I am all for mixing woods, but if your kitchen is all white, mixing woods at this point will not look right. Post a photo of the area you are talking about. Thanks.

I would say stainless as my first choice(assuming you have some stainless in your kitchen) or glass.

I had those shelves in my old kitchen. These are the only pictures I have, so I can't give you a close up:

{{!gwi}}

again, on the far right:

{{!gwi}}

#1 I'll say color match the white. Having them a different color will just highlight them, I would seriously doubt that anyone would be able to tell they were a "different" color once it's all put together and things are on the shelves.

#2 I didn't love those shelves. They were so small they could only hold knick knacks -- but then, I'm not a knick knack person!!

I agree that, if you put them in, they need to be white--and how hard could it really be to match?

I also had them in my "before" kitchen and found them to be junk magnets. I felt no inclination at all to put more in when I remodeled.

I kinda like them.

I would make them white - and I agree with holligator, why would it be tough to match? I have them in my current kitchen and put small picture frames, small frames and some candles. I am NOT a nick-nack lover, but this gave me a space to put my blue accent colors - and at least it was off the counters!!

I having little shelves like that installed in my new "old" kitchen. The painter is taking a sample of the cabinet enamel to the paint store to get a color match.

Thanks to Michellemarie, Momof3kids, Holligator, Mairin, Chachashea: These are exactly the kind of shelves I mean and I really think they should be white as well (Mahlgold: no stainless in the kitchen). I will talk to our contractor to see if he can take a drawer or something to the paint store and match the color as closely as possible - it shouldn't be that hard. I'm not really a knick-knack sort of person either but I have a few small things that I would like to display and these would do perfectly. Thanks again to all!

I love them. :)

This is not the best quality photo, it's a scan of an image I printed off the Kitchens We Love website a long time ago (the site seems to be gone now so mediocre scan is all we get).

I like the retro quality of these shelves, and I don't think it would be all that difficult to color match your existing paint color. HTH.

Frankoma: thanks for posting the picture - another good example of what I want!

I've been looking everywhere trying to find those old-fashioned shelves you're talking about. Where did you find yours and were they expensive?

I have had the original side (rounded) shelves in my 1940’s kitchen with the original metal cabinets for the past 20 years. I painted them yellow and they have the original stainless around the edges. I am now remodeling my kitchen- getting new wood cabinets in white & I am having my cabinet maker replicate the original shelves! 9” on each side. Also keeping my massive 5’ x 2’ sink!! I am debating between 1.) painted white (same as cabinets) or 2.) painted a different color like yellow or blue to match a color in my curtains, or 3.) my third option is to stain them to match part of my peninsula & my dining room table (dark walnut.) What do you guys think? 1, 2, or 3?