Open shelves, much like glass cabinet doors, open up your storage areas and put everything on display for everyone to see. When we put it like that, it doesn’t sound that great. With glass kitchen cabinet doors things are a bit different. They suggest that the contents of the cabinets are either valuable or not necessarily meant to double as decorations or focal points. Open kitchen shelving, on the other hand, sends the message more clearly.

A beautiful thing about open shelves is that they don’t cover up the wall treatmentIt’s easy to maintain an open and airy decor when you use shelves instead of solid cabinetsGroup up the objects on open shelves to create clusters and to organize things more easilyA lot of unusual and eye-catching configurations are possible when working with open shelvesUse open shelves in the kitchen to keep your mostly used objects within easy reachShelves are great for storing and organizing spice jars, kitchen utensils are other things

There’s a lot to love about open shelving and the only disadvantages are either related to personal style preferences or the lack of privacy. But let’s focus on the pros first. The biggest advantage of all when you have open shelves in the kitchen is the fact that you can easily access everything that’s on them. You can see everything at a glance and quickly grab the item you need. Nothing is out of sight or out of mind.

You can’t really hide anything on an open shelf so you might as well display the items in a great wayOpen shelves are also great for organizing things such as glasses or dishesThe shelves are usually placed at eye level or higher up, leaving the bottom section for closed cabinetryIt can also be practical to have open shelves under the counter in certain casesUse a single sleek shelf to highlight and frame the backsplash in the kitchen

All this openness brings to attention another detail: the function of these shelves. The practical thing to do would be to fill the shelves with items that you use on a daily basis. This way they’ll always be right there, easy to grab and easy to use, with no need to open and close doors or drawers. Another option is to use the shelves as display surfaces for decorations such as ornate plates, framed photos and other things. Either of these options is great as long as it suits your needs.

It’s usually practical to have both open shelves and closed cabinets in a kitchenKeep most of the things hidden inside the cabinets and use the shelves for books and decorationsYou can add one or two open shelves on your kitchen backsplash and have the cabinetry placed above themBoth open shelves and closed cabinets are functional and practical, each in their own wayMixed configurations are perhaps the most popular, being flexible and very versatile

Then there’s also the budget concern. Open kitchen shelving is cheaper than cabinetry and the installation cost is also reduced in this case. Of course, you don’t have to give up other types of storage in favor of open shelves. Cabinets have their own advantages such as the fact that they’re roomy and that they hide the things you don’t want to look at every day, keeping them safe and concealed. If you find both types practical, then choose a mixed design.

Mixed designs with both open and closed storage can be very quirky, allowing you to combine different colorsIn this case it’s not the open shelves that stand out but the two closed compartmentsContrasts bring a decor to life and the colors don’t need to be special to make each other stand outThe ombre effect used here puts the focus on the open cubbies and the things they holdThe shelves are integrated in this configuration in a seamless manner and that has a lot to do with the color paletteThese few open compartments are quite small but that doesn’t stop them from becoming the focal point of the entire kitchenYellow is a wonderful accent color for grey decors, bringing cheer into the spaceYellow also looks very cheerful when used in combination with white

In a mixed design you could have black kitchen cabinets and white open shelves for visual contrast or grey kitchen cabinets with matching shelves for a cohesive look. On the same note, two-tone kitchen cabinets can be an interesting option if you want to play with colors and to create a dynamic decor. Another way to add color to the kitchen is by filling the open shelves with all sorts of items just as cups, containers, dishes and other things that contrast with the wall behind them. But color is just one of the things you can focus on when furnishing and decorating a room.

A black kitchen isn’t the dark and gloomy space you might imagine. In fact, it’s pretty bright and open is furnished rightDark colors work well with open shelves and you can create interesting contrasts with everything you display on themPut some accent lights on the shelves to highlight the decorations and to brighten up the roomDark colors don’t necessarily make rooms seem smaller or less inviting. If anything, they can be quite cozy

Space-efficiency is another wonderful advantage that’s linked to open kitchen shelving. Let’s say your kitchen has an odd layout or you have some empty corners to fill. Corner kitchen cabinets are one option but if you feel like they take up too much space or they make the room feel small, use open shelves instead. They can fit in all sorts of odd spaces such as nooks between the door and the wall or above the doors and windows.

You can pretty much install shelves anywhere you want, even in tight or oddly-shaped spacesVertical nooks don’t occupy much space and they’re great options for narrow spacesIn the kitchen, you can make the most of your island by having open shelves on the sidesOpen shelves or small cubbies can also frame your appliances so you can organize things betterCorners are difficult spaces to furnish but open shelves seem to be just what you need to solve the problemThis is a look that suits industrial or rustic kitchens but also certain contemporary onesThe open shelves don’t necessarily have to conform to the dimensions and shape of the cabinetryIn a way, the open shelves are a lot like the cabinets that have glass doorsCompartmentalize and divide the shelves however you want, depending on your storage needs