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Kitchen shelves: the best ones to buy and how to style them
Plus colour suggestions and layout ideas.
Of all the kitchen trends that we are seeing of late, the move towards well-designed and often decorative kitchen shelves is a refreshing one.
This is a trend that really benefits those living with smaller kitchens because it opens up the space above eye level and introduces some softening styling elements to a functional and sometimes clinical room.
Kitchen shelves can of course hold utensils and pans and crockery – all the more reason to buy some beautiful sets – but they also hold art and plants, and decorative trinkets that would usually be found in a living room or bedroom. Having all of these bits and pieces on display encourages a level of organisation too, whereas kitchen cabinets and drawers so often become a dumping ground for pan lids and Tupperware boxes.
Whilst kitchen shelves may not seem like the trickiest design feature to settle on, the sheer volume of styles, colours, materials and sizes available may in fact make it a bit difficult.
Here, we look at 17 of the best kitchen shelves, with great affordable buys, styling tips, colour and layout suggestions.
Best kitchen shelves: rustic wood
These solid timber shelves with steel brackets make for a super functional kitchen solution. A great idea here is to mount each shelf at varying heights to accommodate larger items at the bottom.
Best kitchen shelves: the display shelf
Not all kitchen shelving will be totally functional – it's just as important to introduce decorative elements. There's usually a lot of empty space above a sink as cupboards are a bit impractical, so a slim display shelf makes a great addition.
Pictured: Kitchen accessories at Dunelm
Best kitchen shelves: the visual divide
This barely-there shelf acts as a natural divide between the marble splashback and fabulous green wallpaper above. It's placed slightly below eye level so even the smallest of items will be noticed.
Pictured: Crane Fonda wallpaper at Divine Savages
Best kitchen shelves: narrow space
The narrowest of spaces here that won't allow much in the way of storage, this is still handy for your tiniest pieces like espresso cups and bud vases.
Best kitchen shelves: the barely-there shelf
It's a common design trick to paint your shelves the same colour as your walls for a barely-there effect. This would work equally as well with a dark and dramatic hue, or painted the same matt blue as the splashback.
Best kitchen shelves: industrial materials
Wood and steel make for natural companions, and work especially well if you're displaying pale ceramics and glass – it can be tricky to add wood accessories to a wooden shelf without them disappearing.
Best kitchen shelves: full-length
The joy of a full-length shelf is that you can pile on mismatched crockery and call it a feature wall. This fabulous kitchen is also proof that you don’t need excessive amounts of overhead cupboards.
Best kitchen shelves: freestanding shelves
If you need to use the full length of your kitchen walls, freestanding shelves are your best bet. A robust steel is a safe choice, and Scandi design darling HAY, famously do them in an array of bright primary colours.
Best kitchen shelves: wall panelling
If you have wall panelling in your kitchen, it certainly doesn’t exclude you from adding shelves, just make like this fabulous deep green example and match your colours. We love the little hooks underneath too – what a great use of space.
Pictured: Wall and cabinets painted in Duck Green at Farrow & Ball
Best kitchen shelves: affordable shelving
Kitchens are often the most expensive room to renovate, but shelves certainly don’t need to be. These petite IKEA shelves come in at a very reasonable £20.
Best kitchen shelves: paint effect
This is a really clever use of paint, and so easy to replicate at home. Upgrade your plainest corners with a wall of ombré shelves.
Pictured: Walls painted in Antoinette Chalk Paint at Annie Sloan
Best kitchen shelves: the chef's choice
This kitchen shelving unit looks straight out of a chef’s kitchen but it is in fact from good old IKEA. This is one for the serious cooks.
Best kitchen shelves: uniform colour
Here's another great use of paint, and one to really lean into. To replicate this elegant uniform look, paint everything, from your cabinets to your shelves and even your work surfaces in the same shade.
Pictured: Kitchen by Cheverell with metalware by Armac Martin
Best kitchen shelves: the wall rack
Garden Trading is an absolute go-to for kitchen storage solutions. We love this antiqued brass wall rack, but you can also find classic wood shelving units, galvanised steel shelves and freestanding ladder shelves.
Best kitchen shelves: traditional styling
This is a real favourite of ours, and such a common trick amongst stylists. Forgo the usual kitchen accents of mason jars and plant pots and instead style your kitchen shelves as you would a living room or bedroom – antiques, art, family photos, anything goes.
Best kitchen shelves: cubby holes
If you are constantly pulling cook books, crockery and pots of pans off your shelves rather than using them as pure decoration, consider cubby holes. They can naturally organise and contain your bits and pieces and prevent them drifting.
Pictured: Chicken Bread Bin, Storage Tin, and Tea Towel at Sophie Allport
Best kitchen shelves: mini shelf
Even the tiniest spaces deserve a kitchen shelf. This example serves very little functional purpose, but adds a welcome bit of decoration to otherwise plain tiles.
Rachel Edwards is the Style & Interiors Editor for Country Living and House Beautiful, covering all things design and decoration, with a special interest in small space inspiration, vintage and antique shopping, and anything colour related. Her work has been extensively translated by Elle Japan and Elle Decor Spain. Rachel has spent over a decade in the furniture and homeware industry as a writer, FF&E designer, and for many years as Marketing Manager at cult design retailer, Skandium. She has a BA in French and Italian from Royal Holloway and an MA in Jounalism from Kingston University. Follow Rachel on Instagram @rachelaed
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