Open shelves in the kitchen interior

The use of open shelves as part of the kitchen interior has become a fairly popular design technique that is used by both professionals and ordinary owners of apartments and private houses. Open shelves can be used as a replacement for kitchen cabinets or become their effective complement. And they can act not only as storage systems, but also as a decorative element of a modern interior. Economic affordability, practicality and ease of execution allowed open shelves to become an almost universal design solution for kitchen interiors of a wide variety of styles. It’s easy to imagine open shelves in a modern kitchen style or country style. Even such difficult styles from the point of view of performance, such as minimalism and classic, can easily transfer the integration of this design solution. But first things first.

Like any other design decision, the use of open shelves in the interior of the kitchen has its pros and cons. But at the same time, it is obvious that all concepts of disadvantages and advantages are subjective - that for some kitchen owners may cause them not to use shelves as storage systems, for others it will become an incentive.

Benefits of using open shelves:

• unlike kitchen cabinets, which significantly reduce the visual volume of the room, open shelves create a visual increase in space (the possibility of using small kitchen spaces encourages many owners of small-sized apartments to this design decision);
• in addition to the fact that the shelves themselves take up little space, you do not need to save space for opening doors, as is the case with kitchen cabinets;
• Considering that all storage items are in front of your eyes, it is obvious that you save time on searching and accessing necessary kitchen utensils;
• open shelves are perfectly combined with hanging kitchen cabinets and built-in storage systems;
• beautiful dishes or accessories are in sight, as if in a store window, decorating the interior and delighting the owners.

Disadvantages of open shelves as an element of the kitchen interior:

• the shelves themselves and all items located on them are quickly covered with dust, and in the absence of a good hood - with droplets of fat (installing a powerful hood and placing the shelves away from the hob or stove may be the solution);
• on open shelves it is not always possible to arrange large-scale items of kitchen utensils - household appliances, large dishes;
• many housewives would prefer not to flaunt their dishes and kitchen utensils.

One of the most popular options for equipping kitchen spaces with open storage systems is the use of conventional shelves that attach directly to the walls, without any associated elements. Shelves can be matched to the color of the lower tier of kitchen cabinets or contrasted with them. Often use a combination of color and texture of the material of the shelves and kitchen worktops. Regardless of the decisions made, this design option of kitchen shelves is able to harmoniously fit into almost any stylistic design of the kitchen.

Unlike kitchen cabinets, open shelves can be placed without interrupting the window opening. If your room is sufficiently bright and slightly overlapping sunlight does not affect the level of illumination, then why not mount shelves even in the window area.

With the help of special fasteners, it is possible not only to strengthen the design of the shelves, which means to increase the maximum load lance, but also to decorate them. Fasteners can be made of the same material as the shelves themselves or differ not only in composition but also in style of execution. For example, metal forged holders will look original with wooden shelves, bringing not only originality to the kitchen interior, but also a special charm.

Open shelves can be used as an accent. If the kitchen interior is made in bright colors (and we all understand that small rooms are designed mainly in light colors), then the shelves made of dark wood will look spectacular, attracting everyone's attention.

Stainless steel shelves are very practical and convenient. Such designs will look great in modern-style kitchens, hi-tech, fusion and even minimalism. In combination with the brilliance of household appliances and worktops with similar worktops, open stainless steel shelves look harmonious and relevant.

As well as in the lower part of kitchen cabinets located above the work surfaces, in the hanging shelves you can integrate lighting. Thus, you will not only provide the working area of ​​the kitchen with a sufficient level of illumination, but also be able to decorate the interior.

It is not always possible to fasten open shelves to the walls of the kitchen. In this case, you can use special structures mounted to the ceiling. Shelves in the literal sense of the word are suspended from the ceiling - in addition to the original appearance, the structures have a sufficiently high strength and can experience high loads. The drawback of such a fastening is that it is necessary to drill the surface of the ceiling (it is impossible to use in rooms with suspended ceilings).

Often in modern design projects of kitchen spaces you can find combined fastening of shelves to surfaces - not only to the ceiling, but also to the walls. Of course, talking about the airiness of the image of such structures is not necessary, but the reliability of installation and the ability to withstand heavy loads for many owners are a priority.

Many kitchen facilities (especially in old-built apartments) are irregularly shaped rooms with niches, ledges and indentations. But any imperfection of architecture can be used to benefit the home interior. Built-in shelves in places of forced niches are an excellent opportunity not only to use the available space to the maximum, but also to add variety, creativity to the kitchen design.

Glass shelves in the kitchen space are expensive, but look luxurious. Transparent glass structures look weightless, bringing not only lightness, but also freshness to the interior of the room. Glass shelves are easily combined with objects of furniture made of wood (or this analogs), and with a slight sheen of household appliances. In addition to its main function as storage systems, glass shelves always act as a decorative element.

If there is a sufficiently large kitchen island, open shelves can be placed on one of its sides, depending on the shape. The facade with shelves can be turned both inside the working area of ​​the kitchen space, and towards the dining or living room segment, if the room is combined. Such an arrangement of open shelves with utensils, cookbooks and other kitchen items is convenient, first of all, for small people who find it difficult to reach the upper storage systems.

Corners for most kitchen spaces are difficult to fill. It is not possible to use corner segments rationally.Therefore, the installation of corner open shelves will maximize the effective use of the useful space of the kitchen, although it will affect the cost of manufacturing structures.

Unlike ordinary open shelves, the rack is essentially the same kitchen cabinets, but without facades. In terms of manufacturing costs, you will have to spend more than when installing ordinary shelves, but significantly less than when installing cabinets with facades, because it is doors (with high-quality fittings, closers and other accessories) that are the most expensive parts of a headset. Depending on the size of the kitchen room and the chosen style of decoration, shelves with open shelves can be placed instead of the upper tier of cabinets or as an independent piece of furniture, located against the wall or as an interior partition.

Adding just one open shelf at the bottom of the kitchen cabinets of the upper tier, you will not only create a convenient place to store the most relevant kitchen elements, but also transform the image of the entire room. On such shelves it is convenient to place the most popular items - spices, tea cups and saucers, various devices that you use every day. As a result, you will not need to open the cabinet doors every time to get a glass and drink water or make tea for the whole family.

If in the kitchen space a decision is made to partially or completely replace the upper tier of kitchen cabinets with open shelves, then most often they are placed on both sides of the hood. This arrangement helps, on the one hand, to prevent droplets of hot fat from getting on the surface of the shelves, and on the other hand, to keep necessary kitchen utensils — dishes, spices, and accessories — at work areas. In addition to the fact that open shelves on the side of the hood located above the stove (hob) is an incredibly practical and convenient design move, this arrangement brings symmetry and orderliness to the interior.

Another popular option for the location of open shelves in the upper part of the kitchen is installation on both sides of the window, which houses the sink. At the same time, the opposite wall of the kitchen space can be equipped with the usual set of kitchen cabinets - both in the lower and upper parts.

A not so common, but no less practical way of arranging open shelves is by hanging the structure over a kitchen island or peninsula. Considering that the hob, sink, or other household appliances are often integrated into the island’s countertop, the ability to have dishes and other kitchen utensils on hand becomes a priority for the hostess (owner). But in this case, we are talking mainly about shelves with fastening to the ceiling of the room.

Shallow open shelves can be arranged in several rows near the doorways. As a rule, this space is not used to install storage systems - they simply do not fit there. But for small shelves of space you need quite a bit. Of course, you won’t be able to store large kitchen items on such surfaces, but dishes, jars with spices, cookbooks and other kitchen accessories will fit easily.