Undoubtedly one of the biggest kitchen trends in 2014 was open shelving. Opening up your shelving can bring fresh, new life to your kitchen. It can make a kitchen look more open and airy, provide storage where there was none, and give the kitchen a whole new feel.
But how do you get the look in your own kitchen? There are several ways to go about implementing this look, and some of them require more commitment than others. Here are five great ways to try the open shelving look in your kitchen, listed from boldest to subtlest.
1. Install Floating Shelves
In this small but thoughtfully designed cabin kitchen, the space that might have gone unused or made to feel cramped by a cabinet is put to great use with floating shelves. Keeping the shelves the same color as the walls and backsplash makes the look even cleaner.
Photo courtesy of Smitten Studio
2. Ground the Palette
To keep a clean, white kitchen from looking looking cold and sterile, ground the color palette with a couple of dark, rustic wood shelves. Choosing a shelf color that pops against the wall is also a great way to keep the whole system looking unified.
Photo courtesy of Fireclay Tile
3. Create a Curio Shelf
You can get the chic look of open shelving with minimum demo required by just removing one existing cabinet. Since your eye is immediately drawn to the shelves, this would be a great way to display a curated grouping of your best dishes and glassware, or even a collection of cookbooks. This solution also solves one of the only cons of open shelving: having to keep them neat and tidy at all times. Having a mix of open shelves and closed cabinets relieves that pressure!
Photo courtesy of Shearer Painting
4. Open the Doors
Another beautiful way of creating the feel of open shelving is by simply removing a cabinet door. This is such an elegant look, for minimum effort. You can either keep it monochromatic, or add in pops of color with bright dishware or art pieces, depending on how you style the shelves.
Photo courtesy of The Inspired Room
5. Put it Under Glass
For a shot of open-shelving style with the least commitment, try glass-paned cabinet doors. You can achieve this look by getting your cabinet doors replaced by a contractor, or by adding glass panes to your existing cabinet doors yourself. Either way, you’ll end up with the look of open shelving without having to change your kitchen too much.
Photo courtesy of Hyde Evans Design
Do these images inspire you to give open shelving a try?
