Try it… put in Houzz.com “Open Shelves” and you will hit 2455 photos. They are very popular and for a good reason, they are incredibly functional and light looking. I first experienced the simplicity and functionality of open shelves when I was on vacation at a lake and I fell in love. A few things to go over when you are considering installing open shelves in your kitchen:
1) Remember to use the shelves for “Daily Items” such as mixing bowls, coffee mugs and plates so that they don’t get dusty / dirty.
2) Don’t make the shelves any deeper than 12″, this will prevent you from storing things that are too large/ heavy and not functional for daily use.
3) There is something very beautiful about seeing the internal part of a kitchen when you expose shelves. It is an opportunity to create “art” in what you put on your shelves. The shelves alone are an opportunity to pull the kitchen together. I have an old antique cabinet that we invested in about a decade ago that tells a story and I want to keep in the kitchen. This is my opportunity to pull all the elements together so my floating shelves will be walnut, the same finish as my antique cabinet.