Inspiration: Open Shelving in the Kitchen?

A trend that I see still consistently popping up in kitchen design all over the place is the move away from traditional upper cabinets.  Instead of wall cabinets, designers are incorporating a variety of styles of open shelving or sometimes even going bare and opting nothing at all up top.

Maybe if we had an enormous kitchen with endless base cabinet storage options, going topless would be an option-- it certainly gives the space an open, airier feel-- but for now, I still need a place to put away dishes, glasses and lots of less display-worthy kitchen paraphernalia.  IF we were tempted to turn a section of the kitchen into open shelving, these copper pots on gorgeous antique wrought iron shelves I spotted in a Bavarian castle would be welcome in our house.  

I like the idea of incorporating just a small section of shelving into an otherwise traditional kitchen-- adding just a bit of industrial flair to mix things up.

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Do you have open shelving in your kitchen?  Do you love it or hate it?

xo

Liza