6 Open Shelving Ideas for your Kitchen

Whilst, having the traditional floor-to-ceiling cabinets makes the use of all space, it can make the room feel smaller – not ideal if you have a smaller kitchen to begin with.

Instead, why not replace some or all of your upper cabinets with open shelving? This allows for more free space and is a clever trick for making any kitchen feel more spacious by removing the bulkiness of upper cabinets.

For a simple yet bold way to add open shelving, you can always just opt to remove the doors off existing cabinets. A useful option if you want to try an open shelf look and see if it works for you first, without fully committing and removing everything.

Add a lick of paint to your door-free upper cabinets for a fun twist on the open shelving design.

We’ve mentioned in our previous blog (which you can check out here) that 2023 home colour trends have been moving away from basic neutrals to more daring bursts of colour. The kitchen is a great place to experiment with this!

The open back as seen with most wall-mounted options, is ideal for making a statement and experimenting with colours and patterns. Or if you’ve decided to remove the doors off your existing cabinets as per our previous idea, you could paint the inside of the shelves for a more subtle, but no less striking use of colour.

Whether you go for jewel hues like jade green and navy blues, softer pastels or moody charcoals, incorporating colour around open shelving is great for adding personality.

For up-to-date take on the monochrome aesthetic, use a half-and-half look and pair with natural details.

Our Flexx Shelving is fantastic in the kitchen or pantry, with a variety of accessories available to build your perfect shelving solution.

On the other hand, if you have a smaller kitchen or prefer something more subtle, the use of light colours helps create a bright and airy space. Think white shelves and fixings against a white tile backsplash to create an immaculate and minimalist look.

If you want your kitchen to look more homely and less ‘showroom,’ think about what you want to have on your shelves and how you’d style them. Using natural materials on shelves such as bamboo or even some houseplants, can give your light kitchen that much-needed uplift.

When using matching and/or neutral colours, you could choose more adventurous fittings and hardware, such as matte black or brass tones to add some interest and depth in a sophisticated way.

Glass shelving is a sleek and stylish addition to any kitchen. They add storage but their clear design ensures that they don’t clutter wall space like some other types of open or wall shelving and allows for more light to flow around the room.

The transparent glass blends into the walls and is perfect for showing off your shelf styling and any other decoration like houseplants or trinkets.

If you’re happy to mix and match shelving, glass shelving can always be paired with more traditional wooden shelves. Just match the uprights and brackets in the same style or finish and you’ll be good to go!

Clean and crisp, Glass Wall Shelving adds extra storage but keeps rooms feeling bright and airy.

For a practical shelving option, you can’t go wrong with metal shelving. You may be thinking that they’re not the most aesthetically pleasing shelf solution but it’s all down to your creativity. And they are perfect if you have a pantry space to add simple, no-nonsense storage, which is both easy to clean and strong enough to hold a mixture of goods and utensils.

In your kitchen, metal finishes pair well with other materials, such as wood or glass. And you don’t need to worry if you have other metals in your kitchen as mixing metal hues is also in too, as described by Nina Hendrick (1). To add to the contrast between materials, add boxes crafted from natural materials such as wood and bamboo to help organise your standing shelving but also add warmth to the room.

Freestanding Wire Shelving provides an understated and easy-to-clean storage update.

If you love a pared-back look, then why not add just one or two open shelves. This could be just a single shelf to add more storage, placed near your preparation area to hold spices and ingredients. Or you could have a single running shelf going around your kitchen, with items cleverly placed on the appropriate sections for optimal functionality.

Plus by committing to a minimalist-influenced kitchen, you can make sure you only have exactly what you need as there is less nooks and crannies for items to be thrown into (which should hopefully mean less overall clutter).

Sometimes it’s good to remember that the simplest design can be the most eye-catching and interesting!

We love our adjustable Wall Shelving or our Kombii Rail and Shelf ranges for storage that is as practical as it is stylish.