Blushy Neutral Kitchen that is SO Airy

Hey, girl, hey! Hey, guy, hey!

I’ve been dreaming lately about kitchens. Maybe it’s because mine is so tiny that Derek Zoolander would exclaim, “WHAT IS THIS? A KITCHEN FOR ANTS?!”. Maybe it’s because I have 8 inches of counter space and frequently use the tile floor as a cooling rack for post oven foods and I use the bathroom sink as an auxiliary kitchen sink. In fact, your master bathroom is probably larger than my kitchen. I also can’t believe people have master bathrooms. I feel like if Manhattan had its way, everyone within one zip code would share a bathroom and that bathroom would either be in a McDonald’s or Starbucks. Oh, well. A good portion of the world doesn’t even have running water so who am I to be like, “the kitchen in my building with indoor plumbing and running water is too small”?

Can I tell you something funny but also really stupid? I am so used to living in a small box that I literally forgot what life was like back when I lived in a large box. I am originally from Ohio, so when I went home to visit the fam for Christmas, I was literally sitting at the kitchen table staring at my parent’s cabinets and wondering why there are so many of them. I wonder what they put in there? I actually thought in my head, “well, if I had this many cabinets, I guess I could store laundry and other stuff in there?”. LAUNDRY, PEOPLE. I WANTED TO USE THE CABINETS AS LAUNDRY STORAGE. I have like zero kitchen storage space (2 skinny cabinets, 1 mini cabinet, and 1 normal cabinet–who designs something like that?!?), so my mind cannot comprehend a world where I can have 2 sets of dishes. I am so warped by Manhattan life that my brain can no longer think that something can just serve its original purpose. Hell, my living room also serves as a guest bedroom, dining room, workout room, home office for me, home office for Mr. Fiance, and occasional mouse motel. Only the mice of New York get to live rent free.

The reason I am telling you this is because while my situation is faaaaar from ideal, it has taught me to live with what I need and be happy. In my own home, I strive to maintain a light and airy feel, which is suuuuper difficult considering how much I have to cram into less than 600 SQF of space. If you look at the most beautiful kitchens on Instagram and Pinterest, do you notice something? Are they light and airy or bogged down by upper and lower cabinets EVERYWHERE? Do they have open shelving?

Think about it…when you’re filling every wall with upper cabinetry, you are filling up all of that negative space and you’re essentially causing your walls to close in on you. But, friend, you don’t have to live this way! You don’t need 6 different styles of wine glasses even though you don’t drink but what if 6 friends come over and they all want wine and boy would you be embarrassed if you didn’t oblige. Sarcasm and run on sentences are my favorite to prove points. So think about what you have in your 37 cabinets. Do you use everything? Could you donate or store it? Then you can have beautiful open shelving which keeps the top half of your kitchen so delectably open and beautiful.

What do you think? Do you have open shelving? I would love to see it!

-K