24 Open Kitchen Shelving Ideas

Kitchens can be a reflection of your personality, and installing open shelving is a way to highlight your individual style. Dishes, kitchen gadgets, and accessories are not only functional, but can be aesthetically pleasing, so why not show them off? What’s more, using open shelves is a cost-effective option compared to purchasing new upper cabinets, if you’re planning a kitchen remodel or cabinetry upgrade. Check out some open shelving ideas to incorporate into your kitchen. 

Design Concepts

Browse through some bigger picture design concepts and aesthetic ideas to incorporate into your space.

1. Symmetrical and Expansive

Create symmetry in your kitchen using open shelves on both sides of a designated focal point. This space is balanced by equally placing shelving on both sides of a large farmhouse sink. The expansive top shelf over the window ties the shelving together and serves as a spacious location to display decorative bowls and pitchers.  

2. Modern Farmhouse Aesthetic

Mix rustic and modern for a functional, yet stylish kitchen atmosphere. Sleek modern lower cabinetry coupled with homey open shelves brings the best of both worlds together. Take advantage of the openness in the space by showing off your personal style by making intentional choices about the accessories you display on the shelves. Don’t stop at kitchen gadgets either. Use the floating shelves to display books, artwork, and trinkets to give the room some character.  

3. Industrial Vibes

Bring industrial interior design concepts to life by incorporating utilitarian elements throughout your kitchen. Natural wood shelves installed on an exposed concrete wall are the perfect backdrop to store kitchen odds and ends. Affixing the shelves to vertical brackets gives you the ability to easily change the height if your storage needs ever change. Soften the industrial look by adding botanical touches around the shelves.

4. Minimalist Design

Stick to showcasing only the necessities, and let the room’s architectural elements be the focus. Using simple open shelves, and only filling in the space with the most necessary items gives a contemporary, minimalist feel.

5. Open and Airy

Sometimes open shelving isn’t the most practical option for every kitchen layout. If you like the look, keep some of the upper cabinetry installed and fill in the remaining spaces with open shelves. This setup solves two problems at once—providing an open and airy atmosphere for ornamental pieces while keeping less decorative items tucked away behind closed doors.

6. Removed Cabinet Doors

Still not completely sold on the open shelving kitchen trend? Rather than taking down cabinets and installing all new open shelving, remove the doors from your existing cabinets instead. This provides a similar appearance and gives the opportunity to try on the look before fully committing to open shelves. 

Open Shelving Materials

You can use various materials for the shelves to provide a different look within the space. 

7. Blended Materials

Continue the cabinet material to the open shelves to create cohesiveness within the space. This whitewashed paneling on the cabinetry carried onto the shelves highlights the architectural lines in the room, while providing a modern-coastal look.  

8. Modern Glass Elegance

Switch up the traditional wood shelving, and opt for glass instead. This can work particularly well in small kitchens by opening up the space and allowing natural light to pass through the shelves, drawing the focus upwards. The sleek, thin glass coupled with stainless steel hardware provides a modern aesthetic and creates clean lines within the kitchen.

9. Chunky Wood Floating Shelves

Floating shelves are a popular kitchen decor trend, as they hide the attached hardware, providing a clean silhouette in the space. Thick light wood shelving against counter-to-ceiling marble stone gives a chic and elegant look when paired with darker blue lower cabinets.

10. Live Edge Floating Shelves

Embrace the texture and grain of natural wood by opting for shelves with an exposed edge. This brings warmth and dimension to the space and can work with a variety of kitchen design styles, ranging from modern farmhouse to minimalist. 

Accents and Colors

Personalize the shelving by adding both functional and aesthetically pleasing accents.

11. Creative Utensil Storage

Gone are the days when your potato masher or oversized serving spoon gets stuck in the utensil drawer. Instead, create a storage solution by installing a rack where cupboards once were to hang utensils, so you can easily grab them while you’re cooking or baking, and free up valuable drawer space.

12. Bold Tile Backsplash

Use the open shelving design as a way to highlight backsplash tiling. A simple hack for a kitchen without cabinetry is to continue the tiling up from the countertops to the ceiling without interruption. Make the tiling the focal point by adding an understated open shelf and contrasting bright white kitchen accessories to draw attention upwards. 

13. White-On-White Color Scheme

An all-white kitchen is a timeless color scheme that brightens up the room and can make the space feel larger. Continue the white paint from the walls onto the open shelves for a seamless transition. Keep consistent with the color scheme by choosing white ceramics to store on the shelves for a cohesive look.

14. Designated Spice Rack

Show off your spice collection by storing it in glass containers on open shelves. Embrace organization and order by keeping other pantry items in see-through canisters, so all of your essentials are in an easy-to-reach location. Be sure to add labels to the jars so you can quickly distinguish between your parsley and tarragon.

15. Illuminated Shelving

Show off your kitchen gadgets and mementos by illuminating them. Adding lighting to your shelving is a quick upgrade that makes a big impact. Learn more about some kitchen cabinet upgrades you can make if you are considering a remodel or revamp. 

Alternative Storage Solutions

Think outside the box when choosing shelving for your kitchen. You can use different units and storage solutions to create open shelves without having to change the entire layout of the kitchen cabinetry.

16. Creative Mug Display

Shelves that are traditionally used in other rooms in the home can also make sense in the kitchen as well. For example, entryway shelving works well in the kitchen, as the coat hooks underneath can dual as coffee mug hangers, so you can keep your collection on display. 

17. Featured Accent Wall

Pick a wall in the kitchen to serve as a focal point by creating an accent wall. You can use wallpaper, tile, or reclaimed wood to get the look. Highlight this wall even more by adding open shelving, rather than covering it with upper cabinetry. Pale beige and white check patterned wallpaper pairs well with natural wood shelving, and the patterned kitchen accessories give a charming touch.

18. Freestanding Baker’s Rack

If you have the floor space in your kitchen, set up a baker’s rack to add open shelving. This modern freestanding unit is both functional and chic and uses up vertical space to store various kitchen essentials. 

19. Wall-Mounted Unit

Opt for a wall-mounted shelving unit to function as open upper shelves in your kitchen. This multipurpose rack is big enough to hold mugs, bowls, and trinkets, and has horizontal reinforcements so you can safely store ceramic plates without worrying about them falling down.

20. Bright and Spacious Hutch Storage

Use a kitchen hutch to serve as an open shelving storage solution in the kitchen. Keep bulky, awkward-sized items in the bottom cabinets behind closed doors. Then, remove the upper doors on the hutch to display dishes and other visually appealing kitchen trinkets. This setup sticks to a cool and neutral color scheme to provide a cohesive look in the space. 

21. Island Open Shelving

Don’t forget about your island ‌to expand your storage options. Make the island a focal point of the room by choosing a color that contrasts with the rest of the cabinetry in the room. Adorn the open shelves with chic woven baskets for a tidy way to hold your odds and ends.

22. Built-In Nook

Put empty space in a nook or alcove to use by creating built-in shelves. Store a stockpile of frequently used ingredients and nonperishables in the unit so you can reach for them in a flash. What’s more, having them out in the open gives you the ability to easily take inventory of your supplies and know when you’re running low. 

23. Exposed Pantry

Keep your pantry shelves open for easy access to any supplies you may need. Promote organization by investing in bins and canisters to house dry goods, such as flour, sugar, and pasta. Keeping an open pantry will remind you to restock your favorite items when you run out, and encourage experimentation by using supplies you already have.

24. Functional Corner Space

Fill in corner space with open shelving to provide a kitchen storage solution for larger-sized items, such as vases, decanters, and carafes. Not only can you use these shelves to display decorative pieces, but it can save valuable counter space by keeping these items within view, but out of the way.