A big debate Ben & I had when we were designing our kitchen was to go open shelves or not? Ben is not a fan of shelves, he thinks they ask for clutter. Me on the other hand- love shelves, I think they are an opportunity to tell a story. I think Ben gets it now...he's seen me spend hours reorganizing our kitchen shelves after a long day at work and understands it's simply therapeutic to me. That's how I am, visual, I like organization, and I like to keep things interesting and invite our guest to question why something has made it on our shelves. I'm a firm believer that what goes on my walls and shelves should tell something about who we are and that's what makes it a home vs. a house.
Take my kitchen as an example, when you look at my shelves you might not get the story behind all the pieces but I hope it at least looks organized with some quirky touches that will make you smile or wonder the story behind it.
To me though, this is what I see...
That lil piggy up on the right corner is a vintage Salt & Pepper shaker- I've since broken his friend but he remains on my shelf as a reminder of a time when I was going through some tough personal stuff and my best friend took me thrifting in Ottawa to distract me and those little piggies made me smile.
That sea turtle traveled back from mine and Ben's amazing vacation in Tuluum, Mexico where I finally was able to swim and touch real life sea turtles, one check off the bucket list.
Those mason jars are dollar store finds that I customized by painting the lids matte black to match the decor and they store baking goods which is one of my favorite things to do.
The books, baking books mostly that inspire me, and yes I use them- the Magnolia Table is one of my favorites that was given to Ben & I as a house warming gift from family and has a handy measurements reference in the back that I use all the time!
The vintage potato chip can is a fun twist on our favorite snack making it's way into a stylish statement for us to hide our half eaten bags in.
The top hat on the cactus came with a bottle of Gin we bought one summer night and I put it on as a joke but it has stayed because to me it represents us, silly and it still makes me laugh.
So when organizing your next shelf, take these things into consideration.
Keep it simple, don't over clutter, there needs to be balance so the eye knows where to focus.
Pick a colour scheme and have that balanced throughout.
Layer, you don't want it all to be one dimensional so you need to balance round objects vs flat, tall vs. short, and give back drops here and there as you can see I've done with baskets, charcuterie boards, and place mats.
And have fun with it- make it unique and know that you can always change it.
It's funny because I've drooled over kitchens with open shelves for years now and always wanted them but was nervous to take the leap. Can I keep it organized? Will it look cluttered? Is it functional? One day shortly after moving in Ben's cousin came to visit and commented "I've always wanted to know someone with open shelves." She then went on to open our cupboards and was like "Ah, so these are the dishes you reeeally use right?!" And yes, she's right to a point, the shelves are definitely less used but we use those dishes still and I think they make our kitchen more unique than 3 extra upper cupboards would ever have been able too. It doesn't all have to be about you but my shelves are something you won't see anywhere else, it's not all bought at Homesense and mass made, it's taken time for me to collect my story and why not put that out to display?
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