The first step after moving into a new house or remodeling your kitchen is choosing how you will get the most out of the available space. One of the minimalist approaches that use the least cabinetry hardware is the open shelf design. With open shelves, you won’t have to worry about cabinet doors and handles.
However beautiful they might be, open shelf designs are an added responsibility. You must prepare yourself well to make them functional, safe and beautiful. Open cabinets leave everything exposed meaning that poorly arranged utensils will be a sore eyesight while unsecured China could easily topple when mishandled.
Open shelf designs aren’t for everyone. You first have to ensure that your household can take on the added responsibility. If you are converting from cabinets to open shelves, try removing the doors on a couple of cabinets and arrange some of your kitchenware there. Do a test run for at least a week or two to see how well your household maintains the mini-open shelf design.
Cabinet doors are a great way to keep cats from walking over or knocking down clean utensils and raiding your stored food as they wish. If you have pets, be it a cat or a dog, just forget about the open shelf design unless you are ready to part with your hairy friend.
Open shelf designs are all about convenience. You won’t have to open doors every time you need cooking ware or some spices. To maximize on this, store must-have items on a convenient shelf. Frequently used items should be stored in lower easy to reach shelves as decorative pieces or rarely used dishes occupy higher shelves in the kitchen.
Ceramic dishes and plates must be stacked with the heaviest at the bottom of the stack to create stable bottom-heavy arrangements. You should also keep your stacks short (six plates or less) to reduce the chances of accidentally knocking them over.
Mainstream cabinet doors do more than just keep the pets away and put your valuables out of sight. They form a subtle barrier that keeps dust and dirt away. This means that open shelves are more susceptible to dust. Wipe down the shelves often. Wiping once a week should be enough during dusty seasons. Also, wash the rarely used utensils at least once a month to keep the dust and grime away.
Open shelving is as much of an art as it is of a convenience. Your choice of storage and organization largely contributes to how your kitchen will look. You can create an impressing visual effect by mixing different sizes, shapes, and colors of dishware to make your shelves more attractive. An occasional decorative item will add some color and make your kitchen look better.
Even though we can’t fight against dust, we can control the amount of fumes, grease, and condensation from your cooking. Normally, such would condense over your cabinet doors and handles. Since these are no longer there, all that grime will accumulate on your utensils. A range hood will whisk off this unwanted smoke and grease before it lands on your utensils.
A well-implemented open shelf kitchen will make your kitchen a unique cheerful place as long as you keep it convenient and clutter free. These are the very first steps to getting it right. If you’re looking at implementing an open shelf design in your kitchen, contact Lifestyle Cabinetry and Millwork today to learn more about our open shelving options for your kitchen.
We used Lifestyle Cabinetry and Millwork for a complete master bath remodel. The workers were friendly, cooperative, and showed up on time every day. The work was high quality and we are so pleased with the end results. We would definitely recommend them to others.
Lifestyle Cabinetry and Milwork re-constructed our kitchen and bathroom in 2013. They were meticulous, very professional and friendly. We are very pleased with the workmanship and wouldn’t hesitate to hire them for another project in the future.
This team is absolutely amazing!! I could not be happier with the way my kitchen turned out. I had a vision and they were amazing in building exactly to what I had pictured. They were on time, a pleasure to work with, efficient and kept right on schedule. Kurt made sure that we were happy at every turn and acted immediately on every request. Thank you!!!
Zayne and his professional staff are absolutely the best in home renovation.
Zayne’s crew are professional, courteous, prompt, polite and offer suggestions while on site. The quality of the workmanship and materials are first class. Zayne will work diligently with you to develop your vision of your project and point out the constraints of your home and how you can proceed to achieve the end result.
Zayne expresses serious concern about your budget and how to accomplish your ideas without spending unnecessarily. His sub-contractors and suppliers are all equally welcoming and patient when you are working with them to find the cabinetry, trim, stone, paint and other materials that are not “cookie cutter”.
We highly recommend, without reservation, Zayne and Lifestyle Cabinetry and Millwork to anyone with a large or small project.
This is a professional company in every sense of the word! We hired them to completely remodel our kitchen when we purchased a 20 year old house. They did an amazing job! They were there when they said they would be. They worked full days with few breaks and the quality of their work was superior. I would definitely recommend them and will use them again on future planned projects!
Lifestyle Cabinetry and Millwork were excellent. They were fast and efficient and always respectful when they were in my home. I loved working with Kirt and Zayne. I would recommend them to anyone! You won’t be disappointed.
What a great experience to have such a reliable, professional company come to work in our condo! Zayne was so nice and helped us find the perfect cabinets for our kitchen. Dion, who works for Zayne did a wonderful job in completing the projects. We also had electrical, painting, and additional carpentry completed. Everything went just the way we wanted. We could not be happier. We are also going to get additional pricing for more work that we want to have done in our condo in the future.
I couldn’t have been happier with Zayne and his crew. Zayne presented a clear-cut plan for our project and stuck to it throughout the whole process. His guys did excellent work and were respectful while in my home. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Lifestyle Cabinetry and Millwork to anyone for any project.
Kitchen Remodel.
New cabinets
New granite countertops
New backsplash
Very knowledgeable about the work. Timely execution. Excellent workmanship. Executed the work within budget.
The people went out of their way to work on add-on features.
Kitchen and bath remodels are complicated projects that require good up front planning and experience. Zayne and his crew have delivered excellent projects for me on repeated occasions. Each time the work has been completed on the agreed schedule and above my expectations. Most importantly it is critical to work with someone you trust and that has the knowledge and experience required – Lifestyle truly fits this description.
Wow! Zayne and his team were great. Always responsive, always professional and they provided high-quality work on a tight timeline. Every contractor on the Lifestyle team impressed us without exception. We would highly recommend Lifestyle Cabinetry and Millwork.