Here you go. I love it!

{{!gwi}}

This is our previous kitchen. We changed practically everything except the postion of the sink and stove and ovens, and we kept the base cabinets they were in, but put in new drawers and doors. We added cabinetry around a new 4 foot Sub-zero fridge (I don't have a photo of that wall), and added the breakfast bar in then end of the kitchen that had held just a big table.

We took down the overhead cabinets everywhere except over the stove (which we redesigned to accommodate a range instead of the cook top that was there originally). I designed the brackets with the same profile as the crown molding, and we replaced the window trim over the sink with a much thinner one to gain several inches of shelf length. We put up a pot rack (which I will never be without again!) It worked for us because most of my everyday china is white, or has a white ground, and because our glasses and cups are very simple.

Sink wall & shelves:

Detail of brackets and window:

Breakfast/drinks bar:

Stove wall:

Setting the table and emptying the dishwasher was a joy. Because the shelves were away from the stove, and held the things we used most often, keeping them clean wasn't an issue. I did have to take the pitchers off the top shelf about once a month and wash them, but that was no bother.

Oh, boy, pps7 - I'm moving to YOUR house!
Gorgeous, simple, clean, functional, and look at all that counter space!!

I'm green!

Bronwynsmom, mind if I ask where you got those shelf brackets? I'm about to do a whole wall of open shelves, and want something a bit more decorative than the plain metal ones.

Franksmom, I designed them and my cabinet maker made them. I used the same profile as the crown molding. The edge detail is routed along both edges...that was his idea, and it gave them a nice tailored look, I think. The shelves had to hold a lot of weight, so the promary support is the 1X4 board that is painted the same color as the wall, to make it less apparent. The shelf and the brackets are all one unit with the boards, and there are heavy screws into the studs in those boards, and the holes were filled with wood putty before painting.

(I don't envy anyone who decides to take them down!! We left the construction specs in the file for the new owners.)

We call it anti-upperitis in the kitchen forum and there are many threads about it.
I am doing the only uppers over our fridge. The rest will be open chrome hotel/train type shelves on my sink wall (cleanup zone).
To get away with that, you need either a ton of lowers or to be able to put in tall "pantry" cabs or have a pantry handy. We will have enough of both to compensate for the loss of uppers. Our shelves will hold a bunch, but not as much as filled to the brim uppers would.

Well rats! I was hoping you'd say they were all over Lowes and Home Depot, and they were only $2 each! They turned out just lovely!

Yes, I wish I could have found them more easily! Thanks, Franksmom...but there are a lot of things around if you want something decorative.

If you have a lot of them, you might decide that simpler is better. I decided to tart ours up a bit because the kitchen was essentially small, and it was visible from almost every other room in the house. So I wanted it to look and feel more like a regular room, and for the cabinetry to have some aspects of furniture.

Take a look at VanDyke's - they have a zillion things you never knew you wanted!

Here is a link that might be useful: VanDyke's brackets

These kitchens are fantastic. I am trying to talk DH into at least some open shelving. You guys have great taste.
Question:
Brownysmom - is that a mirror backsplash behind your stove?

Sorry, but I'm going to be a naysayer here. I am wondering if these beautiful kitchens above are kitchens in which much cooking can be done without an awful lot of maintenance. Granted, I cook a lot, but I have a powerful exhaust fan that controls a lot of the "air grease" or whatever it's called and I still have filmy dust that collects on the tops of my cabinet doors, the top of the refrigerator, my open bookshelves with the cookbooks on it. Also, the windows in the breakfast nook get filmy much more often than the windows in the rest of the house.

If you're going to have open shelves to display all those beautiful things, it seems to me you must be prepared to wash the shelves and every item on every shelf at least once a month. Think about the ordinary dust that collects in the rest of the house and how often you have to dust that.

Just something to think about. I have beautiful German Water Glass in the doors of one of my cabinets, and it's beautiful. But even that requires more maintenance than the ordinary wooden doors do.

{{!gwi}}

Sherrman, I understand your reservations completely...but I cook seriously and all the time, and because of that, everything in the kitchen gets used, and therefore washed, frequently. In that kitchen, the breakfast bar was far enough away from the stove and its ventilation not to be affected very much...and the shelves over the sink wall did need cleaning about once a month...but it took maybe 45 minutes to unload them, clean them, and put everything back. So much easier to clean them than to get inside cabinets, and no cabinet bodies or doors to clean.

Eclecticme, yes. Here's what I did:
I made a foam-core template of the space (I allowed 1/8" all around, because, as you know, glass doesn't flex!) and took it to the glass guys, who cut me a mirror with a cut-out for the outlet. I also bought the mirror outlet plate from them. We put construction adhesive on the wall, let the top of the row of backsplash tiles support the mirror, walked it into place, and added a little strip of 3/8" quarter-round (painted to match the cabinets and attached to their undersides) under the two cabinets to snug it in. I love mirror backsplashes...they open everything up visually, add sparkle, are perfectly simple, and are the easiest thing in the world to clean.

I tend to agree with above poster about the maintenance of open shelving. While I love the look & style - I have a little in my home, and large section in our summer cottage - it is diminished by the amount of dust,grease, dirt that the lovely displayed items attract.

Think of your Flat panel monitor or LCD TV - nice glossy surfaces tend to attract dust,grease, dirt.

Good luck

We don't cook seriously everyday of the week, but DH is a great chef and he does cook quite elaborate meals several times a week.

All the plates/cups/mugs I have on the open shelves are run through the dishwasher every 2-3 days. The canisters, trivets and oil bottle used to be on the counter, so I don't think that makes much of a difference except to declutter counter space. Alot of people display their cookbook anyway and they are 7 feet from the range. The shelves themselves are salvaged elm shelves, so they are old, and beat up.

I'm not saying it's for everyone, but dust, grease, dirt really hasn't been an issue.

I love the mirror idea.

In terms of the maintance of the shelves, a few weeks ago I decided to take all my boxed goods out of my cabinets and put them in see thru jars. So, now the only thing thats in my cabinets are canned foods. Now my upper cabinets are a waste of space. I thought it would look great to remove the upper cabinets and add the jars to open shelves instead of on the counter. I wouldnt think that it would be any more maintance to have the jars on the shelves than on the counter. I would keep the plates and glasses in a closed cabinet. And, since I hate my cabinets, I figure it would be cheaper to replace with shelves raither than cabinets. Maybe Im wrong about that part though... I dont know.

{{!gwi}}

Love all the open shelving ideas. I have been trying to come up with an open shelving arrangement of plates and cups that looks good and is still functional. Newdawn1895, love the kitchen picture you posted. It looks so familiar. . is it Meryl Streep's from "Its Complicated?" (I watched that movie twice, the second time for the decor!)

Oh, my dears, don't get me started about that Santa Barbara house in "It's Complicated." I used to want Diane Keaton's beach house from "As Good As It Gets," but now I want that one.
I kept thinking, new kitchen? Building a big unnecessary addition in that perfect yard? Ah, but how else would she have found Steve Martin.

I do wish those movies would show the whole story...like the staff of six that clearly take care of the house and garden and laundry and maintenance and cars and prosperous business while the principals swan around falling in love and traveling and buying those wonderful clothes...!

Oh, my dears, don't get me started about that Santa Barbara house in "It's Complicated."

Or the fake garden.

I could never live with open shelves ... especially if they housed dishes and glassware. No way would I be willing to spend an hour every month to empty them and clean their contents.

Eclecticme, your collection of jars might be a different story. In fact in my former kitchen I had to keep my jar collection on the counter top for lack of better storage space. Now I'm thrilled to have room for them in the pantry.

I will put my display items in a glass arch of cabs that will be a room divider between my living room and kitchen.
The open shelves are for the everyday plates, bowls and dishes that get used a lot and will be in the work area but several feet away from the stove. I am using the hotel/train style chrome shelves that are rails and so there will be little to not dust on my semi-shelves.

I wanted open shelves partly for the look, but mostly so that our kitchen is guest friendly and it is easy for someone to grab what they want without going on an extensive hunt. I want our kids to hang out in our house and make their friends feel welcome as well. I'd rather know who my kids are spending their time with and feeding them will keep them coming back.
I spent years working in kitchens with open shelves and it was a very functional way to operate. Since items were not just sitting around, they did not collect dust. I want my kitchen to be a working kitchen that "happens" to be pretty. Of course, I am sweating out the look like crazy, but I don't want that to show in the finished product, lol.

One can always add wall cabinets after the fact if it does not work out. You can also go with a few key shelves and not your entire upper landscape. The beauty of owning your own home is you can do it your way ;).

Bronwyn's Mom...I see your "inspiration" piece sitting by the sink. What a beautiful kitty!

The kitchen is kinda cute, too. LOL It's to die for beautiful. I love, love, love the mirror behind the stove. Is it really ppossible to keep it clean?

It could never work in our house. We must not be the most organized people, but any open space such as a shelf or counter gets piled with "life"...dog treats, papers, mail, everything under the sun.

I like to be able to put all of my stuff in cabinets so that I don't have to deal with the visual clutter. We have an open shelf area and I hate it.

I suppose it just depends on your personal taste, and your personal habits. I would not be able to bring myself to wash all the dishes on the shelves once a week just to keep them clean, if they haven't been used. I'm so lazy, it's hard enough to load the dishes that DO need washed! LOL

No, my house is not dirty or anything, just not very on top of these things. I keep it manageable and clean but it is the most difficult room for me to do so. Open shelves would greatly complicate that.

But gosh, they look gorgeous in the pictures on here. You all did a wonderful job with your kitchens, very jealous!

The open shelf kitchen linked below is one of my all time favorite "happy" kitchens. The backsplash just makes me smile... and it belongs to one of our own - rococogurl.

Here is a link that might be useful: Yellow Eurosplash Kitchen

Natal & Krycek, I didn't have to wash the contents of the shelves every month...they got washed often because we used them all the time. I just took all the stuff down to clean the surface of the shelves once a month. I also had a pantry closet and an island, and I designed the upper drawers around the stove to hold all my spices and oils, with the less frequently used ones above, so I had the luxury of devoting a lot of space to everyday china and glass.

We have a lot of dinner parties, so having a separate area for bar things, coffee and tea, silverware, table setting stuff, and recycling (which is what went in the breakfast bar behind the table), and having all that stuff accessible, was great.

Alison, I love the colors in the kitchen you linked us to. I surrounded my fridge in a similar way, except that I made one side facing out for open slots for trays, baking sheets, platters, and all the other big flat things that are such a pain in cabinets; and the other side, which faced sideways to the door to the dining room, I made into a bookcase for my ridiculous number of cookbooks. That was nice because it created a little book-lined entry, and blocked the view into the kitchen from the dining room.

Oh - another note - a tip from Martha Stewart, which I adopted years ago:
The secret to protecting painted shelves is paste wax. After they were painted and had dried and cured for a week, I gave the top surface a coat of Butcher's wax. Kept the paint intact, unmarked, and easy to wipe clean. I do that to painted bookshelves, too. If I have to put things away before I'm satisfied that the paint is fully hardened, I put a piece of waxed paper under everything until then.

OT to the kitchen...but I have open bamboo shelves in my Tiki Lounge where I store all my clear glass beverage ware. I like the look and easy to access, but it gathers dust like a magnate and I have to do a lot of cleaning there.