Open shelving vs. cabinets in a kitchen reno - I'm team cabinet now

I went with open shelving in my kitchen last year thinking it would look modern and airy. After six months of dusting olive oil bottles and watching my mismatched mugs gather grime, I tore it all down and spent $900 on solid upper cabinets. Has anyone else regretted a trendy kitchen choice that looked great on Pinterest but sucked in real life?

2 comments

2 Comments

ross.jessica15d ago

Gotta push back lightly on the pricing though. I paid like $300 for solid wood uppers at IKEA and they look great two years later. The $900 feels steep unless you got custom or really fancy stuff. Open shelving is a dust nightmare though, no argument there. My sister kept hers and now she just stores pretty plates she never uses, which seems weird.

margaret_lane15d ago

My friend did the cheap IKEA route and they warped after a year in her humid kitchen. The $900 ones I got are plywood boxes with solid fronts, way better build.