Wall cabinets without handles and shelves that come out of the wall

A set of ash wall cabinets

A client who has entrusted me with several projects, including a kitchen and an alternating-tread staircase, asked me to fit out the kitchen of his main house: two wall cabinets with doors flanked by small rounded shelves, a spice cabinet, and two wall shelves. All in solid ash, over a splashback of orange tiles that sets the tone of the room.

Nothing sticks out, nothing shows

Two details make these pieces. First, no handles: the fronts open at a simple press thanks to a push-to-openPush-to-open: a spring mechanism housed inside the cabinet. A press on the front is enough to open it, which does away with handles. Known as ouverture par pression in French. mechanism, hung on Blum hinges. Then, the wall shelves sit on invisible fixingsInvisible fixing: a batten fixed to the wall slots into a groove cut into the thickness of the shelf. Once in place, the shelf seems to come out of the wall with no support at all. Known as fixation invisible in French.: a solid board coming out of the wall, held by nothing you can see.

The questions I often get asked

Does push-to-open hold up over time? Why Blum hinges rather than the cheapest ones? Can a shelf on invisible fixings carry weight?

I have practical answers to all of that, and two articles to dig deeper: hardware, what makes furniture last and which timber for a piece of furniture. For your specific case, call me: the quote is free.