The kitchen is the heart of home in modern day living. Here at Home Tales, our clients often request seating within their kitchen, be it in the form of breakfast bar seating at the kitchen island or a lounge or dining area (or both). While families all juggle multiple individual activities, a meal gives everyone a reason to come together at intervals throughout the day. Proper storage is essential for an efficient kitchen. In this article, we explore the different types of shelving within kitchen design. 

We often redesign kitchens within our designs. If you are undertaking a ground floor extension, it’s very likely your existing kitchen will be disrupted in the redesign. It’s a great opportunity to modernise your kitchen and update the design to fit into your day to day life. 

Open shelves

Open shelves are becoming more and more popular in designs. They are great for small spaces as they remove the bulk that is often associated with larger cabinets. They aren’t as practical as larger cabinets as they often hold less. You are also somewhat limited on what you can put on them as it’s on display, so they are often used to hold art or plants. One other thing to keep in mind as whatever you choose to put on them will gather dust, so they aren’t ideal for storing glassware or crockery. They can make a beautiful addition to a room. This open shelf in our Pulborough project wasn’t needed for extra storage as the ground floor extension already boasts a spacious utility room and a generously sized kitchen. The shelf is used as more of a design accent rather than for a practical storage solution. The homeowner has used it to store some cherished items. If you look closely, you will see there are even LED lights underneath! 

Cabinets 

Kitchen cabinets that sit on the wall above a countertop are traditionally inset slightly from the full depth of a tall cabinet. A tall (full length) cabinet will be 600mm in depth, whereas the cabinets that sit over a countertop till typically be about 450mm. This enables you to use the countertop comfortably and ensures the storage doesn’t look too imposing within the room. These cabinets are great for housing plates, bowls, glasses etc. Our client in Wandsworth chose a lighter colour for these cabinets to help reduce the bulky and imposing nature these wall cabinets sometimes create. 

Here is another example of a cabinet solution. Our client still used the top of the cabinets to store helpful items, almost using them as open shelving. 

Glass cabinets 

Glass cabinets are often used where space is more limited. This is because you might not have the luxury of opting for open-shelves as space is limited and you need the storage, but it’s less imposing then the solid cabinets. We renovated this two bedroom flat in Earlsfield and reconfigured the space to make it more efficient and to introduce a dining area into the open plan kitchen area. Our client opted for a combination of open shelves and cabinets to ensure all of the space was utilised efficiently. 

Open shelves built into units 

Cabinets often have options to have clever storage solutions built within them. Our client in Richmond opted for some open shelfing within their cabinet run. Cabinets are often a standard size (600mm) so this is a great way to utilise any additional space you have left over where you can’t fit a full new cabinet. This is often used for wine storage or simply some additional space use as you please. 

No shelves

If you have the luxury of space then you might want to consider leaving high shelving or cabinets our all-together. Our client in Clapham wanted to leave this section of their kitchen open as they didn’t need more storage space. The kitchen sink overlooks the garden and the uninterrupted wall means there are no barricades to the natural light flow within the room. 

Other accessories 

There are tons of other accessories out there to give you storage or design features without the need for much space. Our client in Haringey opted for a handy storage rail which enables them to hang mugs, kitchen utensils or even plants from. This handy feature is very subtle from a design perspective but effective and practical. 

Pantries 

We are seeing more and more pantries and utility facilities within our designs, which remove the reliance on high cabinets and shelves. Homeowners are keen to keep their kitchens as clutter free as possible as they are turning into such a hub and social space. Utility rooms are often doubled up with WCs or other must-have items – we have even designed one utility room with a shower for the dog! The options are endless. If you are extending your property, there is often enough space to incorporate such a space, without interrupting the natural flow of the property.

If you want to discuss your home renovation, call our team today on 0207 043 2378 or email us at hello@hometales.co.uk. You can book a consult via our live diary here. We look forward to hearing from you.