Open Shelving: Stylish Solution or Impractical Trend

Designing a kitchen without upper wall cabinets and just open shelves is popular, but is it the right thing to do?

Here are the pros and cons of open shelves to help you decide what is best for your kitchen.

Aesthetics
When it comes to size, a small galley kitchen can feel oppressive with upper wall cabinets on either side. Replacing these with open shelving can open up the room, giving it an airy feeling and minimalist vibe, and providing more natural light.

Having shelves rather than cabinets in the kitchen also allows you to show off your personality and style. You can display your nicest china or glassware. Alternatively, you can place artwork, plants or knick-knacks on your shelving to individualize the space.

Practicality
Not having upper wall cabinets can help you to reduce unnecessary clutter. With cabinets, you can simply close the door and forget about the mess inside, but open shelves don’t let you do this.

However, you will have less storage space with open shelves, especially for items that don’t really suit being displayed like food, kitchen utensils and equipment. If you can’t fit all your foodstuffs in your base cabinets, you will have to invest in some attractive storage jars to place on your open shelves, which can make them look too cluttered.

Function
One of the often-overlooked aspects of upper wall cabinets is the number of items they can safely hold. In contrast, shelves and, most importantly, floating shelves have a weight limit.

If you do inadvertently overload a shelf, it can start to dip down at the front as the support struggles, and things may slide off. This can result in you losing a lot of your dishes, glassware or storage jars.

Cleaning
A major disadvantage of open shelving is the amount of extra cleaning you will have to do. There is no protection from dust, dirt and grease.

Cost
There is no doubt that if you don’t include upper wall cabinets in your kitchen, you will save money. Shelving is much cheaper and it can be installed as a do-it-yourself project.

Alternatives
Open shelves are not the only alternative to upper wall cabinets if you are determined to get rid of them. Tall larder cabinets, a walk-in pantry or a separate utility room all provide storage while keeping your kitchen walls free.

Or you can compromise and have a combination of cabinets and open shelving. This way, you are not sacrificing as much storage, but you can still display items you want on show.

A new and upcoming variation on a theme is the countertop ledge. This is made from the same material as your worktop and sits on top of a backsplash made of the same material. However, these ledges vary in depth, often depending on how they’re fixed, and may not be as functional as an open shelf.

Other options include hanging rails, either traditional styles or more contemporary, to produce a working kitchen vibe, such as having all your pots and pans on show.

Jessica Evans is a kitchen design expert at PriceYourJob.

Clare Tattersall and www.realtorontowest.com disclaim any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this article and disclaims all liability in respect to the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this article. The opinions of the writer are their own and are in no way influenced by or representative of the opinions of Clare Tattersall or www.realtorontowest.com.