inspired by … open shelving in the kitchen

well, it’s official. i decided to jump on the bandwagon by taking off some of my cupboard doors to create open shelves.

so here is a section of my kitchen cupboards ‘before’. these are right above my sink and the section i choose to remove the doors from.

these cupboards and counter tops were probably installed in the 50s at some point. the cabinets are grey and the counter tops and back splash are a pink marble. which, obviously wouldn’t be my first choice, but they are actually in excellent shape and i honestly don’t mind them. i may  update the hardware one of these days, but that’s a different story.

okay, ready for the after? (yeah, i didn’t take any pictures of the ‘in between’. once i get going it’s hard to get me to stop to take pictures. gotta keep the momentum flowin’!)

tada! do you like?

so, i removed the cabinet doors and hardware. patched the holes left by the screws and repainted everything. i took a cabinet door to sherwin williams and they matched the color flawlessly! i was amazed!

the items one the shelves are things i use most often. i’m not sure i LOVE the way i have it set up now, but i’m pretty happy with it. the red box holds small ‘mise en place’ bowls that i use all the time. i think a wicker or seagrass basket may work better (something without a lid), but i don’t have one at the moment.

i also had mirror cut for the back of the cabinet. i called the local glass cutting place, gave them my measurements and it was ready in a couple days. it cost around $45 for all the pieces i needed. i’m really glad i did this cause it really brightens things up! i hung the mirror with those new picture handing velco thingys from 3m.

i also got rid of the old artwork above the sink and replaced it with these ‘custom’ pieces. i searched etsy and found prints that i liked and then created my own with ms publisher. these prints sell for $20-$30. mine were basically free! sweet!

this one reads … ‘lettue turnip the beet’ … get it? …. ‘let us turn up the beat’ love it! at the bottom it says s’upport your local farmers market’. again, this was inspired by something i saw on etsy. the white frames are from wal-mart … i think they were about $15 a piece.

so what do you think? love it? hate it?

i’m really happy with the way it turned out! do you have any open cabinets in your kitchen? are they functional? do you use them for display? leave a comment below with a link to some pictures. i’d love to see what you’ve done.