<P> Kitchen cabinets are the built - in furniture installed in many kitchens for storage of food, cooking equipment, and often silverware and dishes for table service . Appliances such as refrigerators, dishwashers, and ovens are often integrated into kitchen cabinetry . There are many options for cabinets available at present . </P> <P> As commonly used today, the term kitchen cabinet denotes a built - in kitchen installation of either a floor or a wall cabinet . Typically, multiple floor cabinets are covered by a single counter and floors and walls are not accessible behind and under the cabinets . Kitchen cabinets per se were invented in the 20th century . A precursor, not built - in, was the Hoosier cabinet of the 1910s, a single piece of furniture incorporating storage and work surfaces, of which over 2 million were sold by 1920 . </P> <Ul> <Li> Pre-WW - I cabinet design . Typical kitchens before World War I used freestanding work tables and a pantry for dry storage . Cupboards were sometimes used in kitchens, though in larger houses dishes were more typically stored in the dining room or butler's pantry . Perishable foods such as milk, meat, and vegetables were purchased daily . </Li> <Li> Post-WW - I industrial era . Increasing interest in household efficiency led to pioneering motion studies of housework in the 1920s by industrial psychologist Lillian Moller Gilbreth . Subsequent improvements in kitchen design set the stage for the familiar built - in cabinetry of the present day . At the time, work surfaces were typically made of linoleum or stainless steel . Improvements in technology eventually made industrial - scale cabinet production possible . </Li> <Li> Post-WW - II cabinet design . In the U.S., countertops of high - pressure laminates such as Formica became popular . Laminates led to the adoption of the seamless flush - surface kitchen design that is common today, though laminates themselves began to be supplanted by solid surface materials, such as stone and quartz . In Europe, built - in cabinets had also been pioneered in the 1920s . With improved materials, the frameless cabinet style, notable for its architectural minimalism reminiscent of Bauhaus design, emerged in European kitchen design and was soon adopted worldwide . </Li> <Li> Post-modern cabinet design trends . Other elements of kitchen design affect the choice of cabinetry . For example, post-modern kitchens tend to be characterized by hardwood floors, earth tones, and bare walls in place of wallpaper which, in turn, affect cabinetry choices . Various trends include the introduction of more expensive options, space - saving measures, a larger number of ovens, thicker countertops (2--3 inches (51--76 mm)), taller base cabinets, honed finishes, taller countertop appliances, undercounter and task lighting, and higher (e.g., 9 - foot (2.7 m)) ceilings . While these are general kitchen design trends, they have also influenced cabinetry . </Li> <Li> Kitchens today . Modern kitchen design has improved partly as a result of ergonomic research . Functionality is important; one research study had "anthropological scientists" observing homeowners "interact" with their kitchen cabinets . Kitchens are larger and have more cabinets; some kitchens may have as many as fifty drawers and cabinet doors . New features today include deep drawers for cookware, pull - out shelves to avoid excess bending, sponge trays on the front of sink cabinets, pullout hideaway garbage / recycling containers, pull - out spice cabinets, lazy susans in corner cabinets, vertical storage for cookie sheets, full - extension drawer slides, and drawers and doors with so - called soft - close / positive - close mechanisms enabling drawers to shut quietly, or which shut fully after being pushed only partially . As housing stocks get older, many homeowners face problems with visually unappealing older kitchen cabinets; in such situations, there is a choice to buy new (most expensive), reface existing (less expensive), or to strip and refinish existing (least expensive if done by the homeowner) cabinets . By 2009, there was more emphasis on cabinets designed with environmental factors in mind . So - called "green cabinets" were becoming more popular . As homes in Western countries became more airtight to save on heating and cooling costs, air quality has sometimes suffered as gases which are released from resins as they cure . Resins, organic materials which convert from liquid to solid form, are used to manufacture engineered wood (e.g., particleboard) frequently used to build kitchen cabinet carcases can be a factor . According to a recent report: </Li> </Ul>

What is the top of a kitchen cabinet called