Removing kitchen wall cabinets?

[floofycroissant]

Has anyone done this and did it look good? Were you ok for storage and did you leave the walls bare or replace with shelving?

Buying a house with a u-shaped kitchen, which is brand new, so no reason to replace. It's fine but with cupboards on all three walls it feels like a bit of a cave. Wondering if removing the upper cupboards would help, or if it'd look like half a kitchen.

We had this at our old house. It was lovely but you need a bit kitchen to get away with it or a utility.
Try just using your base units and see how you get on?

I've seen it done in a tiny flat and it weirdly didn't make the kitchen feel bigger, but it did look unfinished. And the owner had a hard time finding a buyer when it was time to sell.

I bought a house with a U shaped gallery kitchen, it was too narrow to allow two people in without getting in each other's way. It is now L shaped, Ive put in taller wall cabinets to get extra space for storage (also got rid of a lot of superfluous kitchen stuff!).

We don't have any wall cupboards. Glad I didn't listen to people who said you can never have enough storage. It's so much nicer working at a worktop that has nothing above it. We do have a pantry but I think we could have managed even without. Half the kitchen cupboards are filled with stuff that really could be chucked away.

We don't have any wall units, our kitchen design talked us into not having any and I'm so glad he did as it I feel that it looks better without them.

We don't have wall cabinets. We've got two shelves that run along stretch of wall (l shapes) but with only small number of items on so doesn't look crowded. We also have pans and utensils hanging from hooks on tiled wall. Our kitchen is quite industrial on its look

Just to add, a friend of mine in a new build property with brand new kitchen just removed the doors from her top cabinets and added a bit of decorative trim to finish edges off. Made her small kitchen look so much more spacious and open. So that could be an option?

We're both pretty tall so wall cupboards always feel a bit in the way. It's not super narrow and there are a few windows, it still feels dark.

Testing by using the bottom cupboards is a good idea.

If we did go for it we'd lose 4 small cupboards and two teeny drawers which would likely collect rubbish.

I think my main worry is it looking unfinished, I can't picture leaving the carcasses up with the doors off. It's a Victorian property so I just don't think it'd work.

I’ve looked at lots of pictures of kitchens without wall cabinets and the ones that look good IMO always have something on the wall instead. A blank wall tends to look unfinished.

A couple of decorative wall lights is a really good option as, unlike shelves, they don’t collect clutter - and they supply extra light to the worktop which you might lose if you currently have undercabinet lighting. This does require an electrician plus a bit of redecorating though.

I wouldn't have open shelves in a kitchen as everything needs wiping all the time - grease and dust on jars, etc.

@alloverthecarpetagain

I wouldn't have open shelves in a kitchen as everything needs wiping all the time - grease and dust on jars, etc.

This always comes up. I did exactly as you say OP, got the extractor on one wall on its own, and shelves on the other. Looks a million times better.

Re the shelves getting dirty, I only have things on the shelves that I use all the time - mugs, glasses, plates, bowls. As we rotate through them all the time, it doesn’t get dusty or dirty. Had it a year and a half now.

We used to have open shelves in our old house. Total pain in arse as constantly dusty and dirty. We now have cupboards and so much easier wouldn't go back. Look nice but very impractical unlesss you have heaps of other storage

We are having a new kitchen without wall cabinets. I'm thinking about getting some open shelving for knick knacks but I don't need these as I've planned lots of storage. We are having a pantry cupboard from floor to ceiling though at the other end of the room and I have a utility room as well.

Can't remember the last time I dusted which makes me think open shelves aren't for me. Hadn't thought of wall lights, maybe a few frames too

We have a pantry, a few lower cupboards, a narrow standalone unit and two small corner shelves. We end up with a lot of stuff out on the sides (eg spice rack) and one of my plans is to get a few wall cupboards put in. The wall they would go on needs a serious clean first! In our case the only place we can add them is beside and above a hatch opening, which is probably why the previous owners had left it clear (apart from the boiler in the corner).

The house we have just moved into has loads of wall cupboards and I’m currently debating whether to try and remove them or just redo the kitchen. They make it feel so enclosed and old fashioned

We have scaffold plank shelves. I don't dust unless I spot a massive cobweb.
It's mostly stuff we use regularly like plates and glasses so it doesn't get dusty or greasy.
For stuff we use less frequently it can get a bit dusty, but a wipe over or run through the dishwasher (eg for our fancy wine glasses) and it's fine!

We have lots of quirky glasses and crockery so I like it being on display.

We had wall cupboards just along one wall rather than 3 and it looked loads bigger and lighter.

If you have wide drawers instead of bottom cupboards there is so much more storage.

Also I'm a believer in the more storage space the more crap you keep. Just be ruthless and have less!

I love chucking stuff away RandomMess there is a set of pan drawers, but we just have to work with what's there. I don't have the budget for a new kitchen, and it'd be pretty wasteful as its brand new.

Could you take just one wall of top cupboards out? So one wall has better light? Take all the cupboard down - not just the doors!

If you take down some of the cupboards and store them for a bit, if it is a total disaster then you can always reinstate them.
It's not an irreversible move.

One wall would be a good start, it's shaker style, so lots of fussy bits like cornicing, glass fronted cupboards and one of those recessed lighting features bridging cupboards which really brings the room in.

Are you sure you mean shaker style? That normally would be the opposite of fussy bits

Kinda similar to this I think that's shaker

Yes. It’s shaker and mine has cornices. If you like the cupboards down, you can get the cornices joined so it ends appropriately by wrapping round your new end cupboard. If you don’t like the gap, put some shelves up. Depends which row of cupboards you think should be removed. Are they continuous on 3 walls?