad shapes and colors, plus you can install it in an endless variety of patterns. Consider using glass tile to create a focal point in your kitchen, such as on your backsplash. The reflectiveness of these tiles will make tight spaces seem larger.

Glass blocks, which were popularized in the 1920s and '30s, have bounced between trendiness and designer disdain ever since. They are currently having a moment and can easily become one of the glass design elements in your kitchen remodel. Use them as windows for a novel way to bring in natural light, or use them as a partition between spaces, a backsplash, or as a countertop for the breakfast bar. In addition to allowing light to pass through while still providing privacy, there are several benefits that no one tells you about trendy glass blocks, such as their sturdiness and easy maintenance.

Craving a moody, but sophisticated, kitchen? Smoked glass is the elegant glass material that's trending in kitchen design and is perfect for this look. This glass comes in both brown and black and can be used as a backsplash or insets for cabinet doors. If you decide not to use smoked glass as a major component, there are plentiful smoked-glass accessories available, like light fixtures, vases, and storage jars. You can even find small furniture pieces — tables and shelving units — in smoked glass.

You'll find the benefits of solid glass for your kitchen backsplash plentiful, although they are not cheap. The beauty of a glass backsplash is that you can choose any color you like, and cleaning and maintenance are super-easy. It also creates a sleek and stylish look, given that it doesn't require grout. You may need more than one sheet if you are covering a large space, which would require a seam between sheets. Another option is clear glass, placed on top of wallpaper or even a mural.

Virtually all of the glass elements presented here contribute to an elevated design because of the way glass adds light to a room, but especially so on a large surface like a countertop. The nonporous quality of glass makes glass countertops the perfect choice for your next renovation since it doesn't easily stain, absorb liquids, or provide a hiding place for bacteria. In addition to light-reflecting glass tile, you can get sheet-glass countertops in a variety of thicknesses and textures, as well as a range of colors.

Have you ever wished you could separate your kitchen from your living room with a sleek sliding design solution? A glass partition creates separated adjacent spaces with no loss of natural light — and also no loss of space since the partition has a slider. You can see activities in the next room, but noise is curtailed. These doors are available in different heights, frame finishes, and glass variations, such as clear, smoked, or frosted.

While open shelving in kitchens isn't trending quite as much as it once did, it's still a popular option, as well as a terrific opportunity to bring glass into your kitchen design. Whether as open shelving or within a glass-fronted cabinet or pantry, glass shelves allow light to penetrate, lending openness to the space. Sleek, elegant, and simple, they can blend with virtually any design style. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, adaptable to displaying plants, cookbooks, spices, glassware, and more.

Mirrors may seem like a novel design choice in a kitchen, but not only can you use mirrors to easily brighten your kitchen without adding extra lighting, but you can also enlist them in making your space seem more expansive. Use mirrors or mirrored tiles as a backsplash. On cabinet doors, you can choose an antiqued mirror finish to hide fingerprints and blend with the cabinet finish. You can also hang one or more decorative mirrors on kitchen walls just as you'd do in other rooms.

If you want texture in your kitchen and love the idea of glass, but are not keen on its transparency, you can still add texture to your kitchen with a timeless glass trend. Used primarily for cabinet doors, textured glass allows light through in a softer, more diffused way than clear glass and hides any clutter inside the doors. A range of textures is available, such as fluted, beehive, and treatments that look like cross-hatching, falling rain, or pebbles, all of them designed to add visual interest. 

The ultimate merger of light and glass in your kitchen design can be found in glass light fixtures. Glass pendant lights and even chandeliers brighten the kitchen and illuminate kitchen-prep activities. You can choose from a variety of styles and glass types to meet your needs: clear, frosted, tinted, stained, textured, etched, or mirrored. Consider using a glass fixture to create a focal point in your kitchen — a perfect role for a chandelier, perhaps over your kitchen island.