What It’s Really Like Having Open-Shelving

Our kitchen is beautiful and it’s definitely the nicest we’ve ever had. When we do zoom calls with friends from the kitchen, they often joke that it looks like we’re hosting a cooking show. Part of the reason that our kitchen is so beautiful/looks like a show kitchen is the open shelving. 

My husband Denis adores it and I’m a little more ambivalent. 

TLDR: If finding and displaying beautiful/coordinating kitchen items like dishware, glassware, olive oil dispensers, etc is your idea of fun, then open shelving might be for you.

I think the builder saved a lot of money by nixing the upper cabinetry and opting for open-shelving. That right there is a big argument in favor of open-shelving but know that you’ll likely end up spending a little money on replacing or upgrading items that will now be on display. 

Which brings me to my next point, everything is on display, from your dishes, cups, and mugs to your olive oil. 

SOURCES: Glassware, Garlic Keeper (Discontinued), Salt and Pepper Shakers, Olive Oil Dispenser, Olive Oil Spray

We started with a combination of white dishware, which doesn’t attract too much attention and looks nice on open shelving so that wasn’t really a problem.

SOURCES: Small Bowls (Unknown), Cereal Bowls, Dinner Plates, Salad Plates, Small Plates (Discontinued)

I can tell that the two sets are slightly different colors and almost every time I focus on that area it bugs me, but I just take a breath and remind myself that almost no one else will notice this. 

Currently, our least attractive and lone cups are stashed in a deep drawer that I call The Drawer of Shame. It’s a sad, sad place. 

Every piece of dishware and glassware that I don’t want on display lives here. However, which dishes are relegated to The Drawer of Shame is a small source of silent disagreement between Denis and me. 

Inevitably, when I put the dishes away, more dishes are likely to find their way there than when Denis empties the dishwasher. 

If you’ve been wanting to make upgrades to your dishware, open-shelving can give you that push you needed.

For example, I’ve wanted to replace our cups (a mash up of different glasses, mugs, etc accrued since before my husband and I got together) for years, but I’ve always had other updates I’d rather prioritize and it just didn’t feel worth the discussion with my husband (he develops an incredible loyalty to things in our home and becomes incensed on their behalf when I try to replace them or make updates). 

BUT when we toured this home, I informed him that because of the open-shelving, I would be buying new matching glassware if we moved in. Since he barely said a sentence in opposition, I consider this a win! 

Another ongoing disagreement that Denis and I have had about the open shelves is where the dishes should live. 

Ordinarily, you put your dishes where it makes the most functional sense. With open shelving, I find myself preoccupied with what looks good visually. After originally putting the dishes on the right hand side near the dishwasher, I changed my mind and decided the left side of the kitchen could use some more visual weight. Denis was not going for it. 

I’ll spare you the story of my failed negotiations and cut to the chase: I’ve now realized that because we usually cook on the left side of the stove so frequently (it has the Goldilocks burner, just the right size, just the right heat), the shelves on that side accumulate the most grease, which we don’t want on our dishes. 

That brings me to my last point. Dust and grime. 

Gross, I know. But even with the powerful vent on our range hood, kitchen grease and general dust are a fact of life. 

It’s really only a problem on our less-used dishware, like ice cream bowls or champagne glasses (thankfully the ladder are now tucked away in the bar cabinet). But I know that if/when we have guests (when that’s actually allowed again), I’ll have to clean all those dishes both before and after they’re used. But, for those of us who don’t throw frequent dinner parties, this is usually the case when it comes to servingware, so I don’t mind too much. 

If I were designing my own kitchen, I’d do a small section of open-shelving to give some breathing room and let you enjoy having a few things on display but I’d make the rest closed cabinetry. 

I’m sure there’s a way to turn this into a metaphor for life... what about “Show off what you love but save some room to be weird in private.” What do you think? Will it catch on? 

UPDATE: As I was getting ready to take photos for this post, I realized that making open-shelving look Pinterest-perfect is even harder than I thought. My open shelves are fairly bare and I thought it was because of the amount of dishes we have or the placement of them. It turns out, that in addition to making sure your functional kitchenware is beautiful and cohesive, you also need thoughtfully arranged decor and plants to fill the shelves in!