Installing Open-Concept Kitchen Shelves: Expectation vs Reality

Do you suddenly want to give your kitchen a revamp? Right now, you may find ideas coming from all sides; are you thinking about a change of furniture, countertop or paint colours?

While you’re still wondering about the shape of your renovation project, you may consider removing your old, outdated cabinet doors to leave dishes in plain view. Are you trying to determine if this is a good idea? 

Kitchen: installing open-concept shelving

Display your most stylish dishes!

Although closed cupboards are often the norm, the fact remains they hide the most beautiful dishes. Removing your cabinet doors will obviously allow you to display your collection. However, it’s important to consider if you want things to be visible. Of course, beautiful plates and finely decorated cups will look great in plain sight. Not to mention, the result will be all the more satisfying and visually pleasing if you have a matching set of tableware.

However, this isn’t always the case. Over time, it’s possible for items to accidentally break and therefore need to be replaced. If such is the case, you must take into account that presenting a random variety of items could look disorganized. Since this is rarely the desired outcome, you could end up disappointed if you decide to take on this project.

Does this mean you have to give up with this idea? Not necessarily! If you're still interested, there are several options to try instead. First off, if you have the budget for it, you could simply decide to replace your old dishes with new ones. If you choose to do this, be sure to select colours and patterns that match with the kitchen's design.

Otherwise, all is not lost! You could also decide to remove only part of the cabinet doors (ideally the top ones) and keep the bottom cabinets closed. This will create the opportunity to choose what’s visible and what’s hidden. So your old dishes, pots and pans will be close by without being constantly on display.

Obviously, for the result to be interesting, you should try to separate your collection of dishes by colour or model. Everything will naturally seem more organized and pleasant.

Refine your decor

You may think that removing cabinet doors will immediately give your kitchen a fresh and clean appearance. While this preconceived idea certainly has some truth to it, the fact remains that this expectation may not materialize.

This is especially true if you have a large number of cups, plates and bowls to display. In this regard, we must always keep in mind that it’s important to respect a specific balance between the area available for presentation and their number.

To enjoy a minimalist aesthetic, it will take much more than removing the doors! You’ll also need to sort through your possessions because too many items will look overloaded and messy. This will allow you to optimize the advantageous effect of open-concept shelving that offers the perception of a larger space. Indeed, open-concept cabinets are known for their ability to visually enlarge the space.

Revamp the kitchen without buying new cabinets

There is no doubt that the appearance of open-concept cabinets is very different from that of closed models. Removing the doors effectively adds a fresh touch to the kitchen decor while avoiding the purchase of new cabinets. This is certainly great news for your wallet!

However, it’s important to remember that changing handles and hardware or applying a new coat of paint may be necessary if you’re looking to carry out a major transformation. Therefore, these costs must be taken into account when establishing a renovation budget.

What about dust?

If there is one major point of consideration regarding open-concept cabinets, it is the inevitable accumulation of dust. Unfortunately, this expectation tends to be true! One thing you have to ask yourself is whether you will be able to be rigorous and clean your cupboards more often than what you are used to?

If so, that settles the issue once and for all. However, if dusting is at the bottom of your priority list, you’ll probably be annoyed to see dust build up faster.

Looking for more information on this subject? Check out our other articles:

• Open-concept shelving: 6 things to know

• How to install open-concept shelving