Make Them All Open Shelves!

I found this picture of a kitchen on Instagram and I've been staring at it like a crazy person.

From https://www.instagram.com/beckiowens/ 
This is a very similar layout as MY kitchen. And just LOOK at those dreamy open shelves!



Ever since we changed the falling-off-the-wall cabinet to open shelves, I've been LOVING the look of it. And the way the counters, and that area of the kitchen, in fact, feels more open and airy.

And I'm thinking GAH! what if we replaced ALL of the cabinets on this side of the kitchen to open shelving?!

Budget wise, it would be small. Maybe $200, just a bit over. Not insane. And if we're renovating the kitchen at some point in the next year or two, it's the perfect opportunity to test if we want to try open shelves.

Here's another one with ALLLL the dishes ...
From Grit and Polish Dexter House

Am I nuts?

There seems to be two downsides with open shelving. And I've been thinking a lot about both.

First, it's A LOT to look at. Having cabinets is so awesome to hide all the craziness that's in your kitchen cabinets. You don't have to constantly fix the stack of bowls to make them look nice when they're behind closed doors.

Second, things get dusty and dirty in the open kitchen. I get that. The shelf we opened up now is starting to collect dust and the grease from the nearby stove and the oil from the bottles. It's an issue.

However, these shelves would store our everyday dishes. And we cycle through every dish almost everyday. Those stacks get down to nothing, so I'm not worried about them just sitting and collecting dust. And the items that don't get daily use would need to be stored elsewhere.

This weekend I sorted through those cabinets and removed what I could, just to see. And it seemed doable. I think we'd have a bit more space to work with without that funny angle in the corner.

And I spent some time staring at that corner and trying to imagine our Fiestaware dishes all stacked up. And all the bowls stacked up on the next shelf. Would it be fantastic? Would I get tired of sorting and fixing the items to look good? I'm not sure.

For now, I'll just stare at this photo and see if I can get Dave on board.

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