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Original poster

Open shelving instead of units

17 replies

hellohellohihi · 15/03/2013 21:35

When we move, we'll need to refurb the kitchen in our new house. We plan to replace the doors, worktops and sink, then paint and/or tile as necessary. DH is a carpenter so confident in doing this work...

I really love kitchens with no upper/eye-level units and think our new kitchen would look good with floating shelves for plates/cups/bowls/glasses and I was wondering if anyone else had just open shelving and how you found it?

A friend thinks we're mad and to get as many cupboards as poss so that all crap can be hidden away...

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Original poster
hellohellohihi · 15/03/2013 21:35

I mean cupboard doors...

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ILikeBirds · 15/03/2013 22:27

Having stayed in a few holiday places with that sort of arrangement I'd avoid because of how quickly things need washing when stored on shelves.

Gingersnap88 · 15/03/2013 22:41

They look gorgeous but get filthy quickly, not just dust but grease too. But they do look ever so pretty..

impecuniousmarmoset · 15/03/2013 22:44

nice in interiors magazines but grim in reality, unless your hobby is cleaning dust and grease off crockery...

Misty9 · 15/03/2013 22:48

In our last house the cupboards were so damp we couldn't use them and had to buy freestanding shelving for most stuff. It wasn't an issue tbh. The stuff was in rotation so often it didn't have a chance to get dusty/greasy - and it beat washing everything before using it to get rid of the damp taste!
That said, make sure none of it is near the cooker/hob or it will get greasy easily.

Check out Pinterest for open shelving ideas - that's what I did and saw some great ones.

VerySmallSqueak · 15/03/2013 22:55

We had shelves for years as there was no kitchen,as such,in the house we lived in.
I longed for kitchen cupboards as everything so quickly got covered in a greasy dusty layer.
Now I have cupboards I also have shelves too so I have the best of both worlds - the ugly and difficult to clean is put away,and I have the bits I want to display,or to be on hand,on shelves (which I still don't clean enough...)

Magimedi · 15/03/2013 23:08

looks lovely - but hope you love cleaning to keep it looking lovely.

There is a reason forr doors - they stop the grease, dirt & slime!

Notyetthere · 15/03/2013 23:31

Our rental flat has wood framed glass doors so we can still see the plates and cups on shelves but none of the sticky greasy muck.

Original poster
hellohellohihi · 16/03/2013 07:08

Oh bums. I'm hardly a clean-freak so perhaps this isnt the best idea. There's a chest height double oven so was planning on keeping the higher units there but the hob is on the other side of the room and that's where I thought the shelves could go but sounds like that we be the muckiest spot....

Will check out pinterest...

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Forgetfulmog · 16/03/2013 07:16

We have a shelf on which live our tumblers & cups, and another shelf where we put out prettiest mixing bowls. We store our wine glasses on a corner shelf unit, but our plates & bowls are stored in a dresser (from eBay for £100). Works fine for me. You could do something like that?

Original poster
hellohellohihi · 16/03/2013 09:40

The more I think of it the more I'm realising we haven't got that much that I'd want on display, so perhaps we'll still have a few shelves just not as many as I'd originally imagined... Hmmm...

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MrsDimples · 16/03/2013 10:35

I used to have a teeny kitchen in my studio flat. There were cupboards on 2 sides, but not enough room for cupboards on the third wall. I put a couple shelves and bar to hang things off on that wall. I had stuff I accessed a lot when cooking and on the higher shelf bigger equipment.

The less used stuff did get a bit mucky, but a quick wipe before use was OK.

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jamaisjedors · 16/03/2013 14:39

We have put open shelving above the sink (and not that far from the hob but we use the extractor fan religiously!) and love it.

The cupboards we had before stopped light coming in from the window and you bashed your head on them when washing up.

We did buy a new set of plates from IKEA rather than our old odd ones.

They are also just above the dishwasher so it's really easy to unload and it's all our everyday stuff.

We do have cupboards for other things which are not v. beautiful, lilke biscuits.

I do Flylady (cleaning thing) and so once a month give the open shelves a bit of a wipe, that seems to be enough.

drownangels · 16/03/2013 14:43

To be honest I think open shoves look cluttered. I've had them inyje past and started off with good intentions but after a while the gas bill gets put there as a reminder and then a spool of cotton you have had out but might need to use again. Etc etc!

Closed units all the way to the ceiling are much much better.

Original poster
hellohellohihi · 16/03/2013 19:08

I'd forgotten about flylady... I should get back into that as new house is much bigger and I've been having wobbles about how I'm going to keep up with the housework!

As for being cluttered I think it depends what is on the shelves really. I would have everything samey and uniform with all the odds and soda hidden away.

I'd thought the same re the light - at the moment the units are next to both windows (dual aspect) so its gloomier than it could be.

Interesting about the extractor fan/hood. I'd never thought about it in terms of perhaps reducing grime!!

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pettyprudence · 16/03/2013 20:12

My parents have open shelves and I was thinking of doing the same in our new house but they said don't do it unless you have an extractor hood!

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