Subscribe to Chatfield Court!

Chatfield Court

DIY Kitchen Open Shelving for Under $50

by 56 Comments

Installing DIY kitchen open shelving for under $50.

Beautiful DIY kitchen open shelving for under $50. A great way to add rustic, farmhouse charm instead of cabinets in the kitchen. www.chatfieldcourt.com

I am one of those people that would crinkle my nose and shake my head whenever I saw open shelves in a kitchen. After all, I’m a neat freak and minimalist when it comes to kitchen decor. I knew that I would never, ever have open shelving in my kitchen. How do the dishes stay clean? Who wants to see all that stuff?

It doesn’t happen often, but I can honestly say that I was so wrong about them.

I loved my shelf in our Illinois kitchen and knew when we moved in that I would have them in this house.

There was a wine storage cabinet on one of the walls in the kitchen that would never get utilized (talk about a dust catcher), so I decided pretty quickly that it would have to go and wood shelves would take its place.

Beautiful DIY open shelving in the kitchen for under $50. www.chatfieldcourt.com

I had a barn wood shelf in our Illinois house, that we installed during our kitchen remodel. I loved how useful it was, so it wasn’t a difficult decision to do them again. This time though, we would do 2 and try to keep the budget under $50.

Open shelving in a newly remodeled galley kitchen. www.chatfieldcourt.com

I love this kind of project because it’s relatively inexpensive and it’s super easy to do. The hardest part was trying to figure out how to hang the shelves so that I could put my dishes on them without everything crashing to the floor.

The studs didn’t line up on the wall so that we could use shelf brackets the way they are supposed to be used, so we had to improvise. There was a lot of discussion back and forth with the hubs and I, and we finally decided to hang these shelves the same way that we hung the bathroom shelves, with a metal strap on the back of the shelf.

That way we could screw it into the studs so that they were secure.

open shelving

Before we hung the shelves though, I had a bit of work to do fixing the holes and painting the wall.

I went with Benjamin Moore Paper White, which is a very pale gray, and I love how it came out. So much better than the pale yellow that was on all of the walls when we moved in. We’ll talk more about the paint color when I share the whole room reveal.

open shelving

The kitchen shelves were going to hang a little different from the bathroom shelves, so we used shelf brackets to add a farmhouse touch. Since the metal straps are doing all the work, the brackets are mostly for looks.

open shelving

The metal strap is barely visible behind the wood and, from across the room you can’t see it at all. .

Beautiful DIY open shelving in the kitchen for under $50. www.chatfieldcourt.com

Just like the shelf in our Illinois kitchen, these hold our everyday dishes and glasses and a few plants. I didn’t want to be dusting a lot of stuff so 2 small shelves were the right choice for me.

Beautiful DIY kitchen open shelving for under $50. A great way to add rustic, farmhouse charm instead of cabinets in the kitchen. www.chatfieldcourt.com

*Affiliate link used. Please see my Privacy Policy for more info. 

The barn wood moved with us from Illinois so our only expenses were the metal strap for $10 and 4 shelf brackets, which were $7.95 each. That’s a total of $42 for just the shelves. Both the metal strap and brackets were purchased from The Home Depot.

Adding beautiful DIY kitchen open shelving for under $50. A great way to add rustic, farmhouse charm instead of cabinets in the kitchen. www.chatfieldcourt.com

This is a super easy DIY that you can do in your own home. If you don’t have barn wood, you could easily use a piece of pine and stain or paint it.

How to install beautiful DIY open shelving in the kitchen for under $50. A great way to add rustic, farmhouse charm instead of cabinets in the kitchen. www.chatfieldcourt.com

So this is it for me. I’ve almost used up my whole supply of barn wood so I won’t be building anymore shelves.

I’m almost positive. 😉

How to add beautiful DIY open shelving in the kitchen for under $50. A great way to add rustic, farmhouse charm instead of cabinets in the kitchen. www.chatfieldcourt.com

Now I have to finish painting the rest of the kitchen and dining room walls. Once all the painting is done, I’ll be ready to give you a proper tour of the space.

How to hang beautiful DIY kitchen open shelving for under $50. A great way to add rustic, farmhouse charm instead of cabinets in the kitchen. www.chatfieldcourt.com

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!

Other projects you can check out…

DIY faux floating shelves in the bathroom for extra storage. www.chatfieldcourt.comDIY Faux Floating Shelves in the Bathroom

 Easy kitchen island makeover with paint. www,chatfieldcourt.comEasy Kitchen Island Makeover 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  8. I love your shelves! So gorgeous. I am hoping to put up some shelves like this in our basement kitchenette this weekend. Do you remember the name of the shelf brackets that you bought at Home Depot? And also what is the measurement of the wood? Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful home with us!

    Reply

  9. Oh, I love those shelves….and old barn wood at that.
    They are lovely!
    We have a place in Capistrano that sells old wood…we went to see…because I was thinking about having large shelves in the kitchen…but the wood was prohibitive! (and we have plaster walls that crack if you don’t do things like that just right….) so we never did it.
    Still dream about shelves like yours.
    Nancy
    wildoakdesigns.blogspot.com

    Reply

    • Thanks Nancy. I guess you could say that I’m slightly addicted to reclaimed wood shelves. I love the way they look and they’re great for extra storage. I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to put them in this house because we too have plaster walls. It took a bit of planning to make sure they would be sturdy and not damage the wall, but we did it.

      Thanks so much for stopping in. I hope that someday you’ll have shelves to call your own. 😉

      Reply

  16. Kristi,
    your shelves look beautiful! I am a big fan of open shelves. We also partially removed kitchen cabinets and installed DIY open shelves. We didn’t have such a pretty barn wood like yours, so we had to make new wood look old 🙂

    Reply

    • Thanks so much, Nadia. I love having open shelves and I’m sure yours looks awesome, barn wood or not. There’s so many great products out there now to help you make new wood look old. Enjoy your shelves! 🙂

      Reply

    • I agree Debbie, much nicer than that cabinet. I didn’t like that thing from the first time we stepped in the house so I’m glad to be rid of it. 🙂

      Hope you give this project a try. I’m sure you’d love them.

      Reply

  21. Your shelves made such a difference – I love them. And the barnwood adds such a welcome bit of color and texture to the walls and cabinets. I know when you are finished (if we’re ever finished) with your re-do, it will be a wonderfully cozy and welcoming home. I’ve told you many times how much I love your little cottage, and the more you do to it, the more I love it. I would be so happy with a little home just like this.

    Reply

    • Thanks so much for your sweet comment, Pat. Reading your comments always brings a smile to my face.

      I’m loving the shelves and the rustic feeling of the barn wood. I think I need to show some restraint though and not add anymore. You know what they say? Too much of a good thing… 🙂

      Thanks for stopping in and I hope you have a great weekend.

      Reply

  22. I love everything you do. I am still working on doing my ceilings, like you did in your last house. I just don’t have enough time and money to get it done just yet but it will get done. Thank you again for sharing.

    Reply

  23. I just took down the same type cabinet. We don’t even drink wine so it was a total waste. We do however drink coffee so….. I am replacing with white floating shelves & making it a coffee bar.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *