Open Kitchen Storage Ideas That Will Make You Want to Tidy Up
Displaying your things, especially in a room as functional as the kitchen, is an art – but it can be learned
To opt for open shelving in a kitchen is a bold decision – especially if you have more than just a lone shelf reserved for carefully curated treasures. It can easily become a dominant feature in the room, undermining the beautiful design you spent a long time thinking about. However, done well, it can equally be the feature that makes a kitchen look special, adding character, warmth and interest.
As you’ll see from the designs below, there are some common themes, including lighting, wall colour, uniformity – and tidiness! Let these ideas encourage your own beautiful (and useful) arrangements.
As you’ll see from the designs below, there are some common themes, including lighting, wall colour, uniformity – and tidiness! Let these ideas encourage your own beautiful (and useful) arrangements.
Darken your backdrop
A dark wall tends to lend a certain theatricality to displays. It’s an excellent foil for colourful items particularly and can also allow a little more leeway for function over form.
In an older home where imperfections and patina are celebrated with antique furniture, vintage treasures and little artworks, you can also afford to stray from uniformity (a little). But it’s all about balance, as this deVOL Kitchens design demonstrates.
In the right-hand base cabinet, mismatched crockery and bulky items are packed in. Yet the eye is drawn above the sink, where collections are grouped together in a neat display across the two shelves and on the worktop.
A dark wall tends to lend a certain theatricality to displays. It’s an excellent foil for colourful items particularly and can also allow a little more leeway for function over form.
In an older home where imperfections and patina are celebrated with antique furniture, vintage treasures and little artworks, you can also afford to stray from uniformity (a little). But it’s all about balance, as this deVOL Kitchens design demonstrates.
In the right-hand base cabinet, mismatched crockery and bulky items are packed in. Yet the eye is drawn above the sink, where collections are grouped together in a neat display across the two shelves and on the worktop.
Light up
As with dark paint, focused lighting can also bring a collection to life, creating a stage for your bits and bobs, demonstrated in this island storage created by Clearly Renovations.
Here, strips of LED have been added to the top front edge of the shelves, casting a glow across everything below. You can see how it elevates a humble collection of cookbooks into a standalone feature. With luck, it’ll also encourage you to keep things in order.
Need a kitchen designer or fitter in your area? Browse reviews in the Houzz Professionals Directory.
As with dark paint, focused lighting can also bring a collection to life, creating a stage for your bits and bobs, demonstrated in this island storage created by Clearly Renovations.
Here, strips of LED have been added to the top front edge of the shelves, casting a glow across everything below. You can see how it elevates a humble collection of cookbooks into a standalone feature. With luck, it’ll also encourage you to keep things in order.
Need a kitchen designer or fitter in your area? Browse reviews in the Houzz Professionals Directory.
See things clearly
Got a lot of glassware? Do as Whitstable Island Interiors did and make that (almost) the only thing you have out on display. It doesn’t then matter how mismatched it all might be, the uniformity of material will still give the illusion of total order.
What’s also smart in this petite kitchen is that the shelving has been designed to be just deep enough for one glass. Fitting a shallow shelf means there’s more chance of having enough stuff to fill it and of it looking less cluttered.
Note, too, the hanging pans by the window. If you’re short of space, it’s a great idea for more open storage – just make sure your pans coordinate nicely.
Got a lot of glassware? Do as Whitstable Island Interiors did and make that (almost) the only thing you have out on display. It doesn’t then matter how mismatched it all might be, the uniformity of material will still give the illusion of total order.
What’s also smart in this petite kitchen is that the shelving has been designed to be just deep enough for one glass. Fitting a shallow shelf means there’s more chance of having enough stuff to fill it and of it looking less cluttered.
Note, too, the hanging pans by the window. If you’re short of space, it’s a great idea for more open storage – just make sure your pans coordinate nicely.
Punctuate with plants
When open storage constitutes a large and well-used element of your kitchen, it will be harder to make it look minimal or matchy.
A good solution, as demonstrated in this kitchen by Morgan Harris Architects, is to create small groups of things that DO match, and also to add plants. They will provide a decorative focal point and sense of aesthetic purpose to a display, even when things around them get mixed up. Essentially, plants will almost never not enhance a shelf. Use liberally.
When open storage constitutes a large and well-used element of your kitchen, it will be harder to make it look minimal or matchy.
A good solution, as demonstrated in this kitchen by Morgan Harris Architects, is to create small groups of things that DO match, and also to add plants. They will provide a decorative focal point and sense of aesthetic purpose to a display, even when things around them get mixed up. Essentially, plants will almost never not enhance a shelf. Use liberally.
Corral with a niche
Mike Ashwin of Hill Farm Furniture designed this traditional, stylish country kitchen – including this sneaky spot for stashing recipe books.
Embedding storage into a wall like this means the items on display won’t leap out at you, minimising the risk of them overwhelming the space. Often, it’s also simply tidier.
The column of books idea came about because a large fridge-freezer is tucked behind it. It made better sense, says Mike, than “just blanking off the ends and bringing the wall in” and winding up with dead space and a wasted storage opportunity.
For balance, he added a cavity on the other side to mirror the bookshelves, and turned it into more open storage in the form of a wine rack.
See more of this Georgian country kitchen in Nottinghamshire.
Mike Ashwin of Hill Farm Furniture designed this traditional, stylish country kitchen – including this sneaky spot for stashing recipe books.
Embedding storage into a wall like this means the items on display won’t leap out at you, minimising the risk of them overwhelming the space. Often, it’s also simply tidier.
The column of books idea came about because a large fridge-freezer is tucked behind it. It made better sense, says Mike, than “just blanking off the ends and bringing the wall in” and winding up with dead space and a wasted storage opportunity.
For balance, he added a cavity on the other side to mirror the bookshelves, and turned it into more open storage in the form of a wine rack.
See more of this Georgian country kitchen in Nottinghamshire.
Soften up
Here’s another successful way to incorporate niches in a kitchen, as demonstrated by 102 Interiors. Again, the display is already contained more tightly than it might be on standard shelves, and the shadows the nooks create, in what is largely a one-colour kitchen, add visual interest.
The display of solely soft-hued neutrals also looks rather lovely against the gentle blue paintwork.
Here’s another successful way to incorporate niches in a kitchen, as demonstrated by 102 Interiors. Again, the display is already contained more tightly than it might be on standard shelves, and the shadows the nooks create, in what is largely a one-colour kitchen, add visual interest.
The display of solely soft-hued neutrals also looks rather lovely against the gentle blue paintwork.
Make for a magnet
It’s not just books, pots or crockery that can look good in open storage. Utensils can benefit from the same treatment – and enhance the usability of a kitchen in the process.
In this kitchen by Bath Bespoke, a plywood hanging board is positioned on the wall behind the prep area, with magnets for knives, hooks for utensils and a paper towel holder. “Everything is where the owners need it,” designer Tom Jones-Marquez says. “The space is very much designed for hardcore cooking.”
The key is to talk to your designer about all your storage needs – the best designs, both visually and functionally, will work around your needs rather than the other way around.
See more of this small kitchen packed with functionality and style.
It’s not just books, pots or crockery that can look good in open storage. Utensils can benefit from the same treatment – and enhance the usability of a kitchen in the process.
In this kitchen by Bath Bespoke, a plywood hanging board is positioned on the wall behind the prep area, with magnets for knives, hooks for utensils and a paper towel holder. “Everything is where the owners need it,” designer Tom Jones-Marquez says. “The space is very much designed for hardcore cooking.”
The key is to talk to your designer about all your storage needs – the best designs, both visually and functionally, will work around your needs rather than the other way around.
See more of this small kitchen packed with functionality and style.
Take tips from the living room
In a kitchen as luxuriously spacious as this one, you’re likely to have plenty of closed storage for everyday crockery and kitchenware or small appliances that aren’t especially aesthetically pleasing. This means you have the opportunity to style your open shelving as if it’s in your living room.
This uncluttered example by Day True shows the power of picking one hero colour and tying it into the shades in a standout piece of art.
In a kitchen as luxuriously spacious as this one, you’re likely to have plenty of closed storage for everyday crockery and kitchenware or small appliances that aren’t especially aesthetically pleasing. This means you have the opportunity to style your open shelving as if it’s in your living room.
This uncluttered example by Day True shows the power of picking one hero colour and tying it into the shades in a standout piece of art.
Warm a contemporary design
Are you worried your new, clean-lined contemporary kitchen might look a little clinical? Not with open storage it won’t, as this bank of shelving in a kitchen by Martyn Clarke Architecture proves. This is especially true – yep, it’s another theme – if it’s filled with antiques and vintage pieces. Just look at the impact of those urns on the top shelf for proof.
Tell us…
How have you styled your open kitchen shelving? Share your photos in the Comments section.
Are you worried your new, clean-lined contemporary kitchen might look a little clinical? Not with open storage it won’t, as this bank of shelving in a kitchen by Martyn Clarke Architecture proves. This is especially true – yep, it’s another theme – if it’s filled with antiques and vintage pieces. Just look at the impact of those urns on the top shelf for proof.
Tell us…
How have you styled your open kitchen shelving? Share your photos in the Comments section.
If your kitchen design and colour choices extend to your crockery collection, this minimalist-pleasing idea by Squarepeg Designs may appeal.
Should your crockery collection be a little more eclectic, there’s no need to replace it – simply have an ‘on show’ bundle of items and another set that lives behind closed cupboard doors.