Before the days of completely built in kitchen cabinets, a kitchen might have one or more kitchen shelves hanging on the walls to hold cooking utensils or ingredients. These shelving units were replaced by enclosed cabinets for a couple of reasons: to hide the less picturesque ingredients and cooking utensils, and to protect same from the grease and smoke cooking creates. Even with a hood over the stove, cooking sends oil and other particles into the air of the kitchen, and they settle on the surfaces. Anything on an open shelf periodically needs to be washed even if it has not been used. The shelves as well need periodic cleaning to remove the grime generated by cooking.

Thus kitchen shelves are not often used anymore. Except for filling in areas without cabinets to make those spaces more useful, or to display appropriate collectibles in the kitchen. I have such a shelf in my kitchen. It is part useful storage and part display, with display gradually taking over entirely as I cook less and less. Every couple of years the objects come down for washing and I remove the dust and dirt from the shelves. My shelves are unfinished wood, and if they stay there long enough will become really grody. A clear finish would be better, to make the clean-up easier and more thorough, and paint would better still. The best option for kitchen shelving is stainless steel or steel with a heavy enamel paint baked on, like the enamel sink. Wire rack shelving accumulates dirt the least, if the items to be placed on the shelf will not fall through the spaces in the rack. For totally efficient shelves, go with stainless steel, as they are easy to clean, if your kitchen can stand a spot of that industrial look.

Kitchen shelves may be built in, come as several shelves in a unit or be installed as individual wall shelves. The choice for a particular space may be based on what is to be placed on the shelves, the amount of use those items get and therefore the strength requirements for the shelf, and what you want the shelves to look like. Modest architectural details can be added by using metal shelf brackets that incorporate some design details beyond simply holding the shelves to the wall. Whole shelving units that sit on the floor may be your answer to storage for large pots and pans, baking pans and dishes and cookbooks.

Older kitchen shelves can be found at flea markets, salvage businesses and antique shops. If you collect antiques, a couple of antique kitchen shelves can be a very apropos display for some of your collectibles in the kitchen. These older kitchen shelves will probably be made of wood and painted. Some come with considerable scroll saw work on the shelf edges, forming wooden shelf paper, so to speak. Having an antique kitchen shelf to show off you kitchen collectibles will add a warn touch to your kitchen, no matter what the style of the rest of the kitchen is.

* * * Read about wire racks to organize your home. * * *

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