I'm a fan of open shelves so when it was time to re-boot our tired old kitchen I knew exactly what I wanted - open shelves! In homage to our old kitchen, wood from the wide-plank pine flooring (which, as it turns out, had already been upcyled once before) would be planed, varnished and re-used for open shelves and to clad the new island. The old floor had been giving us splinters and at one point I painted it a beautiful turquoise. I asked the contractor to leave some of the paint on the wood for that distressed look.

Some people complain that with open shelves you have to work to keep things tidy. But I love them and find them no trouble at all. Plus I never hit my head on the corner of an open cupboard door anymore!