Wow! That is gorgeous! What is your floor? Beautiful!

How strong a hood? How much do you fry? Everything on the shelves might just end up greasy. You could also put the shelves on the sink side.

Someday soon, Thankyou! The floor is antiqued hand dressed grey limestone. Love it

I think open shelving would look good, but involve frequent cleaning of the shelves and the items on them.

You could try without and add cabinets later if you miss them.

Go for it, but in my case I wouldn't buy a house without uppers -- I'm tall and LIKE having my dinner plates and glasses in uppers, closed off so its not noticeable that the glasses & coffee mugs may not match... In my case, I'm also leary about open shelving - my cats like exploring...

I don't think removing upper cabinets does much if anything to improve flow or function; it does make kitchens feel more open and is a different design aesthetic that some people will love and others will not. Agree that cleaning may become more of a chore with open shelves and the items stored on them (especially near the range where grease/food splatters are more likely). Where will you put plates and glasses? Every day items as well as china/crystal if you have them? It looks like you have a lot of drawers so maybe you'd want those customized accordingly.

I can think of 2 main reasons...storage space and grease and grime. Open shelving is not equivalent storage as it always has to look nice and decorated...far less functional. And the mess around a stove, esp if you cook a lot, will mean lots of cleaning of whatever is exposed.

If you like the look of open shelves, then put them on either side of the windows where at least they will get spared the grease.

Our kitchen layout is very similar to yours and we use the uppers above the DW and in the corner all the time for dishes as they are most convenient to putting the away. In your current layout, I would miss that function.

What style and size hood are you planning to use? I think that might be a factor, but I like the way the uppers look in the drawing. Have the tall cabinets on the sink wall been scratched?

We planned very few upper cabinets in the remodel of our very small kitchen. In a last minute about-face, we have decided to strike the very few remaining uppers from the layout.

Since the kitchen isn't in yet, I can't say for sure that I will be as satisfied with the decision in 3 years as I am with the paper-plan. However, I am optimistic - I love the open feeling few or no upper cabinets lend to kitchens, even bigger ones. There's a sense in which one can "never have too much storage" - but as storage often comes as a tradeoff for things like more visual space, windows, etc., there is a tipping point where the storage becomes less valuable than other benefits.

I am also considering a couple open shelves on each side of the range, and am worried that this will be annoying to keep clean. It probably makes sense to pick shelves that will clean up well, and store items that are easily to clean or often used. The internet seems fond of white dish sets set atop open shelves - I can see that working if they are the everyday dinner plates, which continuously run through the dishwasher anyway. I'd be curious to hear whether those with a reasonable hoods and open shelves experience an issue.

The biggest "decider" for me personally would be what comes up in an honest assessment of how much you want / need to store, and how you like to work in the kitchen. If the uppers offer needed storage, or if you find it helpful to store things at that height, or the uppers will allow you to keep useful items close to where you will be using them, I would consider keeping them.

In my current kitchen, the uppers next to the range are too short to store oils, vinegars, cooking wines, etc. that I use for cooking. It has been a major annoyance to have to walk to the pantry to get things of that type. I have seen base pullouts used on either side of a range, but those don't look as handy as uppers, to me. All this to say, if I was planning a new kitchen, I wouldn't go without some uppers there. YMMV.

I second mamag's question, are you not doing the cabs to counter on the window wall? I think those would look great and provide awesome dish storage. An example, just for fun:

Farmhouse Kitchen with a Mid-Century Twist · More Info

My new kitchen will be similar to yours except it is a full 'U' with an island (14'x10'). One wall will be all pantry with wall oven, pantry, fridge, broom closet and no uppers anywhere else. I will have five big windows around the rest of the kitchen (and a very good hood of course).

I'm only 4'11, and I agree with the others I think it really comes down to if you use your uppers now and what you have in them. Right now my uppers above the sink have my dishes and glasses which will be in a wide drawer stack by the dishwasher. The other uppers above my stove have spices and canned goods which will be in drawers/pullout next to cooktop/pantry. I will also double the size of cabinet space in the new kitchen so plenty of (useful) storage space.

In terms of grease and dust my current house is 170 years old and no not the cool old house kind either. The kitchen is the newest addition clocking in at 60 years old. It has never had a vent so you can imagine the grease/grime. I do fry/splatter stuff and wipe walls/cabinets off as needed, but honestly it never gets that bad especially if you plan on actually using stuff on the shelves. Now if I had a good hood it would be easier to wipe/dust when I did get around to it.

I am short, so I don't use uppers except for the first row for most things. Some light bowls on the second. Rarely, gotta call Mr. Nightowl, used things go higher. I could easily figure out a way to function without upper cabinets as long as I had storage elsewhere.

It looks like the space could accommodate an island with 18-24" depth cabinets on the other side along with seating in front of them. It would add to the cost for more counter and a few cabinets, but it would be worth it for me. Cabinets for that stuff you need a few times a year - good glassware, holiday stuff, small appliances...

I am guessing you have a pantry outside the kitchen? If your look is more utilitarian, keeping oils, vinegars, salts, peppers on the counters might look nice with the style you describe.

Couple questions:

First and foremost - do you need that storage?

What color cabinets do you have?

How tall are your ceilings?

I assume a 30" stove?

What kind of hood do you favor -- chimney? canopy? canopy w/ wood hood?

Will your hood vent outside?

We just went round and round with the same issue.

Here is our current cabinet run:

Mind you - we are changing a lot in our kitchen - painting cabinets white, new counters and new appliances. Microwave will be relocated and a new chimney hood installed.

My goal with this kitchen project is brighten it - and upgrade appliances.

Essentially, I had three options:

• 1. Remove everything. Tile entire wall to ceiling. Just have chimney hood.
• 2. Remove everything. Chimney hood. Tile entire wall to ceiling. Add Floating shelves to the right
• 3. Chimney hood. No left cabinet. Build new cabinet to right of cooktop the same width as the window. Cabinet will rest on countertop and go to ceiling. Tile all the way to the ceiling.

We decided on option 3.

Why?

#1 didn't work due to storage issues. That cabinet is where we keep all of our glassware. It gets the most use of any cabinet in the kitchen. Could I have figured it out? Probably. But I was afraid I'd regret it.

#2 didn't work due to the grease, grime, dusting issue. While I loved the idea of storing our glassware on those pretty floating shelves, there was no way that I could deal that kind of upkeep. It would have been so annoying, to say the least. Sure, I could have put pretty things there that I don't use on a daily basis, but that defeats the storage issue for my glassware.

#3 made the most sense. We are narrowing that cabinet by about 6 inches. Taking in all the way to the counter works for me - as I will have an appliance garage that will hide my knife block, olive oil, salts and peppers - the things I use on a daily basis, but don't want to have exposed on my counter. I keep it open when I'm cooking -- close it when I'm done.

We will have a 36" cooktop with a 42" hood. Terribly rookie sketch below, but hopefully you'll get the idea. Tile will be subway. Top of cabinet will have some sort of trim.

Here is an inspiration photo as far as the hood is concerned -- the reverse of what I have. Imagine the cabinet down to the countertop, and a 42 inch hood.

Our hood will be touching the cabinet and the window. So the width of the tiled area will be 42".

Here are some photos with and without shelves:

This last photo was my very original inspiration photo. I just love love love that look.

Here are some suggestions for you: (some already mentioned in other posts)

• Remove the upper to the left - keep the one on the right. No shelves

• Get rid of the uppers completely. Add shelves to the either or both sides of the bank of window over your sink

• Get rid of the right upper. Add floating shelves to the left and deal with the grime factor. :)

• Get rid of the uppers and have new ones made that are more narrow? Not sure if this is a good idea or not - just looking for ways to open it up

In all of these cases -- tile the whole wall to the ceiling. (but I just looked at your photo again, and see that there's a door to the left. Not sure if you can tile to the ceiling with the door there, but I'm sure there are photos out there that you can find to see what others have done…)

The whole form over function thing is true. I LOVE the look of open shelving. In the end, it just wasn't practical for me.

For me, the shelves would give me much less storage and I'd have to clean everything more often. How about cabinets with glass doors so they don't feel so bulky. i would use a reeded or frosted glass so the contents don't have to be pristinely organized all the time.

I would be concerned about glass getting grimey….???

I love the look of no uppers! If you have enough storage space I would go for it! We ultimately decided against it because we need the storage. What we will probably do though, it a shorter upper cabinet all the way to the ceiling, and then one open shelf under it. A bit airier, but still get the storage. This is how it will look:

Thanks everyone. The stove fan is chimney style venting to outside. We did originally have cupboards on the window wall but like the way it looked better when it was all open. And cost is a factor.

Cabinet colour is white with white stone top. Island is charcoal grey with SS top

The shelving we would put up on either side of the range is commercial SS shelving.

Things we use everyday would be kept there. S&P, spices, sugar, possibly plates and coffee mugs but we haven't decided where the coffee maker will go yet.

Another option is on one side to have the open shelves and on the other a simple pot holder.

We keep plates, bowls etc in uppers now but our kitchen is 30 years old and no drawers. I don't think Ill be short on storage space. This kitchen is enormous compared to what I'm used to. I could just order them later if I regret it.

Based on the description of the other elements in the kitchen, I would go for it. Especially if storage isn't an issue.

If you are going to do a 30" cooktop - I would use a 36" hood. Especially with the open shelving, the 36" hood will capture more of the grease, steam, etc -- perhaps reducing what ends up on the shelving.

When I see open shelving my thought is always how much time and effort would be involved for ME to clean it. If I hired house cleaning out...I might enjoy the look a lot more. :-) :-)

You also need to look for past threads that have or had open shelving in the past. This is similar to the other thread about decorative toe kicks and how people who don't have them say it's a pain to clean under/around them while the people who actually have them say it's fine.

Good luck.

jpmom, in your plan you have no counter space on either side of the range - I don't think that will pass code in most areas.

tmnca - to the left of the cooktop I will have a counter that is 30 wide x 24 deep. To the right of the cooktop I will have an counter that is 30 wide x 12 deep. The cabinet that runs to the counter in that section is 12 deep.

My silly drawing doesn't give any depth.

thanks for checking, though!

We have open shelves on one side next to the cooktop for storing oils and frequently used spices like you plan. We love it - so easy to grab quickly for things that are used every day. I think there is less cleaning involved with this as DH is a messy cook and would get a cabinet really dirty opening it to grab the oil every time. I've had them for several months - they are dirty from the oil dripping, but hardly any splatter or other cleanliness issues. You'll have a hood and they are 18" up, so this shouldn't be of any more concern than a cabinet (which has also not gotten dirty).

I personally do not like the look of upper cabinets around the hood...looks crowded to me. We just finished our remodel in August and have no upper cabinets at all and I love it! It really does come down to storage though. If you feel like you have enough, ditch 'em. I really like the stainless steel shelves!

Here's a snap of our 'no uppers' kitchen. It's not very big, but we have plenty of storage.

No uppers for us, either. There's only one wall we could put them on due to the windows. I reinforced the framing so I could hang some if needed, but with 33 drawers, I don't think we'll need them. In fact, 10 of the drawers are still empty!