The use of open shelves within the kitchen interior has become a fairly popular design technique used by both professionals and ordinary owners of apartments and private houses. Open shelves can be used as a replacement for kitchen cabinets or become a spectacular addition. And they can act not only as storage systems, but also as a decorative element of a modern interior. Economic affordability, practicality and simplicity of execution allowed open shelves to become an almost universal design solution for kitchen interiors of a wide variety of styles. It’s not hard to imagine open shelves in a modern kitchen or country style. Even styles as difficult in terms of execution as minimalism and classic can easily transfer the integration of this design solution. But first things first.
Advantages and disadvantages of using open shelves in kitchen design
Like any other design solution, the use of open shelves in the interior of the kitchen has its pros and cons. But at the same time, it is obvious that all the concepts of disadvantages and advantages are subjective – the fact that for some kitchen owners may become a reason not to use shelves as storage systems, for others it will become an incentive.
Benefits of using open shelves:
- unlike kitchen cabinets, which significantly reduce the visual volume of the room, open shelves create a visual increase in space (the possibility of using it in small kitchen spaces encourages many owners of small-sized apartments to this design solution);
- besides the fact that the shelves themselves take up little space, you do not need to save space for opening the doors, as is the case with kitchen cabinets;
- Considering that all storage items are in front of your eyes, it is obvious that you will save time to find and access the necessary kitchen utensils;
- open shelves are perfectly combined with hanging kitchen cabinets and built-in storage systems;
- beautiful dishes or accessories are in plain sight, as if in a shop window, decorating the interior and delighting the owners.
Disadvantages of open shelves as an element of the kitchen interior:
- the shelves themselves and all the objects located on them quickly enough become covered with dust, and in the absence of a good hood – and droplets of fat (the solution can be both the installation of a powerful hood and the location of the shelves away from the hob or stove);
- it is not always possible to arrange large-scale items of kitchen utensils on open shelves – household appliances, large dishes;
- many housewives would rather not flaunt their dishes and kitchen utensils.
Open shelves – design, options and material selection
Traditional version of kitchen shelves
One of the most popular options for equipping kitchen spaces with open storage systems is to use ordinary shelves that are attached directly to the walls, without any accompanying elements. Shelves can be matched to the color of the lower tier of kitchen cabinets or in contrast to them. A combination of color and texture solutions of the material of shelves and kitchen countertops is often used. Regardless of the decisions made, this design option for kitchen shelves is able to harmoniously fit into almost any stylistic design of the kitchen.
Unlike kitchen cabinets, open shelves can be positioned without interruption to the window opening. If your room is bright enough and slight overlap of sunlight will not affect the level of illumination, then why not install shelves even in the window area.
With the help of special fasteners, you can not only strengthen the structure of the shelves, which means increase the maximum load lanka, but also decorate them. Fasteners can be made of the same material as the shelves themselves or differ not only in composition, but also in the style of execution. For example, metal holders with forging will look original with wooden shelves, bringing not only originality to the kitchen interior, but also a special charm.
Open shelves can be used as an accent piece. If the kitchen interior is made in light colors (and we all understand that small rooms are decorated mainly in light colors), then dark wood shelves will look impressive, attracting everyone’s attention.
Stainless steel shelves are very practical and comfortable. Such designs will look great in kitchens decorated in modern classics, hi-tech, fusion and even minimalism. In combination with the shine of household appliances and worktops of a similar material, the open stainless steel shelves look harmonious and relevant.
As well as in the lower part of kitchen cabinets located above work surfaces, lighting can be built into the hanging shelves. Thus, you will not only provide the kitchen working area with a sufficient level of illumination, but also be able to decorate the interior..
Open shelves with fixing to the room ceiling
It is not always possible to fasten open shelves to the walls of the kitchen. In this case, you can use special structures mounted to the ceiling. The shelves are literally suspended from the ceiling – in addition to the original appearance, the structures have a sufficiently high strength and can experience high loads. The disadvantage of such an attachment is only that it is necessary to drill the ceiling surface (cannot be used in rooms with stretch ceilings).
Often in modern design projects of kitchen spaces, you can find combined fastening of shelves to surfaces – not only to the ceiling, but also to the walls. Of course, there is no need to talk about the airiness of the image of such structures, but the reliability of installation and the ability to withstand heavy loads for many owners are a priority..
Built-in shelves
Many kitchen areas (especially in older apartments) are irregularly shaped rooms with niches, ledges and recesses. But any imperfection of architecture can be used for the benefit of the home interior. Built-in shelves in places of forced niches are an excellent opportunity not only to use the available space to the maximum, but also to bring variety and creativity to the kitchen design.
Glass shelves in a kitchen space are expensive but look luxurious. Transparent glass constructions look weightless, bringing not only lightness, but also freshness to the interior of the room. Glass shelves can be easily combined with pieces of furniture made of wood (or similar ones), and with a slight shine of household appliances. Apart from their main function as storage systems, glass shelves always act as a decorative element.
Shelves in the facade of the kitchen island
If you have a large enough kitchen island, open shelves can be positioned on one of its sides, depending on the shape. The facade with shelves can be facing both inside the working area of the kitchen space, and towards the dining or living room segment, if the room is combined. This arrangement of open shelves with utensils, cookbooks and other kitchen items is convenient, especially for short people who find it difficult to reach the upper storage systems.
Corner shelves in a modern kitchen
Corners for most kitchen spaces are difficult to fill in areas. Corner segments are rarely used rationally. Therefore, the installation of corner open shelves will make it possible to use the useful space of the kitchen as efficiently as possible, although it will affect the cost of manufacturing structures.
Open shelves – part of the kitchen rack
Unlike conventional open shelves, the rack is essentially the same kitchen cabinets, but without facades. In terms of manufacturing costs, you will have to spend more than when installing conventional shelves, but significantly less than when installing cabinets with facades, because it is the doors (with high-quality fittings, closers and other accessories) that are the most expensive parts of the headset. Depending on the size of the kitchen space and the chosen style of decoration, racks with open shelves can be placed instead of the upper tier of cabinets or as an independent piece of furniture located against the wall or as an interior partition.
By adding just one open shelf at the bottom of the top tier kitchen cabinets, you not only create a convenient storage space for the most relevant kitchen items, but also transform the image of the entire room. It is convenient to place the most popular items on such shelves – spices, tea cups and saucers, various devices that you use every day. As a result, you will not need to open cabinet doors every time to get a glass and drink water or make tea for the whole family..
Space for installing open shelves as storage systems and a decorative element of the kitchen interior
If a decision is made in the kitchen space to partially or completely replace the upper tier of kitchen cabinets with open shelves, then most often they are located on both sides of the hood. This arrangement helps, on the one hand, to prevent droplets of hot fat from entering the surface of the shelves, and on the other hand, to keep the necessary kitchen items near the work areas – dishes, spices, accessories. In addition to the fact that open shelves on both sides of the hood located above the stove (hob) are an incredibly practical and convenient design move, such an arrangement brings symmetry and orderliness to the interior..
Another popular option for the location of open shelves in the upper part of the kitchen set is installation on both sides of the window, which houses the sink. In this case, the opposite wall of the kitchen space can be equipped with the usual set of kitchen cabinets – both at the bottom and at the top..
Not such a common, but no less practical way to arrange open shelves is to hang the structure over a kitchen island or peninsula. Given that a hob, sink or other household appliances are often integrated into the island’s countertop, the ability to have dishes and other kitchen utensils on hand becomes a priority for the hostess (owner). But in this case, we are talking mainly about shelves with fastening to the ceiling of the room..
Shallow open shelves can be arranged in multiple rows near doorways. As a rule, this space is not used for installing storage systems – they simply do not fit there. But for small shelves, very little space is needed. Of course, you won’t be able to store large kitchen items on such surfaces, but dishes, spice jars, cookbooks and other kitchen accessories will fit easily..
