There are kitchens where every item is in plain sight. Almost everything is open, meaning shelves are used extensively, and some solutions even involve hanging kitchen utensils on a rod, freely displaying pans, spatulas, and colanders, not to mention larger utensils. On the contrary, there are kitchen designs where nothing is in front, nothing is visible — as if there were no kitchen at all. Some say in such cases, they don’t really cook; it’s just for show 🙂 .
So, we are seeking answers to when it’s advisable to use open shelves in a kitchen, and when it’s more practical to conceal everything in closed cabinets. Additionally, how do these two opposing kitchen storage methods fit into different interior design styles? Which style is more suited to open storage, and which to placement in closed cabinets? How does the layout of a kitchen, whether it’s integrated with the living room or a separate space, determine the practicality of open or closed placement? Furthermore, how does the size of the kitchen or the intensity of its use dictate the necessity of open or closed storage areas?
When planning kitchen furniture, an important consideration is when and in what life situation it is worth using open shelves or closed cabinets. Both open shelves and closed cabinets can be advantageous in the kitchen, and the decision depends on individual preferences and the daily function of the kitchen. Both solutions have their merits, so most of the time, a mixed variation is chosen, but the proportions depend on the family’s needs, style preferences, and other considerations in kitchen design.
Despite mentioning open shelving and closed cabinets as two opposing elements, there are numerous intermediate solutions. Examples include airy shelves less suitable for storage, floating shelves, or small shelves in a protected space under an upper cabinet. On the other hand, a fully glazed display cabinet serves as a protected cabinet but still partially reveals its contents, much like a closed cabinet with partially glazed doors. In contrast, for even more puritanical storage, we can mention hanging rods, hooks, and hangers suitable for storing our items, which can be considered even more open than shelves, as nothing protects the stored tools from below or above.
Advantages of open shelves:
The advantages of open shelves include easy accessibility, allowing quick access to kitchen tools and utensils, as well as a faster overview and finding of the available tool selection. A kitchen with open shelves generally creates a more spacious and airy effect, providing an opportunity to display decorative elements.
- Decorative design: Open shelves allow the display of kitchen tools, dishes, glasses, or spices in a decorative manner, contributing to the style of the kitchen.
- Easy access: Everything stored on open shelves is easily accessible, which can be particularly practical for frequently used items.
- Perception of space: The use of open shelves can optically enhance the perception of space, especially in small kitchens.
Their disadvantage is, …
that nothing protects the items on the shelf. Shelves and our utensils are more prone to dust compared to those in closed cabinets. One cannot fully exploit the most important feature of the shelf or shelving system, which is the inability to perform mass storage on it. This is because a shelf can be densely packed when it is in a pantry, warehouse, or when the kitchen is truly considered an operational area. However, when it serves a decorative role in an interior space, it needs to be arranged with a sense of airiness, and we must carefully choose which items to display on it. It is not coincidental that even in more modern kitchens, the glass doors of upper cabinets were designed (partly to break the monotony of style) to showcase our most beautiful glasses and dishes, while the rest of the cabinet’s closed doors can accommodate the mass and less visually appealing kitchen tools.
Advantages of closed cabinets:
The advantages of closed cabinets include keeping stored items clean and dust-free, creating a generally neater effect in the kitchen. A kitchen with closed cabinets is usually more elegant, and in the case of classic furniture, the design of the door fronts with detailed handles captures attention, while for more modern-minded homeowners, the play of furniture masses — such as: segmentation of entire height cabinet doors; changing the depth of furniture; the geometric shape of the furniture mass; color combinations, and the visual appeal of textures — special material use in door fronts, corpus, and countertops.
- Order and cleanliness: Closed cabinets make it easy to hide everything, thereby maintaining the overall order and cleanliness of the kitchen more effectively compared to visible shelves. Closed cabinets can also be better utilized compared to a visible shelf.
- Protection against dust and grease: Closed cabinets protect kitchen tools from dust, grease, and other contaminants. Those who use a gas stove have probably experienced the stickier dust. Despite having a range hood, and not necessarily from food vapors, but from the mixture of gas combustion by-products and household dust settling on shelves, the material can create an unpleasant sensation and is harder to remove than ordinary dust.
- Unified style: If we want to keep kitchen furnishings in a unified style, closed cabinets can help ensure harmony throughout the kitchen. There are many special baking or cooking utensils in a kitchen, the total of which suggests quite a mess. It is advisable to store these behind doors.
Their disadvantage is, …
logically what is an advantage for the open shelving section. Additionally, it can be a disadvantage if we go overboard with closed monotonous cabinets, which can make the interior sterile and lifeless.
Combining the two main types, …
namely open shelves and closed cabinets, allows for the simultaneous satisfaction of the kitchen’s functional and aesthetic needs. Combining open shelves and closed cabinets enables easy access to more frequently used kitchen tools or the decorative presentation of beautiful kitchen objects, while the less decorative elements remain hidden.
Interior Design Styles and Storage Solutions:
Rustic Vintage Style:
Open shelves and metal rods can look excellent in vintage and rustic kitchens. Small shelves, large shelves, railing at the edges of shelves, even a baluster row. Under the small shelf, there may be turned wood hooks for mugs, wrought iron hooks for kitchen towels, and above the stove, rods for hanging pots and mixers. A special shelf for spices is often present. Even the edge of the built-in hood is often shelved. Cabinets are much more likely to be display cases. Almost everything is visible, and everything is designed to be easily accessible. This is understandable since these kitchens harken back to traditional times when families were large, cooking for many people was necessary, and large family gatherings were common. Even the processing of pork or garden fruits and vegetables (even if the preparation took place in an external kitchen) operated in a campaign-style, large-scale manner. Therefore, accessibility to kitchen equipment and tools took precedence over grand elegance — beauty lies in the details. Despite the functionalist approach, these kitchens can have quite extreme appearances, but the conservative design and the pursuit of harmony always make them feel the coziest. When we say a kitchen is warm, we mean emotional warmth, and we associate it with a kitchen of this kind.
The following image set is a nice mix, but their essence stems from the same root. Their essence — function above all. According to the classic modernist concept that emerged between the two World Wars, create something beautiful, but do not compromise on usability. Therefore, if a kitchen has many utensils and various items used during cooking or serving that need to be taken out quickly, it is most practical to store these items on a shelving system. Anything that does not serve usability, merely decorative, is unnecessary. A key feature of this era is the birth and prevalence of tubular steel furniture. Thus, the top two frames depict the classic modernist kitchen style with tubular steel. In contrast, the bottom two frames represent contemporary products. In fact, if we were to peek into the kitchen of a catering establishment nowadays, especially within the EU, it is highly likely that we would encounter the same style — just on a larger scale. The use of stainless steel, as a kind of modern kitchen high-tech industrial style, not only suggests but also ensures hygiene. It is not only waterproof, acid-resistant, and chemical-resistant, meaning it does not react with disinfectants during cleaning, but also does not react with food or food ingredients. Stainless steel utensils and equipment are favored (and mandatory) materials in the HACCP system established by the EU. If we overlook the fact that everything is made of metal, we can see that in terms of form, it resembles the tubular modernism born nearly 100 years ago.
In reality, the following style is nothing more than a reinterpretation of the northern rural style in the spirit of modernist ideas. The resulting mid-century modernist Scandinavian style remains so popular to this day that it is worthwhile to delve into it in a separate chapter.
Scandinavian Style:
In Scandinavian style, clean white cabinets pair well with open shelves. The number of shelves — compared to rustic style, it can be said to be fewer, but compared to minimalism, it is clearly more. This style is a mutually reinforcing product of folk Scandinavian rural comfort, practicality, conservative restraint, and the simplifications and functionalist approach of modernist geometric forms. That is, it mostly features simple rectangular shapes and forsakes ornamentation, playing more with the masses of the cabinet body as opposed to minimalism. It typically uses white, light wood, and other pastel colors to create the space. At the same time, it retains its rustic perception, which lies in its simplicity. That is, everything should be within reach and easily accessible. Depending on temperament, it may be natural that only the lower cabinets are closed, with only open shelves above. Full-height glass door cabinets may be present for better visibility, and similar to rustic style, it doesn’t shy away from hanging kitchen tools on metal rods. Therefore, using a Scandinavian style kitchen is almost the same as a rustic vintage one, just with bright and clutter-free furniture. The furniture is much simpler and can even be attributed to the minimalist style.
Minimalist Modern Styles:
For modern styles, cabinets with simple lines, clean, and closed, can fit well. However, despite the minimalist approach, a few well-placed open shelves can also be suitable. In fact, the strict minimalist aesthetic would not allow anything to remain in front on the countertop. It can be seen in the images below that something is always needed. Excessive sterility and lifelessness are not readily acceptable to the human eye or soul.
Shelves introduced into minimalist style kitchens are generally small, simple, or even floating. In such a shelf, a simple, clear geometric shape should prevail, or if not possible, the shelf should be inconspicuous. It is important that in this style, our tools are arranged with the most openness on the shelves. This often creates an effect similar to an exhibition. That is, if we place an everyday object on it, it should be special or elegant, with a clean and simple design. In reality, such an object should have an impact as if we placed it there only as a decoration. All it needs to do is break the minimalist sterility.
If you observe the details in the above images, you will notice some basic errors. Artificial intelligence often falters with the number and logical placement of furniture legs. For instance, it may not know that the sink should be placed under the faucet. Installing these two independently is not very fortunate. 🙂 Despite these issues, I believe the selected images can successfully illustrate the stylistic conditions from which the discussion about shelving, or lack thereof, can be understood. Below, you will find real photographs.
Considerations for Kitchen Design:
The size of the kitchen and its intensity of use can influence the use of open shelves and closed cabinets. In smaller kitchens, using open shelves can expand the space, while in larger kitchens, using closed cabinets can hide the increased storage capacity. If the kitchen is combined with the living room, using open shelves can expand the kitchen area, but we must be mindful of storing kitchen tools and utensils on open shelves to ensure easy access, as too many visible tools can make both the kitchen and the living room look like storage spaces. If the kitchen is a separate room, using closed cabinets can increase storage capacity while keeping the kitchen clean and organized.
Combined with the Living Room:
If the kitchen and the living room are combined, it is worth choosing solutions that help coordinate the two areas. For example, partially open kitchen shelves that aesthetically match the style of the living room. In this case, the emphasis on shelving, as discussed in the minimalist section, is most significant. Most likely, the furniture in the living room and the kitchen area represents a unified style. For smaller living spaces, it is advantageous for the kitchen shelving to somewhat resemble those in the living area. Regardless of the style, we should always be cautious not to overcrowd the shelves. In every case, place only items worthy of display on them, showcasing a few kitchen items.
Kitchen Size:
In small kitchens, open shelves can help create a sense of space, while in larger kitchens, closed cabinets can provide greater storage capacity. Many closed cabinets can make small spaces even more oppressive. This is true not only for small kitchens but also when the kitchen is in the same space as the living room. In such cases, it is advisable to use airy shelving in place of upper cabinets. This not only eliminates the oppressive effect but also positively impacts the overall sense of space above table height.
Intensity of Use:
If the kitchen is subjected to intensive use, closed storage solutions can help maintain order and cleanliness. However, they slow down daily routines and, in many cases, reduce visibility. In a kitchen used every day, the frequent use and return of washed kitchen tools make it less likely that these tools will accumulate dust on open shelves — even though, logically, there is a higher chance of air pollution in the kitchen. In a kitchen with more intensive use, having many open shelves and freely stored kitchen tools is more acceptable, as it makes the workflow smoother.
Finally, an absolutely heretical idea.
Many people downright hate tambour door cabinets, and you don’t come across them much these days. Okay, this solution may be forgettable when it comes to vintage styles, but as a Scandinavian-style addition or in the case of some minimalist or industrial styles, it can be an ideal choice. If you roll up the tambour door, it becomes an open-shelf cabinet, offering all the convenience of openness. If you’re not using the kitchen, roll down the tambour door, and it provides all the advantages of a closed cabinet. What’s more, here’s a better idea: if you roll up only the middle section of the tambour door by a shelf’s height, you can introduce a unique touch to the unused appearance.
What do you think about that?
Don’t like the tambour door?
Have you thought that an upward-opening upper cabinet follows a similar logic when gracefully lifted by a gas spring? The essence is that when it’s in the open-shelf position — with the door completely out of the way — it’s exactly like having only open shelves during use.
If you’re thinking it’s a pity you can’t make all cabinet doors disappear like this — you can…
Generally, it’s called a sliding door or a sliding-pivoting door. Alternatively, it might be referred to by various fantasy or brand names, such as Pocket Door or Pocketsystem.
After all, the principle of door opening and hiding is the whole essence. Whether it conceals a kitchen, wardrobe, work, or hobby corner behind the doors is a matter of individual preference. However, with this method, we can elegantly solve the train of thought that a kitchen cabinet can be open and closed at the same time.
In summary,
The final decision always depends on individual needs and preferences. Balancing practicality, aesthetics, and functionality is crucial for optimal kitchen design. Combining open shelves and closed cabinets allows for the simultaneous satisfaction of the kitchen’s functional and aesthetic requirements.