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I am considering putting some open shelving in our new kitchen, to be used for those items getting frequent (daily) use. I am a neat person and don't forsee problems in keeping the area tidy.
However, before making this leap to non-enclosed cabinetry, I'd like to get some feedback from those of you who have installed and lived with open kitchen shelving. What are the advantages? Disadvantages?
I did open shelving in one of my homes. It was an older home and it worked really well as far as aesthetics. I got lots of compliments on the look and since I am a tidy person it worked for me quite well in terms of usability. The drawbacks are dust appears a lot faster than you think even with frequently used items. If the shelving is anywhere near the cooking areas, you will be surprised how grease seems to find its way to anything sitting out.
fallingwater - this is exactly the type of feedback I was hoping for! Specifically, your comment about grease getting on shelves. That was something I'd never considered.
When I re-did my kitchen in 2009 I included a few areas with open shelves:
- back right corner, upper cabinets (can't be seen from most angles because there's a 24"-deep pantry "hiding" it) is my "coffee corner" with different coffees in click-clack containers -- I tape the front of the coffee bags to the front of the containers so it's pretty colorful but still neat
- back wall on either side of the gas stove and refrigerator: open shelves that are mostly for decorative items (pitchers, etc.), cookbooks, and spice rack carousels as I didn't need cabinet space there. This can be seen from the front so it does have to be kept very neat and fallingwater is right, you have to clean up quickly after cooking as otherwise it could get messy/greasy fast!
- front of peninsula: the base cabinet here is open shelving for more cookbooks with the bottom shelf for cat food/water. Wish this could be on the other side of the peninsula so it couldn't be seen (because of the pet food) but that didn't work. I keep the cookbooks & other items in baskets, which works well for my decorating style (country-cottage).
I keep the whole area pretty neat/clean so it has worked fine. If I had limited cabinets in the rest of the kitchen, it might not work so well, as those cabinets tend to get full of dry food that I wouldn't want to keep out/visible.
You can only use open shelving for things you use regularly. Any dishes, glasses, etc., that you don't use regularly will get dirty and dusty. Then you'll need to load them all into the dishwasher when you dust, or you will be washing dishes individually whenever you want to use them. As fallingwater mentioned, any shelves near the stove will get lots of grease and you'll have a very difficult time cleaning things stored in that area.
I'd opt for limited open shelving that only accomodates glasses and dishes that are used daily. Put everything else in closed cabinets.
I did open shelving in one of my homes. It was an older home and it worked really well as far as aesthetics. I got lots of compliments on the look and since I am a tidy person it worked for me quite well in terms of usability. The drawbacks are dust appears a lot faster than you think even with frequently used items. If the shelving is anywhere near the cooking areas, you will be surprised how grease seems to find its way to anything sitting out.
Yep, I have a vintage china cabinet (no doors) that I use for dish and glass storage in my kitchen.
It has glass shelves, they get dusty/greasy pretty quickly, which I clean on a regular basis.
My kitchen is tiny, so the only other option I would have would be a complete gut/rehab, which isnt happening.
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