The Kitchen Edit: Decluttering & Designing for a Space You Love

Open Shelving to Open Up Kitchen Organization

If you’re like us, cooking and time spent in the kitchen is more than a necessity, it’s a hobby. 

Whether you’re entertaining, whipping up a nutritious meal, or going about your day, your kitchen can have an impact on your efficiency, productivity, and even your mood. Poor layouts or missing storage change the functionality of the space and can add steps to easy work. In contrast, a well-thought-out kitchen space not only simplifies daily tasks, but also makes entertaining easy, delightful.  

Putting dishes, pots, pans, and utensils away is a daily organization that never ends. Thankfully, learning to care for the kitchen provides immediate and tangible results: clean spaces, injury-free zones, proper storage, and the building of efficient routines and work triangles.

Display your way with open shelving.

One of the reasons to explore new ways to display dishes, and the option of open shelving is to control clutter and curate thoughtful collections. It’s easy to gather ingredients, dishes and kitchen doodads that typically get hidden and lost in depths of drawers and cabinets. Instead of letting chaotic extras take over, with open shelving, you choose the beautiful necessities, display the hidden treasures, and leave behind the extras that you don’t need to see. 

In the last ten years, open shelving has emerged as a beautiful and useful option in kitchen design. Open shelving puts aside traditional closed cabinetry, instead giving the opportunity to display collections, keep items within reach, and provide a stylish substitute for a staid, closed off kitchen. They also provide a sense of openness, making smaller rooms seem larger and airy. Practically, open shelving provides a short-cut for finding items quickly and easily, saving time and energy. Plus, with so many wood and metal finishes and configurations to choose from, open shelving provides an affordable and stylish upgrade to any space!

Open shelving creates an airy space. @brownstoneboys

"Open shelving in a kitchen offers a perfect blend of functionality and style. We personally love how it creates an airy, open feel and allows easy access to everyday items. It's a fantastic way to showcase beautiful dishware and add personality to the space. Open shelving fits seamlessly with various styles. For us, it helps blend the mix of historic and modern charm that's important in our design ethos, making it versatile for really any design aesthetic. Plus, it encourages us to stay organized and intentional with our kitchen decor." - The Brownstone Boys

Beautiful Necessities on Display

If you’re familiar with Tanya from @houseofsixinteriors, you know her beautiful open pantry and kitchen shelves are warm and inviting. She’s a master of balancing functionality and aesthetics, so we asked her for her takes on open shelving. Tanya writes:  

I chose open shelving vs traditional cabinetry because I love the idea of marrying functionality and beauty.  Open shelves allow me to keep all of my functional items on display- whether it’s our daily dishes or our baking needs - the kitchen feels warm & inviting.  I love the casual, lived in vibe.  There are no pretenses- what you see is what you get (and use!). Open shelving teaches you what you truly need and use vs what you don’t.  Functionally, keep all of the items you need- aesthetically, try to keep it all cohesive in palette and function - that will maintain a look of intentionally curated rather than a mess.

The shelves also help tremendously with clutter and organization!  I know exactly what I have and what I need.  I LOVE this so much.  Keeps me extremely organized.  Storing items in pretty canisters also makes it visually appealing.  I never have more than I need - which is vastly different than if things were hiding behind cabinet doors!

My tips for keeping shelves tidy?  Organize by needs.  I have a shelf for baking needs (flours, sugars, etc.  Another one for fresh baked goods & kids snacks.  And a shelf for our dishes, another for serving ware and another for our drinking glasses.  If you keep the shelves cohesive in palette that will also help keep things neat looking.  Ie- all of our dishes are white.  And all of our canisters match.  

How to choose?  First and foremost, decide where and what you are using shelves for.  That will help determine how many you need.   For our open pantry, I knew I wanted it to have a pantry vibe.  To take up the entire wall.  So we decided on 5 shelves.  And they house our baking needs, snacks, serving dishes.  In the kitchen, I knew I wanted a kitchen that didn’t feel traditional.  I wanted it to be simple.  Minimal and a casual spot that invites people in.  So I chose to do one shelf around perimeter of space.  I keep drinking glasses and dishes here.  Or when I am feeling super minimal, I keep a vase with branches on one, a few dishes on another and a pitcher for water on the other side.  But no matter the season, I always ensure they are items we use.

Way to Display with Holiday Kitchen Decor

So where else can you take advantage of the style points you’ll garner from using open shelving? It’s a great option to expand holiday decor and enjoy the change of seasons in your kitchen! Mixing decorative elements with plates, cups and other daily-use dinnerware is an easy way to make your kitchen merry.

Gena Jaffe captures holiday decor and kitchen storage together.

Collaborators Gena Jaffe and Aubrey Swan used open shelving to their advantage for the holidays by moving plates and stock items off the shelves temporarily and making room for decor that brings the celebration to the kitchen. Think about what you would usually have on the shelves, and make a little update here or there for the holidays. Maybe this is the time to display those heirloom holiday platters that Nana passed down!

Jennifer Maune simply added a tree and voila!- a touch of Christmas in the kitchen. 

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Floating Shelves Styled for You

So what shelving fits your style in the kitchen? Do you aim for rustic, country charm? Contemporary, bold colors? Sleek modern minimalism?  No matter the look you want, Shelfology has something for you! 

• Aksel Traditional: The OG, and the best heavy duty shelf on the market. Crafted of hardwoods, the Aksel Floating shelf gives you up to ⅛” precision measurements to snap right into your space.

• Aksel LED: Upgrade your floating shelf with LED lighting and let your kitchen glow.

• Aksel RADius: Hardwoods, but soft edges, the Aksel Radius has the curves to bring your kitchen style to another level.
• Leif: Simple pops of color against solid hardwood planks make the Leif system an easy choice for a little extra sizzle.
• Roderick: Like its cousin, Leif, the Roderick combines powder coated colors and hardwood for a pop of color along with that extra strength for your heavy-duty dishes.
• Verne: Frame your collections with the Verne floating shelf system. Choose 1-5 levels to fit all your plates, cups and collectibles in one stylish setup. 

Made to measure by the inch to fit seamlessly into your space, Shelfology’s kitchen items are a winning combination with your imagination. Our Shelf Geeks are ready to help you get the kitchen of your dreams. Shop online today!