The Kitchen Design Trend That The Property Brothers Find Impractical

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Kitchen design trends come and go (and sometimes come back again). Some are cleverly space-saving, some are meant to increase efficiency, and some gain popularity purely for aesthetic purposes. Of the latter, there's one that interior pros the Property Brothers just can't get behind: open shelving — particularly if they're used in place of upper cabinets. As charming as floating shelves may seem in theory, celebrity design duo Jonathan and Drew Scott are convinced that the feature just never works the way you want it to in practice. 

Their gripe? Open shelving is, for the most part, impractical. They simply don't offer as much storage as a full row of roomy cabinets would, and storage is of utmost importance in a regularly used kitchen. As Jonathan once told Apartment Therapy, "You have to have upper cabinets, unless you have a huge abundance of storage in a pantry. But for families, for people in real life, anytime I've had a client who forced me to design a kitchen with no uppers, everyone has come back in six months saying they regret it."

While the alternative would be to have a spacious pantry where you can hide away your dry food, cookware, and appliances, it's still not the most convenient solution when you have to run back and forth for regularly used items. "Home should make life easier," Jonathan concluded — and opting for floating shelves over real-deal cabinets is likely not going to help in that department. 

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Although the Property Brothers certainly prefer actual cabinets over floating shelves, they don't seem to be totally against open storage. In a design project for their HGTV show "Property Brothers: Forever Home," for example, Drew and Jonathan Scott snuck some additional shelving onto either side of a large kitchen island. This allowed for quick and easy access to items like bakeware and serving bowls. It was a smart way to utilize the space, especially since the kitchen was dotted with large windows, leaving less wall space for cabinets. A key point here is that rather than the shelves providing the main option for storage, they complemented the cabinetry.

The interior experts also don't shy away from the decorative aspect of floating shelves — so long as all of the necessities are efficiently stored elsewhere. In such instances, the Scotts have been known to insert a few rows of open shelving that break up the blockiness of cabinetry and give homeowners the space to showcase decorative accents like photos, plants, or even stacks of cookbooks. In that regard, those fixtures can add personal, welcoming touches to a room that's primary purpose tends to be utility.

When it comes down to it, though, the stars' design philosophy is all about making a space work best for the owner and their needs. Whether or not open storage would benefit you and your space, of course, completely comes down to you.