Help us plan our open shelves

last month

Love 'em or hate 'em, we've dedicated a small portion of our wall space for open wood shelves. They're meant to act as the "pretty pantry" for glass jars of grains, legumes, pasta, etc., as well as a spot to house some cookbooks and plants.

Please excuse the work in progress. A cover panel for the lefthand cabinet is on order, and boxing in the space between the cabinets and ceiling is next on the to-do list (something simple like this).

Option 1: Three shelves. The spacing of the lower two is based on our tallest spaghetti jar and the space above the top shelf is slightly shorter.

Option 2: Two shelves, with the upper one centred on the cabinet height.

Option 3: Two shelves, with the upper one centred on the remaining wall space.

Option 4: None of the above? Advice welcomed!

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Comments (10)

la_la Girl
last month
I am likely missing something but how will the proposed open shelf interact with the (doorless) cabinet on the left?
chicagoans
last month
last modified: last month
Option 4: remove the corner cabinet and wrap the shelves around the corner to meet the side of the cabinet next to the window. Something like this example:

In this one, I'm not sure but it looks like a corner cabinet with the doors removed and the interior and shelves painted to match the cabinets:

Rough mockup for your kitchen if you did like my first example:
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Not planning to use the shelves for regular dishes or spices, maybe some mixing bowls or other food prep pieces, maybe sugar/ flour cans, but most likely food items that will be used frequently or snack items we want visible so everyone will know they are there. This is a sometimes rental property, so it could be a place for our renters to use as they see fit. I really love the idea is stainless shelves, but they are so expensive! I think it may be worth it though, as I worry painted white would not hold up. Does anyone have a reasonably priced source for stainless - that could be sized properly? I think the wrap around shelf is probably a bad idea, but maybe some hooks or something on the wall there? A wine rack? Too much going on? The other thing we were unsure about was whether to wrap the back splash aroubd the corner or stop it at the corner. Thoughts?
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KW PNW Z8
last month
Yes - I’m also missing something or just confused. You said a ’cover panel’ is on order for the lefthand cabinet… is the cover panel a door or are you going to lose use of that cabinet? I see that accessing that end cabinet requires reaching into the corner over the counter - awkward. So is the plan to add the shelves instead of a cabinet attached to the one over the bread box?
KW PNW Z8
last month
Studying your pics - my guess is the cover for left cab is just that - a cover - no opening. Questions about your shelves - how deep will they be? I haven’t voted but I’m thinking option 2 is most useful for accessiblity but option 3 is ok if there’s something you’d put on the shelves that you never want to use - just decor. Top shelf doesn’t seem reachable for average height people. It looks like the items you want to store on shelves are all those jars of pasta & cookbooks on the counter.
chicagoans
last month
ETA: don't forget to plan for under shelf lighting like your under cabinet lighting, so that the corner of your counter isn't dark. I have floating shelves by a coffee bar and I wish I had planned for lighting under the lower shelf to help light the sink.

This is an odd angle but you can see the difference in lighting.
JL
Original Author
last month
Thanks all - The cabinet to the left will be a blind corner like the one shown below. The easily-accessible portion houses our everyday dishes. The harder-to-reach area currently houses the pasta jars and things that will be on the shelves.
JL
Original Author
last month
@chicagoans I did consider having the shelves wrap around the corner, but decided I'd rather have a hidden space to shove occasionally-used / unattractive items *like our "collection" of mismatched coffee mugs).

Under-cab lighting is what I'm looking forward to most! If you zoom in you can see the wiring is at the ready (just rolled up and tucked away for now). These shelves are the last bit before we can get the electrician back for light bar installation.
JL
Original Author
last month
@KW PNW Z8 I was initially going to have the shelves match the depth of the cabinets at 14.5", and then be able to have the light rail moulding under both the shelves and adjoining cabinet for cohesion, but with hidden brackets I don't think that's possible. This model indicates that even 10" deep shelves would need to be 1.5" thick and I was hoping for 1" haha.

You're right that with 3 shelves the uppermost one would just be for decor/plants.
KW PNW Z8
last month
last modified: last month
Ok JL - I have the visual now. I voted for option 1 - 3 shelves. Good idea to reserve the ”lost” upper cab space in the deep corner for little used items. I’d stick larger items back there as easier to pull them out. Good idea IMO to go for 10” deep shelves. Based on what you plan to store on them, that spacing will be perfect. You don’t want multiple rows deep of stuff on open shelving - that would be cluttered looking & not your ”pretty pantry” look you want.
JL thanked KW PNW Z8
rebasheba
29 days ago
If you haven't yet, measure your cookbooks! often they are tall/large format books so make sure you have enough height to shelve them on end, so much easier than a horizontal stack.
JL thanked rebasheba

Help us plan our open shelves

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la_la Girl

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