New Kitchen Color and an Open Shelving Trial

I am a bit belated on this post. I intended for it to go up on Friday but I am still trying to figure out how to keep a decent blogging schedule with a busy toddler running around :). This past Thursday I shared a sneak peek at our new kitchen color, and today you get to see it in all of its glory! Sunshine included :). In addition to the new paint color, I also wanted to try out the open shelving look with a few of our cabinets. Before we get into the nitty gritty of my images, here are a few open shelving pictures that inspired me:

Image Sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Aren't they all lovely? If you are really interested in seeing more inspiration, here are a few links worth checking out, too:

• Organize This: Open Kitchen Shelving from Better Homes and Gardens
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• Get Inspired: Open Shelves in the Kitchen from Little Green Notebook (Love her blog!)
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• Open Shelving in the Kitchen from Houzz- careful, you might spend hours on this site.
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• Open Shelving in the Kitchen- Yay or Nay? from House of Smiths (another great blog)
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• In the Mix: 20 Kitchens with a Combination of Cabinets and Open Shelving from Apartment Therapy

Now that we are all inspired, let's get down to how we are trying this idea out in our kitchen. I figured that I could simply remove a few doors to see if we liked the look and then worst case scenario we would just reattach them. A pretty harmless idea. Once I got the doors off, I did decide to paint the insides white as well. The cabinets needed a bit of contrast and since I had already used color on the wall, I wanted the exposed cabinet to remain a neutral color, just brighter. Now, I've got to tell you that I rarely do any kind of project when it is just Asa and I at home. Toddlers and projects just don't go together well at all. Alas, I went against my gut and decided to paint the inside of the cabinet during the day. This translated to our kitchen and living room being taken apart by a busy toddler who wanted all of my attention. In all honesty, it took me from about 8am until lunchtime to get that cabinet painted. It is safe to say that I will be saving my painting jobs for after bedtime or for when Josh is home :) from now on. Here's a look at our kitchen during the painting process- jealous?

The cabinets needed a few coats of paint. I should have used a primer but since I was already a bit stressed out about getting it done, I avoided it. As a consequence, I ended up doing three coats of the white paint. However, that actually helped out because it allowed me to take breaks with Asa to read books, have a snack, have a dance party- ya know- the normal day things. I used the leftover paint from our master bedroom which was Elder White by Sherwin Williams. Similar to the wall color of this room, this is a color that is so darn reliable and fresh that you can't go wrong with it. I specifically like it because it is not a harsh white but has a bit of gray in it, which gives it a gentle appearance. If you are looking for a white, I highly recommend this one.

After the painting was completed and dry, I put the shelves back in. Something I didn't anticipate being an issue were the shelf clips. How ugly are those babies? Ick. Since we haven't decided if we want to keep our cabinets this way or not, I have decided to just live with them as is for now. if we end up keep the cabinets open, I will probably look into changing these by either buying white ones or spray painting these.

Once the shelves were in place, things shaped up quickly and all I had to do was decide what to put on them. The two cabinets that I opened up housed our dishes and our drink-ware. I chose these because the contents are pleasing to the eye and incredibly easy to keep organized. The dish cupboard is nearly all white and yellow, so it doesn't really matter how things are placed because it all goes together. Similarly, the drink-ware shelves all house glasses, which almost always look nice no matter how they are placed. The other reason that these cabinets were a good choice to open up is because we are constantly using what's in them so there is very little time for dust to collect. No one likes dust in their dishes!
Once everything was in place and the kitchen was tidied up, I've got to say that I think we are going to really like the open cabinets. The only funny thing is that you almost always have the desire to go close the cabinets when you walk into the room, even though there isn't a door there anymore. Ha! I bet that is something that will go away over time but it definitely gives me a laugh for now.
Here are a few pictures of the kitchen all tidied up with the new paint color and our open shelves! What do you think?

And just for reference, a few before and afters :)!

And a flashback to the very first paint color, too:

Even though the changes we have made so far are small (paint, new hardware, accessories, faucet and open shelving), I feel that the room already has a fresher feeling to it. While I dream everyday about making some big changes, I am still encouraged by the progress so far. I feel like we have finally got the color right- at least for now while the cabinets are honey oak, and the open shelves are a nice change, too.
How about you? How do you feel about trying open shelving in your kitchen?