Shelving for the kitchen: features, types and tips for choosing

The shelving unit as an element of the kitchen arrangement becomes an original solution when drawing up a functional interior. Being an organizer of a certain number of shelves, united by one box, it fits perfectly into different branches of design. In the article we will consider the features, types of kitchen racks and indicate the main criteria for their selection.

These furniture elements carry two loads: aesthetic and functional. The purpose of the kitchen rack is to organize the various items that the hostess uses in the process of cooking. In fact, these are systems for storing spice jars, bottles, cereals, dishes, towels and cleaning items. The racks were originally conceived as furniture for unloading work surfaces.

These shelves allow you to effectively organize things. Thanks to them, all objects will be at hand, have their own systematics. You can store frequently used items on such shelves, as well as small household appliances, recipe books, baskets for fruits and vegetables, napkins for setting the table, and decorative elements of the interior (for example, small pots with indoor flowers).

Thanks to their functionality, kitchen racks can place various items on the shelves without overloading the shelves themselves. At the same time, you can place small things according to a certain systematics, removing things upstairs that are used less often. Shelves for storing items save useful space in the kitchen, while they can zone its space and free up space for free movement around the room.

Today, kitchen racks are very diverse, both externally and constructively. At the same time, modifications can be conditionally divided into two categories: open and closed. The first products are nothing more than shelves of different heights. Closed counterparts are convenient because less dust is deposited on them. In addition, they cover everything that is stored inside.

Modifications can be linear and angular. In the arrangement of kitchens, the first modifications are mainly used. At the same time, the storage system at kitchen racks can be very diverse.

The models differ in their configuration features. Whatnots can be mobile, in the form of stepladders, they often look like pedestals, sometimes they are a kind of partitions. A convenient option for a spacious kitchen can be a multi-tiered corner-type shelving unit with a metal rack. Such a product can be used to economically accommodate live indoor plants. In addition, one of the shelves can be defined for mobile phones, a notebook with a pen, which should be at hand at the right time.

The rack for the kitchen can be made of different materials. As a rule, the choice of the desired option depends on the material of the existing furniture and the stylistic design of the interior. Most of the modifications are made from wood and its derivatives. Frames, as well as cross-members, as well as shelves can be made of wood, using pine, oak, mahogany, beech for this.

As for the choice of one or another type of array, it must match in color or texture with the tone of the countertop kitchen set or combined with a dining table, chairs. The wood is used for the production of racks of the classic, classicism, Scandinavian, Provence, eco styles. For areas such as high-tech, minimalism or modern, a synthetic component is needed. Here it is possible to use laminated boards or even plastic inserts. Small models are made entirely of high quality plastic.

Budget options are made from laminated chipboard, OSB, and plywood. In addition, glass is used in the production of shelving: both shelves and aesthetically attractive facades are obtained from it. In combination with painted wooden facades, it will look harmoniously in country and Provence styles. If you need a rack for a loft kitchen, you should give preference to metal (for example, stainless steel).

Metal shelving, supported by flaunting communications and hoods, will look stylish and effective here. They look harmoniously with similar household appliances (with a microwave oven, a coffee machine). In this case, the shelves, like the walls, can be forged, with fences, crochet hooks. Metal racks can be made in chrome or painted.

Depending on the design idea, as well as the parameters of a particular kitchen, shelves for storing various items may differ in design. Models can be built-in, stationary and mobile, equipped with legs with small wheels. Products can be small, table-top, full-fledged floor-standing with reliable and stable legs, as well as large, extending from the bottom almost to the top edge of the wall cabinets.

Models are made in production and at home. At the request of the customer, modifications are made for a specific kitchen set, fitting into the existing niche. Sometimes they are built into the headset like bottle holders. Such modifications are the narrowest, they are often of a roll-out type, located perpendicular to the floor or hanging drawers of the kitchen set.

Often, their width is about 15-20 cm. However, this does not affect functionality: a sliding rack can have several shelves of different heights inside, and sometimes also compartments for the convenience of arranging jars for seasonings and spices. Such modifications are closed, which is very good for arranging small kitchens: ridding space of a mass of small objects brings space to the room and visually makes it cleaner and larger.

Shelves can be not only narrow: other varieties reach a width of more than 45 cm. This is good for placing kitchen utensils, including pots and pans. In addition, one of these shelves can be used for a microwave oven or a blender, a food processor.

The choice of shelving for your kitchen will depend on a number of factors. Considering that there is high humidity in the kitchen, you will have to buy a product made of material with moisture-resistant impregnation. In addition, the material of manufacture must have a degree of protection against fire, and therefore it will be either a metal version or a wooden rack treated with a refractory compound.

Model width may vary depending on headset options. For example, if a linear arrangement of furniture is provided, the shelf should not protrude from a single line. When the shelves are installed separately, the width may differ from the existing headset. As for the design, the options can be very diverse. For example, a rack can consist of not only one, but also two blocks.

Some varieties even resemble semi-closed chests of drawers. For example, such models can resemble floor cabinets of a kitchen set, have their own countertop, which can be used as a work surface for cooking food. The rack itself can consist of two vertical boxes with four or five compartments of different heights.

For practical reasons, the shelving unit can be equipped with shelves and a slatted base. This is convenient if the hostess plans to use the shelf for drying dishes. To make the product last longer, and water from undried dishes could not get onto other shelves, it is worth taking a closer look at products equipped with retractable trays. When buying modifications with a retractable storage system, you need to take note of one caveat: such models must be stable, and therefore it is better that their legs do not have wheels.

When choosing this or that product, you need to take into account the place of its planned placement. For example, narrow corner versions with quarter-circle shelves can be installed where there is little space for a cabinet between the corner and the window or doorway. In the kitchen-living room, a closed rack can replace a dresser-showcase, it can be placed in the dining area or along the wall with a fireplace. The stepladder rack should be located where it will not be hit by feet.

The product must be matched to the color of the main furniture or any kitchen accessory. The shape, streamlining of lines, or vice versa, their straightness should echo the kitchen set or furniture in the dining area. The shade may be related, but the color and its temperature should not contradict the general concept of stylistics. For example, for the Provence style, you can also use a metal shelf, but painted in a light color, like the main background design of the kitchen.

Nothing tells about the variety of design and functionality of the shelving in the kitchen, as illustrative examples of a photo gallery.

• The use of shelving as display cabinets.

• Hanging rack allows you to organize the installation of the TV.

• A mobile shelving unit on wheels that blends harmoniously with an open-plan interior.

• The use of shelving as elements of modular furniture, combined storage system.

• Loft style shelving made of metal, organically looking against a brick wall.

• A creative metal solution embedded in the ceiling and floor-standing kitchen cabinets.

• Compact shelving unit built into the wall near the window.

• A model of an add-on type on short legs for household appliances and dishes, reminiscent of a whatnot.

• Product made of two blocks with a different set of shelves, made of wood.

• Compact rack on wheels, which is a structure of three spacious baskets for vegetables.

• An excellent plastic solution, an option for using the minimum area of ​​the kitchen.

How to make a Scandinavian-style wooden shelving unit, see the video below.