#My Dream Home: 10 Open Shelving Ideas For The Kitchen

by Dagmar Bleasdale on November 25, 2012

I m in love with open shelving in the kitchen but I just learned that Don is not a fan.

I really want open shelving in our next kitchen because I have a collection of pretty dishes that I want to show off and accessible without having to open doors.

This is what Don prefers:

And this is what I prefer. I think a few open shelves near the sink are practical and make the kitchen feel bigger.

So it looks like I have to make my case for open shelving. No problem, I have tons of ammunition!

Here are some beautiful examples I ve been collecting on my Pinterest kitchen board .

An easy way to create open shelving is to just take the doors off existing cabinets, as in this example:

If you are designing a new kitchen or are renovating, shelves instead of cabinets are an option. I m still undecided if I prefer floating shelves over shelves with brackets.

Isn t this pretty?

Here are a few examples of floating shelves. This design decision definitely makes for a simpler, more open, and less frilly look, but I m not sure I trust that the shelves would be able to hold the weight of all our bowls, etc.

What do you prefer: not seeing your dishes and hiding them in cabinets, or open shelves to show them off? What do you currently have?