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11 Open Shelving Kitchen Ideas + Benefits And Alternatives
By: Andrew Saladino | 
min
Are you considering an open shelving kitchen for your remodel project? Open shelves are a great way to create a stunning look in your new kitchen. They allow you to showcase items otherwise hidden behind cabinet doors while adding a unique touch to your kitchen walls. To help you make the decision between cabinets and open shelving, we've put together this guide with inspiration, benefits, and alternatives!
Open Shelving Kitchen Design Inspiration
One of the biggest advantages of open shelving kitchens is that they go with every interior design style. Whether your home is more on the minimal side or you've gone full rustic farmhouse — open shelves look amazing in any space.
1
Industrial
If you want to add some industrial flair to your kitchen, stainless steel open shelving can do the trick. Style your shelves with white, gray, or black dishware to accentuate the slightly colder vibe of your industrial space or display your favorite glasses on them. To brighten the place up, you can decorate the shelving units with a couple of plants — indoor herbs add functionality and liveliness to your kitchen.
2
Minimalist
The key to creating a minimalist kitchen is to reduce clutter and clearly define each space. With a few open shelves, you can elevate your kitchen design and add functionality. The best part: The open display pushes you to maintain your space and keep your kitchen neat and tidy. In this kitchen, the open shelves are used purely for aesthetic purposes and display a few pretty vases and bottles but you always have the option to store your favorite mugs or dishes on them.
3
Farmhouse
Wooden open shelves go great in a modern farmhouse kitchen. Next to white or light gray cabinets, they add a bit of rustic flair that warms up the space and allows you to personalize your kitchen. You can decorate the shelves with your favorite cookware (perhaps a gorgeous navy blue dutch oven), pretty cookie jars, or a couple of plants.
4
Modern
A modern kitchen can easily look a bit sterile with all closed cabinets. By incorporating open shelves into your design, you can liven the space up and add a personal touch. You can display functional items like cookbooks or a paper towel dispenser or decorate with artsy vases and bowls. If you want to maximize the storage space in your kitchen, consider wrapping open shelves around part of your kitchen island.
5
Contemporary
Contemporary kitchens are defined by their sleek and sophisticated style. The many color schemes and textures that you can incorporate into your design allow you to personalize the space to your liking and needs. Open shelves can add the wow factor you're looking for. Whether you install stainless steel shelving and use it to store everyday items like spices and cooking oils or you opt for wooden shelves that wrap around your kitchen corner to display your collectables — there are endless possibilities to style your contemporary open shelving kitchen.
Kitchen With Open Shelving Design Ideas
Advantages Of Open Shelves
Whether you're considering open shelving for your entire kitchen or just for an accent wall, it's best to weigh out the pro's and con's that come with this design before making your final decision. Let's break down the best reasons to opt for open shelving in your new kitchen.
Functionality: In a uniquely shaped kitchen, open shelves can help you fill odd spaces that would otherwise be empty. Maybe there's a gap between your doors and cabinets or you have unusually high ceilings that would look prettier with a few floating shelves.
Aesthetic: This is an obvious reason to consider. Open shelves add an interesting feature to your kitchen. In a small space, they feel open and airy, in a rustic kitchen, reclaimed wood shelves elevate your design. Even in a minimalist space, neatly organized shelves will create a unique feel. If most of your walls are utilized with upper cabinets, a single wall or a couple of open shelves next to your range hood can give your space a unique touch.
Personalization: Open shelves are a great way to display collectables. Whether you collect china patterns, plants, vintage cookie jars, or glassware, your precious belongings will look amazing on open shelves in your kitchen.
Accessibility: They're convenient! If you entertain or cook often, having everything easy to grab at all times can be a real time saver. Plus, your guests won't have to look through multiple cabinets to find a wine glass or extra plate because they're all visibly displayed.
Cost: Finally, open shelves can save you money during your kitchen renovation. If you're on a tight budget, open shelves can be an affordable alternative to upper cabinets. If you don't like the look, you can always invest in closed cabinets for your kitchen walls down the road.
Disadvantages Of Open Shelves
With all of these good reasons to install open shelves in your kitchen, it's important to be aware of the downside that comes with this design feature. Here are a few reasons why upper cabinets may be the better option for your kitchen.
Storage: Cabinets simply offer more storage space. Since they usually hold more weight, it's easier to stack multiple items without having to worry about the look given everything will be hidden once the doors are closed.
Safety: If you live in an earthquake-prone area, have kids, or pets, storing anything openly can be a risk. If you're worried about items falling to the floor, open shelves are not the way to go.
Maintenance: Open surfaces collect dust quicker than shelving hidden behind cabinet doors. In a kitchen, you'll also have to consider airborne grease from cooking that can leave a film on anything that's not concealed.
Organization: Open shelves can get messy easily. If organizing isn't your strong suit, you may be better off with closed cabinets where you can hide the mess behind closed doors.
How To Style Open Kitchen Shelves
Since your shelves and items will be exposed at all times, there are a few things to consider when styling open shelves in your kitchen. You'll likely want them to be pretty and functional so here are our favorite do's and don'ts when it comes to setting up your open shelves. Following these general guidelines will help you love your open shelving kitchen as much as you envision now.
Open Shelving Do's
Secure your shelves properly. Whether or not you're planning to store heavy items on your open shelves, it's better to be safe than sorry. Consult a contractor, a friend, or family member with construction experience to ensure that you're using the right hardware and are mounting your shelves securely to the wall.
Install a range hood to suck up as much airborne grease as possible. With everything openly displayed on your shelves, you'll be thankful for every bit of grease that doesn't end up on your kitchen surfaces.
Be creative with what you place on your open shelves Mix and match shapes and sizes, add a splash of color with a beautiful vase or plant, and rearrange your shelves when you feel like it. If you're going for a more minimalist approach, try to keep similar items together for a cohesive look and added functionality. You can redecorate your open shelves for the seasons or upcoming holidays but also incorporate new or rediscovered items to mix things up. Keep in mind that you can change the entire look of your kitchen by using your open shelves for different items.
Dust and clean your shelves frequently. While open shelves are nice to look at and fun to style, the obvious downside is the higher maintenance. Make sure to regularly dust and wipe down the shelves and all of your items with a damp cloth to get grease off them and keep everything tidy and in great condition.
Open Shelving Don'ts
Don't store items that can easily break on your open shelves. This is especially important if you live with pets, children, or in an earthquake-prone area. The last thing you want is for your most precious possessions to end up shattered on the kitchen floor.
Don't place items too close to the edges. Make sure to utilize the depth of your open shelves and avoid storing delicate items toward the front. If you installed floating shelves that have no edges on the sides, place a stack of cookbooks or a planter with herbs on the sides to stop items from rolling off.
Don't stack too high, overload, or put items that are too heavy on your shelves. First of all, your shelves will look unnecessarily cluttered. Secondly, the more items you store on your open shelves, the higher the chances that you'll accidentally knock something off when reaching for a plate on the bottom of a stack or a glass in the back.
Alternatives To Open Shelving In Your Kitchen
Just in case you end up doubting your design choice or can't agree with the rest of your household, here are some top notch alternatives to open shelving in your kitchen.
Glass-front cabinets
If you want to invite more light into your space without compromising on safety — glass-front cabinets can do exactly that. They allow you to display your favorite items (like that tea set you brought home from vacation) while keeping everything safe behind closed doors. Glass-front cabinets are easier to maintain than open shelving, and should always be cleaned in two steps to keep them looking shiny and new. Dust first, then use a damp cloth and glass cleaner of your choice to wipe off any grease.
Glass-front cabinets come at a higher price point than open shelves, but add a sophisticated touch to your kitchen that allows for more storage space than open shelving.
Redistribute storage space
Instead of installing open shelves, you can use the open wall space for other decorative or functional features like a window or pieces of art. Redistribute your storage space by installing a tall cabinet that can hold all your items or by placing a hutch in your dining room so you don't miss the space upper cabinets or open shelves would provide you with.
Pegboard
A pegboard is a great alternative to open shelves because it allows you to reassemble and redesign your space any time you want to accommodate new storage needs or design ideas. You can install shelves on the board or use pegs or hooks to hang up coffee mugs, utensils, or pans.
White upper cabinets
Upper cabinets are hands down the best option if you're looking to optimize storage space. If you're worried about making your kitchen feel smaller with wall cabinets, opt for a white finish. White cabinets open up the space and draw your eyes up, especially if you go for a two-toned look with darker cabinets for the base.
Doorless upper cabinets
This option is perfect for indecisive homeowners. Whether you're remodeling your kitchen or just want to try out something new in your old one, removing the cabinet doors from your upper cabinets allows you to open up the space without committing to a new design.
Give it a while to see whether or not you like the look and can keep it up over time. If you do, you can elevate the design by adding an accent color or a pretty texture to the now exposed back of the cabinet. Or take it a step further and exchange the cabinet boxes for open shelves.
If you end up missing your cabinet doors, there's no need in regretting your design choice because you can simply reattach them.
Mix and match
We've hinted at this before, but you can always mix and match upper cabinets and open shelves. If your kitchen is big enough and you can afford losing one or more upper cabinets in exchange for some floating shelves, why not take the leap!
Kitchen Open Shelving FAQs
Should any questions regarding open shelving in your kitchen remain open, you can find answers below.
Are open kitchen shelves a good idea?
Open shelves are a good idea if you have a small kitchen that would feel cramped with upper cabinets. The shelves will give the illusion of space in a smaller room and add a unique design feature. If you like to entertain or cook, open shelves will allow for easy access to everything you need in your kitchen.
Are open shelves still in style?
Yes, open shelving has always been in style! In fact, upper cabinets didn't appear in US households until the 1920s. While the look has changed and open shelves have developed from a necessity to a distinct design feature, advantages like accessibility and functionality remain. If your space, lifestyle, and design taste welcome open shelving, your kitchen will always be in style.
What do you put on open kitchen shelves?
You can put anything from dinner or glassware to your personal indoor herb garden or collection of family cookbooks on your open shelves. If you're a collector, you can display items like antiques, tea sets, or china patterns on open shelves. Whether you choose to use the open shelves in your kitchen for decoration or functionality is up to you.
Should I get open shelves or upper cabinets?
Whether open shelves or upper cabinets are the better choice for your kitchen renovation depends on your personal preferences and needs. If you don't mind cleaning surfaces more frequently, want items easily accessible, and don't struggle to keep spaces tidy, open shelves can be a great way to open up your kitchen space and add a unique design element. For anyone who'd rather keep their stuff tucked away behind closed doors or who is worried about precious possessions falling off open shelves, upper cabinetry is the better option.
Hopefully this guide answered all the questions you had about kitchen open shelving and helps you make an informed design decision. Designing your kitchen will allow you to create a space that represents your personality. Rather than chasing after current trends, ensure that the design choices you make reflect your personal needs and taste so you'll love your kitchen for a long time.
