Keep this kitchen cabinet or build open wall shelves??

[Blueridge]

I have a tiny kitchen and not nearly enough storage space. Currently I have a large wood entertainment cabinet with double doors along one wall (it's the side opposite my cabinets) that holds a variety of things from cookbooks to bowls and plastic things to paper plates to extra pitchers and glass jars to my bosch and dehydrator, so it functions as a catch all for most of my stuff. I have a vision of removing it and along the three walls that wrap around it mounting wood shelves to hold pretty things like large glass canning jars for pantry foods, spices, my cookbooks, a few colorful accents like pottery, some baskets, trying not to add anything too cluttered. The small corner space is approx. 4' x 5' x 3'. I am thinking 3 rows of shelves all around. Do you think this is a good idea that would add visual space to my kitchen, or should I leave well enough alone? I'll try to attach a pic of this cabinet space in case you have suggestions for me to organize the inside of it better. It's very deep so things get shuffled or forgotten in the back.

[Perry]

I don't like too many decorative things in my kitchen because they collect grease and that collects dust. And greasy dust is a pain to clean. I like your cabinet.

:iagree:

If I wanted to display things, I'd use cabinets with glass doors.

[Blueridge]

Thank you. It's very old and probably should have been painted a long time ago. :) The problem is that, as big as this cabinet is, it doesn't hold all my stuff...see the shelf next to it that holds my jars of tea and rice and grains. It's also so deep that it doesn't organize efficiently and takes up a lot of floor room. I've already de-cluttered twice, and half my cookbooks are in basement boxes. I hadn't thought about jars gathering dust, but that is something to consider. I really want all my staples (flour, rice, sugars, spices, etc) in one defined space, instead of all over the kitchen in various cabinets where I have a little room. I've donated to Goodwill till I'm exhausted, and I really don't want to purge my goodies much further lol. If anyone has ideas for using the existing cabinet in a more organized way, I would love to hear those ideas, too. I hate wasting that little area space on either side of the cabinet but can't figure out anything else to do there. I am really needing a pantry, but don't have one...sigh.

[Mabeline]

Could you build yourself a pantry? Put in the shelves on the three walls then add doors to the whole thing. Maybe extending the walls out a foot or so on both sides to make the door opening smaller. Then it would be more of a walk in pantry. I've always wanted a walk in pantry and that space looks perfect.

[Parrothead]

Go for it.

[gardenmom5]

I think shelves would probably add. As nice as the storage in your entertainment cabinet might be - it is visually very imposing.

[Baseball mom]

I would do the shelves but of course I moved some bookcases along a blank wall in the kitchen to make mores shelving. My MIL told me I could put a tension bar & curtain up to cover the shelves but I like them open. They house my small appliances, baking supplies, snack items and etc.

[TKDmom]

I think shelves would open it up and give you more useable storage space.

 

If it were my kitchen, I'd be inclined to have 5 or 6 rows of shelves 12-18" apart and set it up so that I could put doors in front of the bottom shelves to store things that I didn't want on display. And I wouldn't add decorative accents, except maybe on the top shelf. Organized cookbooks and pretty rows of canisters make a beautiful kitchen in my eyes.

[cherimoya]

I made the mistake of having open shelves. I will not be doing it again. It is a pain with the dust and grease.

[LucyStoner]

I would do shelves and make it into a pantry/cookbook area. I would do more than 3 rows. The cabinet needs to go. I have used an entertainment cabinet for storage in a pinch and it was a PITA with clutter and the doors allow family members to make it a place to stuff things willy nilly. I am much happier with various shelves that have replaced it. I agree to just leave the decorative stuff to the top row. I use large clear glass canisters to store beans, rice, flours, lentils, oatmeal etc and those would look great on such shelves.

[Blueridge]

Thank you all for your insights! I've always worried that the old cabinet was just too big for that space, but I was trying to make do. Now if I can sell it to a local person, I can start my shelf plan. Yes, I agree it would be better to have more than 3, so now I am going to search for some great building plans. I found tons of amazing pictures on Houzz that have me inspired. My main goal is to create more visual space and more storage space at the same time. I can also get an estimate on actually making a pantry by somehow enclosing part of it. Maybe the tension rod with curtains tied back? Thanks so much everyone!

[Unicorn.]

I would turn that space into a pantry w/ doors!

These doors are really neat, because they hide the majority, but let you have the visual acces to the top..I realize this is a much smaller shelf space, but I thought it might give you some ideas. Scroll to the bottom of the post to see the finished look- pretty!

http://www.designsponge.com/2011/11/before-after-repurposed-horse-stall-doors.html

[JFSinIL]

Do you have cats?

[JFSinIL]

PS - I have that same cabinet, since we no longer need it to hold a tv it is in the dining room with all my files in it.