I recently signed the lease for a new apartment, and I'm thrilled that it has an enormous kitchen (by New York standards anyway). But for all the space it has, there is very little storage. It has too tiny cabinets over the sink, which will be for everyday dishes, and a cabinet that has the sink in it (not exactly sure what is going in there yet).
So, I'm going to have to figure out something to use as a pantry. I just can't choose between open and closed storage.
I could do something like the OMAR unit from IKEA:
At $39.99 for the set shown above, the price is right. I could even afford to buy another set and stack them. The other open shelving option I'm considering is the elfa system from The Container Store.
In terms of closed storage, I actually love the PAX wardrobes from IKEA. I know that they are traditionally used in place of closets, but with all the interior options I think I could make it work for the kitchen. All I would need to do is to fill it with shelves, and maybe a drawer or two for spices and smaller things.
The PAX wardrobes are incredibly versatile—just look at this office built into a wardrobe from IkeaHacker.
I'd love to hear what you prefer—open or closed storage in the kitchen?
Most of my stuff I want hidden so I am a big fan of closed storage for the vast majority of things.
I vastly prefer closed storage, especially in the kitchen. Maybe we’re just messy cooks, but grease, flour, and water tend to fly about quite a bit and collect on the doors and counters as it is. With open storage, that would be settling on my dishes and food instead. Also, not everything we owns matches, and not everything is lovely, so hiding things away that aren’t in use reduces visual clutter, which is very important in a small space.
A mixture of somewhat open storage, matched canisters of frequently used items on the counter for example, with closed storage for everything else, seems most practical to me.
I have almost the exact same open shelf in my kitchen. I use it to store Corningware, Kitchenaid Stand mixer, etc… I see the appeal of closed storage, but I found these open shelves (I got ours at Costco) as good options because they are super sturdy and can work anywhere in our home. If you wanted to, you could use some sort of basket system or pretty plastic storage baskets to put the items in and then on the shelves.
Definitely the storage that closes. Kitchens are full of grease no matter what (unless you don’t cook). Grease attracts dust and if you have open storage, your out-in-the-air kitchen items are going to be covered with a subtle, but still gross, greasy dust. That’s my two cents.
I would go with the PAX wardrobe. Wire shelving is hard to keep things level. Cans and boxes tip. You can use liners to prevent this, but I still prefer your closed option. Also, I would be worried about collecting dust. You don’t want to dust a pantry now, do you?
Thank you all for your input! I was leaning toward closed storage, and it’s true I don’t want to have to dust my pantry. The appeal of the open storage, is definitely the price. But I’d rather spend a little more now and not have to have a gross pantry. Now I just have to figure out when I can get myself to Ikea to design my perfect PAX wardrobe.
I would definitely opt for closed storage. I currently live in an apartment with open storage shelving and it just looks so messy. Maybe it’s just with my OCD tendencies but I end up straightening and realigning all the cans and boxes every time I go into the kitchen. If I had a choice, I would slap some cabinets on the shelves and call it a day.
I prefer closed storage, but either way I would use matching/similar baskets to keep everything on the shelves organized. Congratulations on your large kitchen!
Having lived in an open styled kitchen for the past two years I am jumping for joy that we are moving into a new house with traditional cabinets. Although I like modern styles, the open kitchen concept always felt cluttered to me. If you like the shelving at IKEA you might also look at COSTCO, who carries similar shelving of better quality and almost the same price.
Good Luck!
I definitely agree with all the votes for closed storage, if you can swing it. It’s not just an aesthetic thing; everything you put on those open shelves is going to gather dust. (As mentioned.) We used to keep our wine glasses on an open Ikea shelf because they looked nice there, and we always had to wash them before using them. Not so great.
I prefer closed storage in the kitchen. It would be nice to have the front of one cabinets replaced with a glass door. All my prettiest things would go in there. You’ve inspired me to continue organizing the house.
Thanks Kristin
I personally think the people who have open storage must have cleaning services that do a weekly dust and wash job of the shelves. They become dust collectors. I can’t afford that so I prefer the closed system.
I am a very messy person…organized but messy. I need for my storage to be closed so I can hide the mess. My hubby on the other hand is so orderly and tidy, he could get away with open since people would be in awe of his analness (anality?) [whatever the adverb]
So I took everyone’s advice and opted for closed storage. The problem with the PAX was that it was waaay too deep for a pantry. So we bought an AKURUM storage cabinet from Ikea, something very similar to this cabinet, but with a different door http://bit.ly/bt1TuK. Thank you so much for all of your input!