WHITE OPEN SHELVES

WHITE OPEN SHELVES-easy way to arrange open shelves

The opens shelves above the bar in my breakfast nook are a focal point. And they get changed up seasonally. I’m one for changing things around! Because we are having our kitchen repainted very soon I took down all the white pitchers, soup tureens and cake plates that were on the top of my cabinets. And because I did not want to store them away because I use them, I displayed them on the open shelves. So today I’m sharing white open shelves!

On the podcast DECORATING TIPS AND TRICKS we are talking about How To Style Open Shelves. We have lots of tips and the show notes has links to ways you can style shelves too!

Listen below…

Or you can listen to How To Style Open shelves and other podcasts and get all the show notes HERE. We would also love it if you would listen on the go with your phone’s podcast app, like iTunes.

Styling the white open shelves is totally different than anything I have done before. Usually, I use a grid system (see link below) when styling things like shelves and bookcases and hutches. 

For these shelves I just placed like objects across one shelf!  Pitchers on the tops shelf…
WHITE OPEN SHELVES-easy way to arrange open shelves 

Soup Tureens of the middle shelf…

WHITE OPEN SHELVES-easy way to arrange open shelves

WHITE OPEN SHELVES-easy way to arrange open shelves

WHITE OPEN SHELVES-easy way to arrange open shelves

And my favorite cake pedestal plates on the bottom shelf…

WHITE OPEN SHELVES-easy way to arrange open shelves

WHITE OPEN SHELVES-easy way to arrange open shelves

Years ago I started to collect only white kitchenware. Bowls, dishes, platters, etc. So now I have a nice collection of things I love and use. And for me, they are so easy to display! This style works with my open floor plan in the back of my home and continues my farmhouse look.

WHITE OPEN SHELVES-easy way to arrange open shelves

 

WHITE OPEN SHELVES-easy way to arrange open shelves

There are so many ways to decorate open shelves and that is part of the fun! 

Do you have shelves in your home? What is your favorite way to decorate them? Please share!

You might also like…

HOW TO STYLE OPEN SHELVES LIKE A PRO

DESIGNER TIPS FOR BEAUTIFULLY ARRANGED SHELVES

5 EASY TIPS TO STYLE A HUTCH OR BOOKCASE

You might like to follow me and see what I’m finding to pin every day HERE.

WHITE OPEN SHELVES-easy way to arrange open shelves

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79 Comments

  1. Until we moved to this house in France I had never had open shelves and I have to admit I was uncertain, but wow, I love them and will never go back to upper cupboards! Your collection of tureens is quite enviable, they are fabulous. Xx

  2. Catherine says:

    I was wondering if you could tell me where you got those beautiful open weave edge cake plates?

    1. Hi Catherine, Those pretty cake plates came from HomeGoods. I see them quite a lot there.

      1. Janet MacDowell says:

        I love Homegoods. Greatest place to shop. Love your blog…you’re very conscientious! I enjoy receiving your emails. You have such great ideas! Love your decorating!
        Your blogs made me get back to my love of crafting. Just recently made two spring wreaths and a bird nest and its all due to your blog. Thanks!

  3. Dianne Lanier says:

    I love your white collection and the open shelving. I don’t currently have any open shelving, but yours looks great!

  4. Yvonne, I always love seeing pictures of your open shelves. So inviting and a great use of space. Open shelves are a great reminder of what we have…so items get used.

    Thanks for revisiting your post on styling a hutch/bookcase. I moved my hutch into my living room shortly after you posted your pictures a few years back. I love it there. It warms my room and brings the ceiling down as I have a vaulted ceiling. I have filled mine with family pics, books and some keepsake pieces like my kids Bunnykin dishes. I had a designer tell me it looks like an elephant in the room and doesn’t belong. But I want to enjoy it and it certainly has freed up our dining room.

    1. Hi June, Good for you to follow your own instincts. Using what you love makes a house a home!

  5. Your bunny tureen and the round one in the middle are so lovely. They are my favorites. I have a couple of great old white pitchers that I so enjoy putting flowers and pretty things in. Looking at your display makes me want to collect more white.

  6. Looks wonderful and you have the best collections of white dishes. Love it all!!

  7. I only have one open shelf at my coffee station, but plan on adding more. I love the look and what a wonderful way to display your prized possessions.

  8. After my son had a kitchen fire, I redid my kitchen in farmhouse style with a beadboard ceiling, and open shelves on 2 walls. I have struggled with how to style them. On the top shelf are my pieces of ironstone that I have collected, and on the bottom shelf, I store our everyday dishes, glasses, and bowls. The third shelf (on another wall) is where I need some styling help…… I guess I know what I am doing today!! I’ve been reading your blog for about 4 years now and have only commented once…..but Yvonne, I love your decorating style and have gleaned so much decorating knowledge from you! In fact I’m researching soapstone for my countertop replacement option. I love your podcast, and have listened to each one. Thank you for your Sunday devotionals too. You are a blessing!

    1. Hi Barbara, Thanks for being part of a StoneGable family!!!! So sorry about your son’s kitchen fire! I prayed for all of you!

  9. Yvonne, I love your collection of all white. Displayed on your shelves it is not only handy and within reach, but it looks like an art collection! I wish I had open shelving in our rather small kitchen, for now I display my white pieces in a cabinet with glass doors. Happy Monday!

  10. Anne Marie says:

    Love all the white dishes!

  11. I love these open shelves and your white collection. I have a small collection of white pitchers plus one white ironstone tureen from my grandma. You’ve inspired me to be on the lookout for more!

  12. Meg Hobbes says:

    Yvonne, I love the look you created by grouping similar items on each shelf. It looks very functional!

  13. I have one shelf over a double window in my kitchen,no
    wall space to add more.When we redo our kitchen next
    year,I will add some glass cabinets for display.Your shelves
    look lovely and you have quite a collection.

  14. Good morning, Yvonne. Thank you for the very helpful post on open shelves. I am learning something new each time I read your blog.
    I love your white dishes, pitchers, etc. I am curious if you collect ironstone? I am currently starting a collection and have purchased on Etsy and EBay. Sometimes I am somewhat disappointed because the items I purchase look white on my computer screen, yet when they arrive, they tend to be more cream colored. I do prefer the bright white, but still appreciate the nicer cream colored versions I have purchased. I have learned that some ironstone has more cobalt in it, which gives it a creamer color. If you have ironstone, where did you purchase it from? Any suggestions for finding the true white ironstone? I am reading up on ironstone and have read that the true white contains a bluish tint. Currently, I am collecting ironstone pitchers.
    Let me thank you ahead of time for any questions you can answer. Thanks again for sharing all you do.

  15. I love the white tureens , cake stands and dishes…beautiful!

  16. Linda Godwin says:

    Love all your white kitchenware!

  17. In a former home we created open shelves by simply removing some upper cabinet doors along one wall then added some narrow trim to conceal the holes where the hinges had been and painted it all white. Economical way to accomplish our goal of open shelving.

  18. Your shelves are a work of art!

  19. Teresa Gonzales says:

    Love the open shelves-so functional and beautiful!

  20. Beautiful. I adore white dishes.

  21. Bonnie G. says:

    I like the impact of displaying the white on the open shelves.

  22. I really like the look of open shelves. This kitchen doesn’t allow for it but the next one might :). So I wonder about dust, and since I cook with gas is that as a problem as far as cooking film settling on the dishes? I think I’d constanly be washing the items on the shelves. One other thing. How much space do you alot between each shelf? I too have soup tureens and tall pitchers. It would be my luck I’d get shelves up and the items wouldn’t fit 🙂 Yikes. Love your blog!!

  23. Gerolene Sterley says:

    Hello

    I love everything about your open shelves. I will certainly be using some of your ideas in the flat we are having renovated. Thank you for sharing your life with us.
    Blessings
    Gerolene

  24. Your kitchen is “picture perfect”! Why are you repainting? Color change? of Refresher?

  25. Your white collection is so beautiful Yvonne. I love open shelves, wish I have more space in the kitchen for them…. Perfect display and great tips!
    Have a great start of the week!

  26. I love the all white look and the way you have them grouped together. That is another idea to try!

  27. Yvonne,

    These are so pretty! You know I love a white dish more than anything!

    Thanks for the inspiration!

    Happy day!
    karianne

  28. Your white ironstone is so pretty grouped together. Thank you for sharing the fabulous pictures.

  29. I started my ironstone collection when a beloved friend of the family gave me some pieces before she died and I accumulated a few more pieces as I came across them. I don’t have alot of open shelving, but I display plates above my kitchen cabinets and pitchers on my baker’s rack and one one large shelf in my dinette. It is definitely harder to find ironstone since farmhouse decorating became popular, but places like Home Goods have helped me supplement my white collection.

  30. I love the shelves and the beautiful wood behind them. My husband and I are in the throws of a Hugh remodel and I am having all shelves on top in my new kitchen with wood installed behind them. I have a very pretty collection of creamware I want to put on them as well as everyday dishes. Your are so pretty the way you have them displayed. I think it makes the kitchen look very warm

  31. I’m thinking seriously about some open shelves when we redo our kitchen. Love your ideas.

  32. Carol Davis says:

    For years I thought white was boring. You certainly keep it from being boring with your arrangement of it and the different borders on the items that give them so much interest. Will take a new look at white in the future.
    My shelves are in an open pantry area coming in from the garage and that is where I display large pots, baskets, vases cutting boards and items too large to fit in the kitchen. Of course group most of the items together with small items tucked here and there to give it interest.

  33. Nancy Weston says:

    Could you tell me where you got your dining room rug. I love the colors
    Thank you

  34. The open shelves look beautiful w/ your white beauties!

  35. After reading your blog, I started collecting white dishes and ironstone. My favourites are soup tureens and pitchers. I use them in display but also for what they were intended for – serving food. Many of my pieces are in cupboards but I wish I had open shelving to display them all. I love playing with vignettes.

  36. I started collecting white ironstone several years ago when I saw some serving pieces at TJ Maxx. I’ve added salad plates and mugs, but haven’t found dinner plates yet. I can’t read the printing on the bottom of most of what I have, but feel pretty much any of it blends together. I love how yours is a variety of patterns mixed together. Hoping someday to have open shelves like yours to be able to display some of what I have. I have EAPG glass in my china cabinet, so unfortunately my ironstone gets hidden away. Your kitchen and shelf displays are beautiful!

  37. Kathy Fliegauf says:

    I enjoy the open system for both looks and usefulness. Mine have glass shelves and on them is a mixture of china items and colored glass pitchers and glasses with lighting above. I also have a rack on the wall on which I hang smaller items such as zester, garlic press, measuring spoons, etc. In back of my stove top there is a stainless steel grid on which hang spatulas, etc. It is so convenient to have items in the open.

  38. I enjoy looking at other ppl’s open shelves, but I’m behind-closed-doors type.

  39. Thank goodness someone else loves open shelving…my shelves are white…and they hold colored Fiestaware..and white pitchers and a small collection of white sheep…but when I want to change….my white dishes take their place! Love it!

  40. Of all the things I miss the most about downsizing it would have to be my dish collections and butler’s pantry. Sigh!

  41. Enjoyed the podcast, Yvonne. I have open shelving in my kitchen, in place of upper cupboards, and I have a good reason for this. 🙂 I rent a small loft apartment (my wee abode), and there were no upper cupboards when I moved in. There were two blank walls with a narrow (but very large!) shelf installed to hold the convection microwave, and ONLY the microwave. 🙂 My landlord gave me the go ahead take down the microwave and to install open shelving, so I purchased the plumbing hardware and wood, and built my own. It has worked out wonderfully well for my purposes. I used it to not only house some of my pretty whiteware/ironstone, but I also store my every day dishes and bakeware there, as well. I have pops of aqua on the shelves, as well (from my vintage Pyrex). Very fun!

  42. Heidi Childs says:

    Your white collection is beautiful. I feel inspired!

  43. I am pretty envious of your open shelving. So gorgeous, and you are such a master at styling them.

  44. Anne Porter says:

    White is so very beautiful; simple; versatile and practical! My collection started after my red china phase, but they work well together. My only “regret”, my floral dish phase….

  45. Gorgeous Gorgeous​Gorgeous​ once again!

  46. I like the open shelves ….love the bunny dish !

  47. Carol Elkins says:

    I love the open shelves – I sure wish I had room in my kitchen for them!

  48. As usual, so enjoyed this post and how you arranged the white ironstone. Thanks.

  49. Yvonne, we have always had white everyday china, but I’ve been adding white dishes from flea markets for a few years. I love how fresh and light they seem in our glass front kitchen cabinets. Thanks for more inspiration and ideas.

  50. Nancy Bailey says:

    I hadn’t planned on having open shelves in our new kitchen until I saw this! So dramatic and elegant yet simple. I love the look and your cake plates are gorgeous. Thank you, once again, for the inspiration. xoxo

  51. I love your shelves and the white ironstone. I would like to start collection white ironstone, but i hear it is hard to come by . Does white or off white pitcher and plates look nice. also..?

  52. Wow! You have quite a collection and it looks lovely on the shelves!

  53. Gorgeous collection and display! I just bought my first white pitcher last week and my mom gave me a white platters. I am slowly gathering a few pieces. Maybe I’ll find a soup tureen one day!!

  54. Karen VanLoo says:

    I adore white dishes, and started collecting them because I was inspired by your kitchen! I find pitchers, cake stands and platters, and other white ceramic items (even a chicken and an owl) at Home Goods, TJ Maxx and Marshalls. The nice thing about white is you can add flowers, ribbons to make bows, or other items for different seasons – like candy canes, and tuck in picks and sprays for different seasons. This is my favorite thing to do. I love to buy floral sprays or garlands and cut them up into smaller pieces and tuck in here and there. Open shelving is so much fun to decorate. Yours is just stunning!

  55. Avril Crundwell says:

    Sounds like we are all on the same page with loving the white dishes. Your collection and display are beautifully done and inspiring. Thanks

  56. I never liked white dishes till I saw how you display them! Now I’m looking to find some.

  57. I hope to find a bunny casserole dish like yours; it is just too cute.

  58. Robin Talley says:

    I love your ideas for open shelves! Great read today! Thank you so much Yvonne

  59. Maggie Nelson says:

    I don’t have open shelves like you but I display my white pitchers on top of my white cabinets like you did. Love the podcast !

  60. Kim Pollock says:

    I love this look!!! Can you please tell us how much space you have between the shelves, and how much space between the shelves and the desk.

    Thank you
    Kim

    1. Hi Kim, we have 14 inches between each shelf and 17 inches from the bar to the bottom of the first shelf. If you want to put dishes standing upright, you might want to make the space between shelves work with your dishes. That is what we did. Hope this helps!

  61. I love what you have done! So neat! so Clean! I have my red and white in my open cabinet but definitely will try this look! thanks Yvonne

  62. Renee Wimberly says:

    I love your white dishes! I’ve been thinking about putting some open shelves in my kitchen. I have a wall with no cabinets, shocking I know, and I think open shelves would look great there! Have a blessed day!
    Renee

  63. Dorinda Selke says:

    I do collect a lot of white dishes as well and use them on my hutch and my sideboard – and then I add in dishes and little ceramic birds of the season or other “seasonal” stuff for lack of a better word, so each season/holiday is different but the white dishes remain constant ! It never looks the same year to year ! Hugs, Dorinda

  64. Love Love Love your collection! I have a collection as well but a quarter of yours. I am swooning! xx-hb

  65. Barbara Harilaou says:

    Love your collection and the way you display everything..