Open Kitchen Shelving... When do you need it?

Country Living

You'll know open kitchen shelving is right for you when:

1. You run out of cupboard space for dishes
2. The dumb builder made cupboards on either side of your kitchen sink an "option" and the previous buyer never thought she needed cups by her sink and opted for the media niche instead.
3.  You need a visual clue to run the dishwasher because your dish shelf is empty.
4. You don't care if anyone sees the hazy white film on  your glasses because you want neighbors to remark about them so your husband will break down and buy a dishwasher that works.
5. You're tired of hearing the cupboard doors slam when  your kiddos climb up on the counter and scavenge for chocolate chips or old sprinkles.
6. You have 6 kids.
7. You open the cupboard and stare inside trying to remember what you needed in that cupboard....

Sunset Magazine

Before having 6 children my dream kitchen consisted of granite counter tops, fancy cabinets with oodles of doors and knobs and a pantry the size of Rhode Island. Clean lines and hidden junk mean a well put together kitchen, right?
Container Store

 
Well fast forward to today: I fix 24 meals a day... 24 meals a day not including snacks, dessert, or the neighborhood Stove Top Stuffing or Ovaltine soirees. Now imagnine how many cupboards I open, how many dishes I soil, how many times I wonder where that bowl got put away. Too many I assure you. Open shelves are efficient. Our family eats the equivalent to a neighborhood diner worth of food a day and we require a unique set up in the kitchen to meet our needs... shelves. If they're good enough for a restaurant, they're welcome over at this palace.
Southerrn Accent
 
If you're considering a low cost way of adding character and function to your kitchen, open shelving may be fore you... as long as  you don't feel  you need to keep every dish clean all the time just to make the shelves look right.  Just remember that the kitchens above are inhabited by photo stagers, not REAL cooking, cleaning, soup slinging mommies!