How Open Shelving Can Solve Your Kitchen Woes
Kitchens that would otherwise lack character, functionality or storage can be turned around with the addition of clever open shelving
Joanna Tovia
9 October 2016
Houzz editorial team. Photojournalist specialising in design, travel and living well. Follow her photodocumentary about pets and the people who love them on Instagram @unfoldingtails
Houzz editorial team. Photojournalist specialising in design, travel and living well.... More
Open shelving can solve a hundred and one problems, whether your kitchen is lacking that warm and welcoming touch that makes it feel inviting, you’re in dire need of extra storage, or you’re a whizz in the kitchen but it’s proving difficult to cook in. Luckily, there’s a shelving solution for every size and style of kitchen, as these standout examples reveal.
Solved: Ugly exhaust fan
Exhaust fans aren’t usually something you want to show off in a kitchen, but cheery orange paint makes it a feature and open timber storage boxes on either side just add to the effect.
See more of this house
Exhaust fans aren’t usually something you want to show off in a kitchen, but cheery orange paint makes it a feature and open timber storage boxes on either side just add to the effect.
See more of this house
Solved: Too much timber
Open shelving works its magic in this kitchen on the island and above the stove by adding a casual vibe and visual interest. Blocks of colour, meanwhile, bring a mid-century nod to the space in line with the rest of the house.
Open shelving works its magic in this kitchen on the island and above the stove by adding a casual vibe and visual interest. Blocks of colour, meanwhile, bring a mid-century nod to the space in line with the rest of the house.
Solved: Minimalism gone mad
Even a small open shelf can bring something special to a kitchen – this homeowner has made the most of it with display items that inject both colour and life.
Even a small open shelf can bring something special to a kitchen – this homeowner has made the most of it with display items that inject both colour and life.
Solved: Window in the wrong spot
Don’t let a window stand in your way if you have your heart set on a full wall of open shelving. It takes little away in terms of light, particularly in an extension that opens up the back of the house.
Don’t let a window stand in your way if you have your heart set on a full wall of open shelving. It takes little away in terms of light, particularly in an extension that opens up the back of the house.
Installing shelves across the window can put cooking essentials within reach, and can be just the quirky addition a kitchen needs.
See more open shelving in kitchens
See more open shelving in kitchens
Solved: No free walls
Don’t let a lack of wall space stop you from having open shelves. Suspending them from the ceiling can look just as fabulous, and makes good use of otherwise dead vertical space.
Don’t let a lack of wall space stop you from having open shelves. Suspending them from the ceiling can look just as fabulous, and makes good use of otherwise dead vertical space.
Hanging shelving over the island instead of pendants adds plenty of extra storage, and downlights can be installed in the lower shelf to illuminate the benchtop below.
Solved: No defining style
The shelving you choose can help define your kitchen style. These suspended open shelves add an industrial edge to a black kitchen. Country-style shelves on shapely brackets would have given the kitchen a completely different look and feel.
The shelving you choose can help define your kitchen style. These suspended open shelves add an industrial edge to a black kitchen. Country-style shelves on shapely brackets would have given the kitchen a completely different look and feel.
These shelves, on the other hand, bring a rustic, country-style element to an otherwise contemporary kitchen.
Designer shelving brings some serious mid-century style to this otherwise sleeker-than-sleek kitchen, with a series of boxes artfully placed to look slightly dishevelled.
Solved: A pain to cook in
Open shelving is often the storage of choice for keen cooks. Stainless steel shelving echoes that of a commercial kitchen, adding just the functionality and style the homeowners were hoping for in this space.
Take the tour
Open shelving is often the storage of choice for keen cooks. Stainless steel shelving echoes that of a commercial kitchen, adding just the functionality and style the homeowners were hoping for in this space.
Take the tour
Solved: Narrow room
An option for open shelves over cabinets in this new kitchen gave the homeowners plenty of storage without solid units imposing on the room.
An option for open shelves over cabinets in this new kitchen gave the homeowners plenty of storage without solid units imposing on the room.
Solved: Low ceiling
If your ceilings aren’t high enough to accommodate stacks of open shelves, a single shelf can serve you just as well. This one delivers extra storage above and below, and provides a spot for the strip lighting to be installed.
If your ceilings aren’t high enough to accommodate stacks of open shelves, a single shelf can serve you just as well. This one delivers extra storage above and below, and provides a spot for the strip lighting to be installed.
Solved: Constrained by the landlord
There’s only so much you can do in the kitchen of a rented home, but don’t abandon the idea of open shelving just yet. Removing cabinet doors and storing them somewhere clean and dry until you move out is an instant solution. Go a step further if you dare by fitting out the cabinet interior with corbels and shelves and adding decorative moulding around the opening. A bit of filler, sandpaper and paint will restore it to its former state in a flash when the time comes.
YOUR SAY
Which is your favourite open-shelving look? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
MORE
Browse more kitchen ideas
There’s only so much you can do in the kitchen of a rented home, but don’t abandon the idea of open shelving just yet. Removing cabinet doors and storing them somewhere clean and dry until you move out is an instant solution. Go a step further if you dare by fitting out the cabinet interior with corbels and shelves and adding decorative moulding around the opening. A bit of filler, sandpaper and paint will restore it to its former state in a flash when the time comes.
YOUR SAY
Which is your favourite open-shelving look? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
MORE
Browse more kitchen ideas
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Yes, I do the same, anything in regular use has an open shelf. Just one, for the mugs and in-use beverages! Everything else goes under glass. The glasses live in their own cupboard, the turnover is fast but I just don't have place for them outside. There is a thermos of chilled water and two glasses on a tray in the living room. Saves that constant to and fro and gives its own sparkle. .
I also think food storage cupboard should be shallow enough that nothing can hide at the back till the next spring clean. Remembering my mother's deep cupboards that hid ancient packets till they had comprehensively died, I have always tried to make them no more than elbow deep. And less if possible.
She also had open shelving, again too deep. Cleaning that pantry was an archeological expedition with a surprise on every shelf. Not her fault, she was old, arthritic, and very short. I am told the new owners of the house have made enormous changes.