Kitchen shelves instead of cabinets: features and selection criteria

In recent years, minimalism in the interior has firmly established itself as one of the leading trends. This option is happily used by owners of both spacious cottages and small apartments. One of the most effective solutions can be the placement of open shelves instead of a bulky kitchen unit.

In recent years, open shelves in the dining room and in the kitchen have become a good alternative to the upper sections of kitchen sets, an attempt to move away from existing stereotypes and the embodiment of fresh design solutions. The absence of upper cabinets has both advantages and disadvantages - let's dwell on each of them in more detail. Supporters of shelves highlight the following advantages of such lightweight options.

• Visual expansion of space. It's no secret that massive kitchen sections take up a lot of space and visually narrow the room. The absence of such clutter greatly simplifies perception - the kitchen looks more spacious and voluminous.
• Improved light distribution. Bulky furniture modules, as a rule, impede the movement of the light flux, thereby darkening certain areas of the kitchen, in particular the work area. The use of shelves is completely devoid of this drawback, since all areas of the room are fully illuminated. As a result, a comfortable environment is created, and this stimulates all work processes in the kitchen.
• Saving the budget for furnishing. Shelves will cost the owner of a living space much cheaper than hinged modular sections, since much more materials are used for the production of lockers. Accordingly, their cost is higher.
• Accelerating the kitchen furnishing process. By abandoning lockers, you will greatly reduce the waiting time for a new kitchen set, this factor is especially relevant for people who move into new homes.
• Ease of maintenance. The openness of the furniture greatly facilitates the accessibility of cleaning, in addition, when wet cleaning the coverings, the shelves dry out quickly. Whereas when washing closed cabinets, moisture can accumulate, and this contributes to the creation of an environment favorable for the growth of mold and mildew. In addition, water causes deformation of the materials, which significantly impairs the appearance of the furniture and shortens its useful life.
• Individual appearance of the premises.

Despite all the advantages, the rejection of lockers has not yet become widespread. Proponents of standard furniture point to a number of disadvantages of open shelves.

• Such designs have less functional capacity than lockers.... This disadvantage is especially significant in small kitchens, where many things have to fit in a small space - it is not always possible to arrange all the utensils in the lower cabinets, therefore the installation of additional storage systems becomes especially important.
• Over time, the shelves become overloaded and even cluttered. The shortcomings of existing storage systems lead to the fact that suspended structures are cluttered with a wide variety of unnecessary items.
• Open shelves are usually subject to careful and detailed inspection. - any flaws in style and decor, the costs of the cleanliness and integrity of the coating are immediately striking.

A typical shelf design is a conventional crossbar fixed to the wall with holders. However, in practice, there are many other, very diverse and interesting options:

• corner;
• curly;
• inclined;
• concealers.

Shelves can be carried out from various materials (wood, plastic, metal and even glass), the choice is usually made based on the purpose of the item and its functionality. So, wooden shelves are considered universal; in most cases, buyers prefer them. They differ practicality and durability, the shelf made of wood is easy to make and fix by yourself without resorting to the services of specialists.

Glass models look very impressive, airy and stylish. Glass transmits light well, the material is easy to care for and does not create difficulties in cleaning. As a rule, for the production of kitchen shelves, not ordinary glass is used, but plexiglass - independent work with such material is much more difficult than with wood.

Plastic is economical and hygienic, it is inexpensive and easy to maintain. The only limitation in the use of such shelves is the placement. It is desirable that the structures are hung away from the slab.

Metal shelves look very impressive and stylish. For the kitchen, it is better to choose products that are protected from rust, otherwise the microclimate of the room will quickly ruin their impeccable appearance. It is unlikely that you will be able to work with metal on your own, therefore, they usually use ready-made shelf options.

When decorating shelves in the kitchen, several design solutions are usually used.

• Different depths. This is a great idea, which vaguely resembles how houses were built and equipped in medieval cities. Usually, with this approach, the lowest shelf is made narrow, and all subsequent ones, located at the level of human height, are already much wider.Likewise, you can almost double the functional storage space at the top.

• The same depth. In this case, the shelves are placed directly above the work area. It is noted that they look much more spectacular if they are hung from one vertical surface to another, for example, from wall to cabinet wall.

• In the corner... If massive shelves are located in the corner, then there is ample storage space, but the room will not seem overloaded and dark. Such shelves look quite expensive and stylish.

• Supported on the work surface. This is a rather original solution that allows you to create a shallow, up to 20 cm wound system. The result is a rack that holds several small rectangular shelves without necessarily being the same size. It will be beautiful if you fix shelves of different heights and sizes on the support.

• With a mirrored wall. A very stylish solution involving open modules with a mirrored wall. This solution is optimal for small kitchens and small studio apartments.

• Elongated structures with metal fittings. Such products are harmonious if the kitchen has low ceilings or there are no long walls along which a "ruler" can be fixed.

For the pros and cons of open shelves in the kitchen, see the next video.