It always looks great in photos or on condo tours, but it seems so impractical! I always think that I'd have to wash every dish right before using it because it would inevitably be dirty. Plus, who wants to worry about only owning pretty kitchen things that look good when displayed together? I think the real reason why it's a popular solution is that it's cheap for the builder or rehabber.

I love open shelving. So much that I'm looking for ways of incorporating it throughout the house. The kitchen will have some, far from the stove, built in cubbies in the bathrooms, and so on. I tend to buy things that are visually appealing and tend to go together anyhow.

As for expense, well it can be cheaper, but not always. Some of it's cheaper for us because we can do all the custom stuff ourselves. The cubbies in the master bath will go through to the walk in closet on the other side, closed off but serving both. The average homeowner would be taking a big risk trying this themselves and getting a builder to take something like this on could be tricky as well, as many don't want to risk an unsatisfied client if it's not what they thought it would be. And if it's even vaguely unusual most won't do it in a house that they're trying to sell for fear it will be seen as 'too weird'. Granted, shelves are cheaper and easier to install than cabinets, but you can do a lot with them. In the kitchen we're considering either wallpapering or tiling behind them. I like steel shelves (expensive) but painted wood is an option as well.

I'm in agreement about how impractical open shelving is. The dust factor is huge, and the aesthetics of display can be burdensome. Closed cabinets are way easier to live with.

Looks beautiful but the dust would drive me insane.

I really love this Idea. I have been trying to figure out a way to update my rental kitchen without spending a lot of money. The base cabinets are nice and I can live with them but the upper wall cabinets don't match the base, on top of that I think they are the ugliest cheapest cabinets in the history of cabinets. I think this is a perfect solution to my problem. Besides I have some awesome vintage kitchen ware I would love to display!

Beautiful examples. I do worry about the practicality for everyday items, but lovely for display pieces.

I'm torn on the open shelving idea. I like the idea of not having cabinets in front of me when I'm at the sink or stove, and I also like the idea of dish drawers instead of traditional cabinets. On the other hand, there are definitely some things that I'd rather keep hidden behind cabinet doors, and the dust problem is, well, a problem. I wouldn't want to have to wash a dish before and after using it, so I would probably stick to display pieces or those that only get used on special occasions. On the opposite end of that, I guess if you're putting your everyday dishes up there there's not time for them to get dusty. Those are my random thoughts. I have plenty of time to make a decision, as I am likely to renting for many years to come. :-p

Arg! I feel like people who have open shelving in their kitchens never actually cook - you get dust and grease particles all over your stuff if you have open shelves. The only exception to this is if you have a Welsh dresser well away from the cooker.

I really love the look of open shelving but not sure I want to go all the way. I think I might start small and see how I like that.

i love open shelving. who says you have to have "pretty kitchen things". stacks of dishes and glassware can be fun. nobody said it's an all of nuthin' deal. you can mix open shelving with cabinetry. just sayin'.

Actually, having open shelves would be quite practical for me because I cook a lot. Most kitchens don't have all open shelves, and mine won't either. Mine will hold mixing bowls, glass roasting pans, etc . . . that I use every day, sometimes multiple uses per day. They won't have time to get dusty because they're being used and washed constantly and it will be over a work/prep area which will be handy to just reach up and grab. I'm also considering open pot/pan shelves, wire most likely, under a wall oven, which again, will be handy to just reach down and grab.

We've had open shelves in our kitchen for several years now, and I think they are great. We keep the everyday dishes and serving pieces in there, and our dishes are nothing fancy - just a couple of place settings of white dishware, serving bowls, and platters from Target. (Or maybe even Wacama?) The uniform stacks of plates, bowls, and coffee cups, all of the same color, are super-convenient and easy to keep looking "organized." We cook full meals every day and entertain frequently, and no problems there - we use the dishes frequently enough that dust and grime don't accumulate.

One caveat, though: Our shelves are on the wall opposite from where our stove is. Our ventilation is terrible, and I do think that if the dishes were closer to our oven and stove, they would get much grimier, much faster. The functionality of open shelving (like so much else with kitchen design!) will depend entirely on the way that the kitchen is used, and will be different for every home.

Julia Child is generally considered a good cook, and half her kitchen was open storage.
Of course, she did use her very own "impeccably clean fingers" to taste food, so perhaps she is a bit too organic for the "yuck, open shelves" brigade.

I think open shelves work best when they're used for everyday items rather than display, for the dust/grease reasons mentioned. If you want to display infrequently used items, have glass cupboard doors.

I love the look, for sure, but my house is waaaay too dusty to have open shelving. I don't even have forced air or a pet and I'm a compulsive cleaner, but it still gets super dusty. Closed cupboards stand between me and total insanity. But I like to look at open kitchen shelving belonging to other people!
~Tanya
dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.com

Necessity (tiny rental kitchen with built-in open shelving) has prompted my boyfriend and I to use open shelving for our everyday dishes. I limit the pieces we keep there to things we really do use every day (select number of matching dishes) and thus are washed everyday and things like wine glasses which I'm happy to rinse/wipe down before using anyway.

Works for us!

I love the way open shelving looks, but I agree with most of the other commenters here - It's too impractical, at least for me. I have a dog, and I'd be scared of his fur getting all over our dishes! Some of my kitchen cabinets do have glass doors though, so I have a few spots where I can display my dishes AND keep them protected from dust and fur. ;-)

I am currently living with open shelving and I thoroughly dislike it. I do use the kitchen often and enjoy being able to see everything I have at my disposal, but the dust and clutter is just too much.

I have open shelving, and I think it's great. I haven't noticed grease anywhere, maybe because I use the hood when I cook. Dust does gather on stuff on the top shelf, which holds stuff I rarely use, but not on the shelves holding things I use on a regular basis.

We love our open shelving (and yes, we cook - what a strange assumption). In our small kitchen, it really opens up the space.

Dishes and whatnot are kept in drawers, and the shelves are great for showing off our lovely vintage jars, used to store loose goods. We also keep our glassware on the shelves. They're upside down, so no dust gets in them, and we haven't had a problem with grease at all (perhaps because we use a vent, like geckotoes). I also have three cats, and haven't had problems with cat hair covering every surface of my shelving.

We've had open shelving in our newly renovated kitchen for over three months now. In our house, atleast, the dust issue is a myth. We eat at home enough that the plates, bowls and cups are in constant rotation. So far so good. And we love how it opened up our modestly sized space. There's a picture here: http://settlingwest.com/?p=453

Although, the shelves are a little more full now than they were in those early stage photos.

Not for me. I couldn't stand the clutter of all that stuff showing.

Open Shelving isnt for everyone. As everyone has mentioned dust is an issue, as well as how many people have dishes that are matching and beautiful enough to be on display all the time?

But for those homes and cooks who like everything within arms reach, as well as have beautiful shelves and dishes to display, open shelving can be gorgeous and functional!

Thanks APT for using the first image from my site at Stagetecture. :)

I like the compromise of glass doors, you can see the pretty stuff inside but the dust doesn't settle. Easier to clean a bit of glass than all those separate items.

I don't have any cabinets at all in my current early 20th c. kitchen, instead a pantry with all open shelves. It has a lot of charm, if not convenience.