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rjqj

Should I take out the upper cabinets and put in floating wood shelves?

rjqj
6 anni fa

Here are some before and afters of our kitchen reno my husband and I did (with the last picture being some sort of inspiration for my idea).

We bought the house in August of 2017 and started the reno right away. We did the majority of the work ourselves (except for putting the beam in the ceiling to replace the structural wall that was removed and building the island -which has been painted a dark navy blue since these pics have been taken). Since our budget was tight, we kept the existing cabinets and doors (they were in really good shape, albeit greasy and grimy and a little smelly, but a good scrubbing and painting took care of that), and spent the majority of the budget on the quartz countertops. Now that we've lived with the new kitchen for about 5 months, my question is this: Should I take out the upper cabinets and put in floating open wood shelves to help it seem more spacious? I feel like the wood would bring in some warmth and dimension. And, no, I don't regret painting the cabinets. It was much too dark since the kitchen is a small U-shape. I know open shelving is a very polarizing topic on Houzz but I would love to get some feedback. My husband's not feeling it, but I can tell he could be swayed. Does anyone regret swapping out their cabinets for open shelving?





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Risposta in evidenza
  • wiscokid
    6 anni fa

    What I have done (in two houses now) is taken off the doors on some of the uppers to give the appearance of open shelving - this allows you a trial run to see if it works for your lifestyle first. If you love it, do the shelves; if you hate it, throw the doors back on.

    Commenti (34)

    • melmolaski
      6 anni fa

      I think it looks great as is. Nice job! The upper cabinets give your small kitchen a clean look and open shelving could make it look too busy.

      rjqj ha ringraziato melmolaski
    • User
      6 anni fa

      I think it depends on how much cabinet space u actually need. I personally think I’d rather have the cabinet space than the wood but I do think wood shelves would look nice too. Ur kitchen turned out beautiful! nice n bright! Love it, good call. :)

      rjqj ha ringraziato User
    • auntthelma
      6 anni fa

      Nice job on the re-do! I know if I had redone my whole kitchen 7 months ago, I wouldn't want to go back to the drawing board and redo it again! I think it looks great. A huge improvement.

      If you lose the upper cabinets, where will you put all your stuff?

      rjqj ha ringraziato auntthelma
    • User
      6 anni fa
      Ultima modifica: 6 anni fa

      Agree with the others...Think about it. You can cram a lot of stuff into a cabinet and shut the door. Open shelves, while lovely, WILL have some empty space because you have to arrange things to be somewhat pleasing.

      I think what's bothering you is the flat expanse of white of your cupboards. So what I would do is put some nice wood shelves across your window. Win win. And yes....beautiful job you did there!

      rjqj ha ringraziato User
    • cs929
      6 anni fa

      That is a very attractive "after!" Good job.


      I like open shelves but I don't think your kitchen should have them. To me it feels like you would lose some needed storage space. There's a lot to be said for being able to close the door on your storage, rather than worry about constant "curation."


      I do take your point about wanting to add some warmth and dimension. Have you thought about hanging plants near your window, or some window treatments? I also like the idea mentioned above of putting a wood shelf across your windows.

      rjqj ha ringraziato cs929
    • jhmarie
      6 anni fa

      Your wood floor keeps your kitchen warm. You might consider a roman shade or faux roman shade just to add a little more color - but not at all necessary. I don't mind a few shelves in a kitchen - mostly for decor, but your space looks tight on storage and I would be careful of loosing what you have. It looks very nice.

      Roman shade:

      Mine is actually a faux roman shade:

      https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~110720042

      You can also place a wood cutting board or colorful tray against the backsplash if you want to add a bit more wood or color without infringing on the work space.

      rjqj ha ringraziato jhmarie
    • Jennifer
      6 anni fa
      I think your kitchen looks very nice. How about adding more wood accents ( paper towel holder, cutting boards etc.) and a rug with warm tones?
      rjqj ha ringraziato Jennifer
    • auntthelma
      6 anni fa

      My friend put a plate rack in front of his window. (VERY tiny kitchen.) Consider that if you are considering the shelf in front of the window.

      Another idea, replace two of your cabinet doors with glass doors. Less construction, same look.

      rjqj ha ringraziato auntthelma
    • SarahC24 C
      6 anni fa
      If it were me I would
      1) get some warmer feeling decor, lots of wood tones and stuff with color! Also get some flowers to put somewhere on the counter to make it more colorful! Like the inspo picture you gave!
      2) put a more colorful patterned rug if possible, something you like!
      3) maybe change out the kitchen cabinet handles if possible because they kinda look extremely IKEA modern and that doesn't seem to be the style you want.
      4) I like open shelves a lot and if you can keep it clean and nice like that picture go for it! But I honestly think it's a fad that will go away in the coming years.
      It's also not practical when you have kids imo. And if you keep food in the cabinets it might look cluttered
      rjqj ha ringraziato SarahC24 C
    • Diana Banks
      6 anni fa

      Looks great! You guys did an amazing job. I would not sacrifice the upper cabinet space. Your kitchen doesn't look cramped to me, and open shelving looks great in magazines but doesn't work for real life IMO.

      rjqj ha ringraziato Diana Banks
    • Judy Mishkin
      6 anni fa
      Ultima modifica: 6 anni fa

      i did the 'take off a couple doors' experiment, and then after a year went ahead with official doorless cabinets for a redo.

      every house is a different amount of dusty. my previous house was dusty INSIDE the cabinets anyway.. no idea how it got in. if i were still in that house i'd think anyone considering open shelves to be totally nuts. this house, not dusty.

      so, yeah, unscrew your doors again. arrange your things how you find them to be acceptable. live with it a few months.

      here's mine, i just took this picture with no cleaning or straightening. if you dont try to put too much on them, they stay looking really nice.

      i can unload the dishwasher straight onto the shelves, which is why i wanted them that way. i hate opening and closing doors.

      rjqj ha ringraziato Judy Mishkin
    • mshutterbug
      6 anni fa
      Ultima modifica: 6 anni fa

      First of all, you did AWESOME! Really great job!
      I'm a huge fan of open shelves like you posted. I'm currently trying to decide if I can make them work in my new kitchen. The problem is, I don't want to store my necessary items on them. I would want them purely for a few minimal decorative things. I suspect in your situation you probably use all of your upper cabinet space? If that's the case I probably wouldn't remove the uppers. I personally like to be able to close the cabinet door on all that stuff.

      If you don't have much in your upper cabinets and/or are super neat, it could work. But if you cram the shelves full of stuff it will just make the room look smaller I think. The way it looks now I think makes it seem as though you have ample storage space, even though as you said it's not a large kitchen. At the very least, if you really want to move forward with floating shelves, I love the suggestion to remove doors and live with it for a bit before you make a decision.

      I would suggest some woven shades though in the same tone as your floor. I think it would really help to warm up the space. This is my old kitchen and I loved it. I'm no designer, but I tried to add touches to warm it up.

      Good luck!

      rjqj ha ringraziato mshutterbug
    • PRO
      GannonCo
      6 anni fa

      Floating shelves take a lot of engineering to work. People don't take into account how quickly pates and glasses add up weight wise. Those pics of simple 3/4 board shelves will not support that weight and will bow if not fail. Brackets that attach to studs are expensive at about $100 for say a 48" shelf. From there you have to still build a shelf that can support that weight. Building torsion box shelf is the best design but again there are added costs.


      People ask about a simple 4' shelf and look at you like your crazy when you explain it will be about $400 and up depending on the species of wood used.

      rjqj ha ringraziato GannonCo
    • rjqj
      Autore originale
      6 anni fa

      Wow! I've been using Houzz for years and this is the first time I've needed to ask for advice (our last house was just our starter and I wasn't as invested in it as I am with this one since this is our "forever" home) and I'm so grateful for all the feedback! Thank you everyone! I think that you are all correct in saying that the open shelving is not needed (not to mention a lot of extra work! We still have lots left to do to the rest of the house!) and if I still feel the urge, I may just take off a few doors and see how that feels. To answer all the questions about storage, we have a large closet to the left of that black door next to our fridge that we want to turn into a pantry for food. mshutterbug, I like the idea of the woven window treatment in the same tone as my floor. I think that will help a lot! And a warmer toned rug as Jennifer and Sarah mentioned! Thanks again!

    • kootenaycapable
      6 anni fa
      I think changing the window trim to wood would help to warm it up.
      rjqj ha ringraziato kootenaycapable
    • romai
      5 anni fa

      Late to the conversation, but IMO floating shelves across the longer wall would indeed make the space more spacious, so long as they weren't cluttered. Open shelves need to be 'curated' to look good so you'd have to work out exactly what you'd use them for and ensure your storage needs will still be met. A compromise might be smaller L-shaped open shelves on either side of the window, leaving the balance of cupboards intact. I also think that just removing the two narrow cupboards on either side of the window would do wonders. It's always good to keep the area around a window open if you're looking to maximize the feeling of spaciousness. And I agree with the others about adding some wood, a warmer rug, a window covering for sure. Bare windows are great but IMO work best in large, expansive light-filled spaces. If you don't want to lose any light from the window you can do a dummy blind just across the top - just something to add a bit of contrast. Woven would work. I'd also suggest a potted herb or two.

      rjqj ha ringraziato romai
    • Aurora Tee (Zone 6a)
      5 anni fa

      You have done a wonderful job. Congrats! I painted my old cabinets and also removed some poorly designed uppers. One was an upper corner Susan that was impossible to use actually. The other cabinets were over a desk area. I made some walnut open shelving. The open shelves are just okay. But for my situation it was the best solution. But looking at your space, I would say you are better off with the upper cabinets than open shelving. You have both pretty and functional.

      rjqj ha ringraziato Aurora Tee (Zone 6a)
    • mathomson532
      5 anni fa

      Do you like to dust? Do you cook or heat with gas? If you answered no to the first question, and yes to the second, open shelving is a time waster. Replace your solid doors with glass doors -- costs about the same.

      rjqj ha ringraziato mathomson532
    • rjqj
      Autore originale
      5 anni fa

      mshutterbug, I got a bamboo blind for the window and it's great! Helps so much! Thanks!


      Jennifer and Sarah: I'm still looking for a runner with more warmth and colour; haven't found one that I like yet but I'm on the hunt!

      Here are some more before and afters:






    • Dawn Reid
      5 anni fa

      You've done a beautiful job! I really like your style!!

      rjqj ha ringraziato Dawn Reid
    • Aurora Tee (Zone 6a)
      5 anni fa

      Just to say once again, this is a really nice DIY effort. I also love your style and vision. I have been surveying others on how they painted their old cabinets. Can you also elaborate on the products and methods you used?

      rjqj ha ringraziato Aurora Tee (Zone 6a)
    • lesleycurl
      5 anni fa

      Beautiful job! I took out most of the upper cabinets and put open shelves in a tiny rental. The only reason open shelves work there is because the property management company provides all matching glassware and dishes (looks cohesive) AND the housekeeping service dusts the shelves and cleans the dishes every turn. Unless you like daily cleaning and dusting. I'd stay away from open shelves in a kitchen.


      If you don't believe me, put a nice wooden cutting board on your counter top as a wooden decoration for awhile and see how grimy it gets just sitting there. Multiply keeping that clean by how many items, plus the shelves you will be cleaning all of the time.

      rjqj ha ringraziato lesleycurl
    • msmvh
      5 anni fa
      Ultima modifica: 5 anni fa

      Love what you and your hubby did with your kitchen! It's very clean and uncluttered and the gray and white combination really updated the room. The wood floor adds warmth and the faucet and hardware on the cabinets add to the updated vibe. Congratulations on your new kitchen. All I would add are a vase of flowers that can be changed out seasonally. Would love to see more redesigns as you redo other rooms in your home/houzz. ;)

      rjqj ha ringraziato msmvh
    • rjqj
      Autore originale
      5 anni fa

      Aurora Tee, it was a little labour intensive but well worth the money we saved on replacing the cabinets completely. I started by removing all the doors and drawers, removed the old hinges and handles, scraped off any built up grime that had accumulated over the years (most of it was around the handle area if I remember correctly), cleaned them as best I could, filled in any dings or holes with wood filler (minus the existing handle holes since I just bought new handles that were the same length so we didn't have to drill all new holes), gave them a light sanding (to smooth out the wood filler as well as allow the primer to adhere to the doors), then primed them with either Bulls Eye or BIN primer (I can't remember which one I used, just that it said it would get rid of odours - the 40 year old cabinets were smelly!), then painted them with (I think) paint used for kitchens and baths until I was satisfied with the coverage...which meant several coats! They've held up well so far! The worst part was doing the inside of the cabinets, especially those deep corner ones! I probably wouldn't have bothered had it not been for the smell!

    • chiflipper
      5 anni fa

      Super nice job, you paid great attention to the prep work and it really paid off.

      rjqj ha ringraziato chiflipper
    • User
      5 anni fa
      Ultima modifica: 5 anni fa

      I think some floating shelves would look nice just on the wall right of the stove and leave the others, it would bring the wood element from the floor, door, and some furniture pieces into the kitchen more and be a nice break from it all looking too white and it will provide a pleasant view from the other areas in the home.

      rjqj ha ringraziato User
    • Nicole R Dsp
      5 anni fa

      Looks beautiful, nice work! Bamboo shade makes a huge difference. Your kitchen looks too small to remove the upper cabinets, I imagine that is valuable space. I also personally think open shelves only look good more so for decoration, actual usable items look too busy and cluttered for my liking. What about changing those pantry/closet doors to wood doors to bring more of that look in?

      rjqj ha ringraziato Nicole R Dsp
    • Laura Lenihan
      5 anni fa

      I have seen frosted glass doors in a white kitchen and it was beautiful. More contemporary and light than painted white solid wood cabinet doors. I love open shelves, but my mix of dishes would not look "pretty" and would require a whole new dish set. Nope. I think your kitchen is beautiful. Very open looking.

      rjqj ha ringraziato Laura Lenihan
    • Hannah Wolfson
      4 anni fa

      You've done a great job! This is a super cute kitchen. I know you've made a "wait and see" decision for now, but I vote for open shelving, just on the right hand wall (facing the sink). I think that would improve your view from the dining area to the kitchen--I don't love that you see the end of the row of cabinets on the right-hand side there. (On the left, I'd want to keep the cabinets that run around the refrigerator, etc.). If you take out one or two sections of cabinets and add shelves abutting up against the side of the cabinet remaining cabinet, you'd still keep the smooth soffits/trimwork up at the ceiling as it goes around the corner, but you'd break up the lines a little.

      rjqj ha ringraziato Hannah Wolfson
    • scrappy25
      4 anni fa

      Wonderful job updating the kitchen and that bamboo blind is the perfect final touch!

      rjqj ha ringraziato scrappy25
    • felizlady
      4 anni fa

      Cabinets with doors provide clean storage.....a must-have in any kitchen. Open shelving reduces what you can store, and you end up putting those things in the dishwasher because they get dusty or greasy. I would never give up any closed storage.

      rjqj ha ringraziato felizlady
    • petrablock
      3 anni fa

      yes

    • Jennifer
      3 anni fa

      looks so good!

      rjqj ha ringraziato Jennifer
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