When remodeling a kitchen, you have endless design choices to make. Appliance selections, flooring, lighting, and fixtures all impact your design, but cabinets and shelves can define the overall look of your kitchen.
Open shelving creates an airy, light feeling in your kitchen, but it can be challenging to clean and stay organized. On the other hand, traditional cabinets keep everything out of sight, but depending on the layout and design, they can make your kitchen feel more closed off. It’s a lot to consider. In this article, we’ll explore the pros and cons of open shelf kitchen designs so you can create the look you’ve always wanted.
Not sure what direction you want to take with your kitchen remodel? James Barton Design-Build has 30 years of experience helping Twin Cities homeowners create spaces they love. Contact our design team for a consultation and let us show you the possibilities for your kitchen!
What is an Open Kitchen Shelf?
An open shelf kitchen is a design where your dishes and glassware are placed on exposed shelves rather than being inside a cabinet. Open shelves are typically used where upper cabinets would go. Most designs still use traditional cabinets under the counters.
Shelving is often made from solid wood, metal, or glass, depending on your design. The material used for the shelf itself is as much a focal point as the items placed on it, so it’s a good opportunity to showcase high-quality shelving materials.
Benefits of Open Shelf Kitchens
Open shelving is popular for numerous reasons. Here are a few benefits of using open shelving in the kitchen:
- Cost: Because they use less material and simpler designs, open shelves can be more cost-effective than traditional cabinetry.
- Aesthetics: Depending on your kitchen’s layout, open shelves can make your space feel less cramped, dark, and closed off.
- Showcasing decor: If you like looking at your serving platters, glasses, and dishes rather than tucking them away in a cabinet, open shelving is a great option.
- Accessibility: Items are always within reach without opening cabinet doors.
- Maximizing space: Some kitchens have awkward corners that present a design challenge for traditional cabinets. Open shelving can be a great way to use those spaces.
Drawbacks of Open Shelving in the Kitchen
Before setting your heart on open shelves, it’s important to consider the challenges this design presents.
- No hiding clutter: Open shelves usually mean you’ll need to tidy your space more regularly to keep it from looking disorganized.
- Frequent cleaning: Dust and cooking grease will inevitably accumulate in your kitchen over time. While cabinets prevent your dishes from getting dirty, open shelves will not.
- Best for aesthetically pleasing dishes: Before committing to open shelves, make sure you actually want to look at your dishes and serveware every day.
- Less space for awkward items: It’s much easier to stash items in a cabinet than figure out where to place them on a shelf. Switching to open shelving may force you to downsize your collection of kitchen gadgets if you can’t find a good place to store them.
- Less protection for fragile items: Compared to traditional cabinets, fragile items are more likely to get bumped, potentially chipping or breaking them.
Open Shelf Kitchen Ideas & Tips
Open shelving is a popular look despite its potential drawbacks. Fortunately, you don’t have to commit to open shelving throughout your entire kitchen to enjoy the benefits. Some of the best kitchen designs use open shelving in a small section to showcase special items, while using traditional cabinets in the rest of the space, as we did in the kitchen above.
In this kitchen, JBDB maximized an unused space above the breakfast bar. A corner open shelf kitchen layout like this is a clever compromise that lets you showcase items and take advantage of a space where traditional cabinets would be difficult to access.
Love the look but don’t want the maintenance? You can achieve a similar effect by using cabinets with glass doors to showcase your items. In this kitchen, we created a beautiful glass cabinet at the end of the island to showcase drinkware, dishes, and serveware.
Looking for more inspiration? Read our guide to styling shelves for open kitchen shelf decor ideas that will help you make the most of your design.
Transform Your Kitchen with James Barton Design-Build
Choosing cabinets and shelves for your kitchen is a big decision that will impact how your space looks, feels, and functions.
You don’t have to be a design expert or have the details figured out. Our designers have three decades of experience bringing kitchen concepts to life. Whether you want open shelves, traditional cabinets, or a mix of both, contact our team and let our designers walk you through all the options for your new kitchen!
