5 Reasons I Love My Kitchen Open Shelves
When we moved in our house four years ago, I knew one of the first rooms I wanted to do a makeover on was our kitchen.
Wasn’t it beautiful?! 
I also knew that one of the first things I wanted to do was remove the soffit and upper cabinets and install open shelves.
Now my kitchen looks like this…
I LOVE my open shelves!!
When I shared them on my blog, most readers loved them too.
However, I had some readers not like the idea of open shelves, and that is totally fine.
And every now and then, I get a comment or email asking me if I still like my open shelves, or if they get dirty easily.
Well, I am hear to tell you that almost four years later, I am still in love with my open shelves and here are four reasons why.
1. All of my dishes are easy to reach.
I love being able to just reach up and grab a dish or cup that I need. I have the dishes that I use on a daily basis on the bottom open shelf.
There is no time wasted opening and closing doors. I just grab and go.
2. The shelves are easy to Decorate.
Open shelves literally decorate themselves. To me, they look beautiful just full of white dishes, and if that was all I ever wanted to do, that would look great.
But just add a few red dishes to the white ones, and boom, you are ready for Christmas! 
In the spring, I put the red dishes in my pantry, and bring out more springy dishes.
Open shelves look great with baskets on them which makes for a lot of extra storage. I like to store my linen napkins in my baskets.
3. My open shelves keep me organized.
Like I said above, I only keep out the dishes that I use the most. The rest of my dishes that I only use every once and a while or on special occasions are in cabinets in the laundry room off of the kitchen.
I am amazed at how many kitchen items I almost never use! Open shelves help me keep away the clutter. When I had cabinets with doors, I would stuff them full of stuff because I knew that no one would really see it, and boy were they a mess!
4. It makes it easy for guests.
Have you ever been over someone’s house, and you are trying to help out in the kitchen, but all you keep saying is, “Where’s your bowls?” and “I don’t know where your glasses are?”
Not at my house! Everything is easy to see and easy to find, and I love that my guests do not have to ask me where everything is. I hope it makes them feel more comfortable in my home.
5. They are so easy to clean and the dirt can’t hide!
So, it always seems that the main reason that people don’t like open shelves is because they say they would be hard to keep clean.
Not true. Yes, they do get dirty, but not like people think.
Every couple of months, I just take a cloth and cleaner and wipe them off. No big deal.
And the good thing is that my shelves look clean all the time, even if they aren’t.
I also like that my shelves are white, so that when they are dirty, I can see the dirt and get rid of it. I’m glad the dirt isn’t hiding on dark wood cabinets.
So there you have it! Those are the reasons I am still loving my open shelves.
What are your thoughts about open shelves?
Love ‘em? Hate ‘em?
I couldn’t agree more. I copied your and added to my kitchen! Love them!
Our kitchens are very similar and I, too, LOVE my open shelves! I am a bit of a neat-freak and my kitchen makes it easy for me to stay on top of dust and clutter. I’m 47 and something happened in my 40s where I am becoming more and more of a minimalist in decorating. I don’t miss upper cabinets because I like how large and open my kitchen seems without them. I also don’t NEED upper cabinets. For an item to be in my kitchen, it has to work hard to earn its spot.
Exactly, I have only what I need on a daily basis on my shelves, and it helps so much! ;)
I am 100% certain I will have open shelves in our next home. It seems like it will be so much more efficient and the bonus is I can switch things out for a change.
Thanks for highlighting the benefits of open shelves!
Thank you, Deborah!
I guess I’m the odd ball, I don’t like open shelves. I had them when we remodeled a kitchen because my husband could never get around to finishing the doors, until we moved out!!LOL! Plus they always have to look organized or to me it just looks messie!! But that was back when I had four little ones around all day so just didn’t have time to keep up!! Thats just me.
I think they look great Traci. I was concerned about all the dust and having to clean more. But you answered that concern ;-)
I love how they look and the ability to change only a few items seasonally. Dust is everywhere anyway and since you use these items they stay fresh and clean.
If it makes your heart smile, I say go for it.
I’m sure some folks wont like my decor on the cabinet tops- when I get around to posting it and thats fine. I like it and look at it all day so what I like is really all that matters.
Amen! Thank you, Sonny! :)
I love them for the very same reasons that you do…and I would also love them in that it would force me to downsize my inventory of dishes and glassware!…I agree, I have a welsh cupboard in the dining room and the dust is not too bad!…Beautiful kitchen.
Thank you, Shirley!
I just wanted to tell you that after seeing your open shelves a couple of years ago, I knew that is what I wanted to do in our kitchen. We bought the home I grew up in from my parents, and with it we inherited a very dark 80’s kitchen. I am happy to say that after a year and a half of my husband building all the doors and drawers himself and tearing out the old upper cabinets, we now have a beautiful open kitchen and I LOVE my open shelves. It makes you love the dishes you have because they are always on display, it makes you keep only what you need so you are less cluttered, and it just makes you smile looking at your organized kitchen even when little ones create chaos throughout other parts of the home!
That is awesome, Sam! I am so glad you are loving your open shelves too! :)
Your shelves are lovely. I have white cabinets, and the main reason I love them is because I *can* see any dirt right away and wipe it off. I often use a Mr. Clean magic eraser on them while I’m waiting for something to finish cooking.
Your kitchen is STUNNING. It did a complete 180. I’m not sure I could keep shelves like that looking so beautiful and uncluttered but you certainly do! Excellent job.
what is the 5 th reason
I want your kitchen with the open shelves!
Love your beautiful, cheery white shelves!! I love how you can easily switch seasons with just a few “brush strokes” of color. Your simply elegant kitchen reminds me of the years I lived in France. Generally speaking, Europeans tend to be minimalists who keep only the most beautiful, high quality items that bring them joy… I hope to move in that beautiful direction some day soon once my little people are less enamored with Hello Kitty and soccer plates and cups, etc. : )
Thank you, Laurie! I agree that simplicity is best! I do still have a few of those ugly plastic cups for my youngest boys, but I hide them in my lazy susan. It makes them easier to reach for my little guys. :) Thanks for stopping by!
While I am no fan of open shelving, your kitchen looks a thousand times better and so welcoming with them. Such a lovely space.
Open, airy, with a lightness of spirit! Quite beautiful! What kind of shelves are these and where did you get the shelf brackets from? I am currently in the middle of kitchen remodel and know ai thinks I want open shelves!
Hi Carolyn!
We purchased the corbels from Home Depot, and the rest of the wood from Lowe’s. My husband and I built the shelves ourselves. Thanks!
I loved them then and now. I only found you again through your FB page which took me to this link. When I directly enter beneathmyheart.net I get take to Sept. 16th. I really thought you’d stopped posting. What’s up with that? It’s only your site. Are others having this problem? I also no longer get notices of posts to Organize and Inspire. Do you still keep that site up, as well?
Hmmmm.that’s weird, Teresa. I haven’t had anyone else tell me that. I will send this to my tech guy. Maybe you need to clear the cache on your computer? Let me know if it still isn’t working for you about a week from now. Sorry for the inconvenience, but thanks for letting me know!
I am so glad you wrote this post! I am planning to paint my cabinets white and toying around with removing two upper cabinets right above the dishwasher to add open shelving for my everyday dishes. Not on the fencepost anymore!
Your open shelves are beautiful. I plan to do the same when the time comes. My question for you….do you still love your counter?
Yes! Absolutely! It still looks great and warms the kitchen up so much! :) Thanks!
I can’t believe it’s been four years! Seems like yesterday. I love the open shelves and plan to have them in my next home.
Your kitchen looks nice but open shelves are not for me. I’ve had them for years & so much dust & grease from cooking sticks on the dishes & shelves. My house is going up for sale in the spring & I’ll be looking for nice cabinets to store everything in the next home.