I have a wimpy little pot rack, and plan a honking big one. I like hanging my pots, can't be bothered to dry them after washing, and don't mind the look for the most part. You still need a solution for lids, exceptionally large pots, exceptionally ugly pots, and pots that can't safely hang (e.g. some bain maries).

Stylistically, tastes vary. I'm more drawn to the industrial look rather than wrought iron. But that's just window dressing.

Over the island, or on the wall? The former uses space that typically is serving no big purpose, the latter allows fancy pendants over the island but takes up useful space itself. I won't have an island, so no choice there.

In your kitchen, or at least how I envision your kitchen, I see an ornate gilded rococo sculpture of a pot rack - or maybe one of the more detailed wrought iron ones painted gold or copper. Fading fin de siecle grandeur and all that.

(Why can't this website cope with accented characters? Isn't that sort of a 4th grade sort of programming level?)

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Dang, you're right!

I love pot racks, as long as they're not over the stove.

We don't have a pot rack, but I have hung pots from a beam in the kitchen. Very handy! Unless you are short. It clears out so much cupboard space and makes selecting a pot a simple matter. I still needed a separate location for lids, oversized pots and cast iron ones (I didn't dare hang something THAT heavy over a spot where we walk under -yikes!)
Hanging them wet sent drips down my arms . . . It's amazing just how far one water droplet can travel, LOL. When the back door was open, if the breeze was just right, they would clank a little, kind of like a wind chime (?) Not too bad, really. Oh, and DH had to learn not to put a sweatshirt on in that part of the kitchen. He'd hit them when he put his arms in his sleeves. Putting the rack over an island should take care of that, though. : )
Are you fastidious about your pots? Is it for looks? Or for utility, or both? The pots can get dusty if you don't use them all the time. Will it irk you if something boils over and stains the pot and you don't have the time to give it a good scrub to put the shine back on, or won't it matter too much to you? So, that's my real-life unfancy answer. I love the ones you pictured.

Johnliu- LOL! It is surprising that there isn't the ability to accent characters, since GW has members from all over the globe! Gilded rococo might be a little too fancy, for my humble farmhouse. I love the wrought iron, but probably no gold or copper, although a few copper pans might look nice :)

Enmnm- I prefer pot racks, when they're not over the stove, too. That's one reason I was thinking of putting it over the island, where I can grab a pot and turn and put it on the stove.

Laughable- No, I'm not fastidious about pots! LOL We live on a farm, and try to keep things clean and dusted, but it's an uphill battle, especially when they're plowing the nearby fields :)

I do not have one over my island (or anywhere else in my house) but one of my friends has one similar to the last picture you posted. She absolutely hates it. She said she constantly has dust and tiny spider webs on it and it is a pain to clean. She also said that now she doesn't like displaying her less-than-pristine pots and pans.

I doubt that I could enjoy my kitchen without a pot rack. I like to see the pot I want, reach up for it, grab it, and use it. I don't mind if it is not perfectly polished. Now, I am not one who leaves stains or debris on the backs or bottoms or pans as some people do, but I do not polish pans every time I use them--every three to five uses is fine, depending upon tarnish level. Kitchens are to be used and signs of use are to be celebrated, not hidden, as far as I am concerned. Of paramount concern is proper structural support for the weight of the rack and pots. Get in the habit of hanging pans that you actually use and rotate their use. That way, none has the ability to collect a lot of dust (although during seasons with lots of wood burning in the fireplace or lots of agricultural dust blowing, if your area is like that, some dust accumulation may be inevitable. If that is the case, it will affect your whole home, not just your pot rack.). I have pot drawers, pot roll out trays, and pot cupboards, but it's the pot rack I turn to the most frequently.

There's also the issue of the fine line between hanging them high enough so that you can see your family members on the other side of the island (vs. you and they swaying back and froth to peer at each other through the pots), but not so high that you can't reach the pots easily, or put the pots back easily. Plus it's yet one more thing to clean and dust around. For me, I think I'd prefer not to have a pot rack, and just keep all the pots and pans in deep drawers, put away very nicely. That's just me.

KD- The structural support was one of my main concerns, too. It has to be strong enough to support the weight of the pots, someone grabbing one and maybe pulling a little too hard...and one of my cats, who will probably jump up and try to hang on to a pot, at least once! LOL

Chocolatebunny- Thank you for your input, but if dust and little spiders (non-poisonous) bothered me, I would be a wreck, living on a farm! In the fall, the baby spiders are all sitting on the fence wires and then drift around...it looks like something from the end of Charlotte's Web :)

Alwaysfixin- Good point about the height. I have wondered about that, since it's an eight foot ceiling. I'm 5'10" but I doubt I would hang all my pots, probably just a few sauce pans and other items, used most often. It's not a big island, so the pot rack would have to be in scale with that, too.

I had one in the pre-reno kitchen. It was a BIG Calphalon one. I had everything hanging on that baby. EVERYTHING. It was convenient.

But, I have 8' ceilings and it was as high up as possible. People were always hitting their head on pots (lots of tall friends and relatives and lots of really big pans)_. It was hard to see people on other side...we had to do the shifting thing to have conversations.

So, when we did the reno and we removed it I was so happy. I love how much bigger my kitchen looks now. It was really making the kitchen appear smaller because it was visually blocking the view. Not only did the cluttered pot rack go but so did all the stuff on top of the cabinets. I am very happy with the decluttered look.

Now with that being said, if you have the room and height in your kitchen, it is a great place to keep your pots. I wish I had a photo that really showed the pot rack. When I took my before photos, I realized I had to stand in certain places so that I could shoot the room without the pot rack monopolizing the photo and blocking the shot--the result? No photos with the potrack! lol

If you are interested in the really big Calphalon Oval Pot rack, I have one in the "I can't give this to Goodwill" pile.

The half-moon wall mounted racks are very nice also, and solve the head bumping problem.

I do not have one over the island, but I've got a bunch hanging by the rail near my stove.

Seriously, the best thing that ever happened to me and my pots. These are the pots I reach out to, every time, and I have not used my pots within drawers for years now.

From ergonomics perspective, it's awesome. But if you are a clean/neat freak then you'll hate the look or will find yourself cleaning them all the time. All my pots are Calphalon Anodized and Copper pots. When I started hanging them, I was prepared to see the patina over the copper, but I was not prepared to see ugly black stains on their bottom, due to direct heat contact.

As for me, I've resigned to it and function is more important to me than form. Besides, this is not the only eyesore in my current kitchen. But this is a serious issue in an otherwise pretty kitchen.

If you do choose to hang them though, I'd strongly recommend copper hammered pots. Nothing like shiny copper hammered pots for a rustic, country look!

Hi Lavenderlass,
Here are a few.
~boxer

Decorpad

Kitchen decorating Exchange

Builders Network

Elle Decor

Morris

Sen Design

Soapstone

The Meridian Co.

Hood under cab

Cook and Cook designers

Gold Coast Treasure

Mick De Giulio

Kraftmaid

Classic Twist

Crystal Cabs

Wow, Boxerpups, thanks...those are amazing! :)

Some of those look an awful lot like shower curtain rods for clawfoot tubs...

:O

Fori,
You make my day every day!!!!!!!
Laughter is truly the best medicine,
my cold is GONE.
~boxer

Boxerpups, I noticed that in EVERY one of the pics you posted, the pots are pristine, clearly never used even ONCE. Do these people never cook? Or are their pot racks strictly for decoration and effect, and their actual cooking pots are put away, likely in base cabinet drawers in their kitchens?

Always- The pot in the kitchen with the blue and white ceiling looks a little used, but most of them are probably new, for the photo shoot :)

New for photo shoot, or cleaned up in Photoshop.

Although, I pull all of my stainless into the dishwasher, and apart from the odd scratch here and there, are just as shiny as when they were new.

The Classic Twist photo of the copper pots and pans looks realistic.

I will try to post a picture of my pan rack (believe me, my pans don't look like those! I have a garden trellis mounted on the wall next to the stove, and we hang the copper pans from it - it's great, but we are blessed with lots of cabinet space and wall area.

Johnliu- I wasn't sure about your description, but now I think you may have been very close...this is a beautiful pot rack :)

It's listed as french bronze, but it looks like the antique brass faucet and hardware I've been considering. I really like it!

{{!gwi}}

Teehee.

Lass, that one is a winner. Frilly but not fussy. And not bathroomy at all!

Thanks, Fori! Definitely not a shower rod for a claw foot tub (LOL) and the lights look much more practical than some of the others I've seen! This pot rack is going to have pot handles bumping about, after all :)

On the other hand, there is this:

If you find the traditional ones are too dull.

I've seen it done, mostly in my friends kitchens who had remodeled in the late 90's early 00's and their biggest gripe about it was since they don't use ALL the pots every night sometimes they get dusty, and the shiny ones really show it off. Just one more thing you gotta keep clean! I decided against it because I had enough cabinet space around the range to load up all my favorites in there.

Fori- LOL!!!

This kitchen is pretty close to my 'dream kitchen' except the island would be a french blue. I don't know if I'll do the french bronze or the regular wrought iron, for sure, but I want to thank you all for your suggestions and input :)

{{gwi:1412555}}

OK, but I just want to be sure you realize that THAT is a chandelier and you ought not hang cast iron from it. :)

I don't have an island so mine hangs in front of a window. Used often, not photoshopped or setup for a photo shoot, & no dustier than everything else in the house. I wouldn't want a kitchen without some type of hanging pot rack.

I love them, but I have never had the right kitchen for it. My last kitchen was a galley and this one has low ceilings.

I think it is very much in keeping with your theme.

PS I've always loved the first photo from Boxerpups, with the wall of walnut wood nooks. I wanted to steal that look but can't make it work in my space. The other note I liked in that shot was the double towel racks on the island, which look to be from bathroom hardware. Though they might be in the way when you work at the island...

We've got the farm thing going, too. Dust is an ever-present "friend" here. I decided to post a picture of our beam when I had the pots hanging from it (please excuse my clutter, LOL) We're working on getting more storage built in to the kitchen, but it's not done yet. Our beam is 8' to the underside, and I simply hammered some nice strong long-shanked nails into it to hold the pots. Function all the way. : ) The pots were just high enough for us to walk under. Before you invest in a rack, you might want to measure and see just how far the pots would hang down after the rack was installed. I have a hard time feeling comfortable with objects in my head space-and I'm only 5' 4"! At 5' 10", your view may be through the pots rather than under them if the ceiling is 8 feet high.