I realize the open, floating glass shelves in my kitchen don’t seem like an obvious choice for kitchen storage.  Most people simply remove the doors from their old cabinets or install open cafe shelving.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love the look of open cafe shelves and even use those for my whiskey bar.  I would have liked nothing more than to add some cafe shelves in white to my kitchen.

White Cafe Shelves from Ballard Designs

However, I could only get about two cafe shelves on the wall with those darn soffits in the way, and I needed a lot more space than two shelves would allow.  I have dinner service for 12 plus myriad coffee cups, espresso cups,  and serving pieces.  I didn’t begin to consider floating glass shelves until I made a trip to Ikea in Charlotte, NC one weekend looking for shelves.

Can I just take this opportunity to say I don’t get the fascination with Ikea?  For starters, I thought everything was cheap: as in, poorly made.  Flimsy, flimsy, flimsy!  Secondly, the store is a horrendous maze.  They force you to follow a certain path to get to the exit, and that means you have to wander through most of the store.   My trip wasn’t all for naught, though.  While there, I noticed some floating glass shelves, but they weren’t very deep and couldn’t support much weight.  I wasn’t going to risk installing shelves that might come crashing down under the weight of my dinnerware, so I went home and began using The Google to search for alternatives.

Lo and behold, I found the wonderful shelves I now have in my kitchen.  They are fairly thick and constructed of tempered glass.  The 24″ shelves are rated to hold up to 99 lbs, so those are perfect for my glassware and cups.

24" Glass Kitchen Shelves

The 36″ shelves are rated to hold up to 154 lbs. each, and I doubt even my load of dishes and serving pieces weigh 154 lbs though they are all heavy porcelain pieces!

36" Glass Kitchen Shelves

I really love the streamlined look of those shelves.  Also, they bring just a touch of contemporary to the kitchen.  I’m always struggling to respect the historic style of my home but not make it feel like I’m living in a museum.  I think I’m on the right track in the kitchen, mixing old (beadboard, painted cabinets, millwork) with new (glass shelving, granite counters, stainless appliances).

I would have to say that floating glass shelves are definitely a childfree decorating choice, though.  While the shelves came with plastic corner protectors for kid-proofing, I can’t imagine using them.  They look terrible!  Also, I can picture a kid slamming a piece of dinnerware down on the shelf and shattering either the dinnerware, the shelf, or both.  I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about kid-friendly designs when choosing things for my home. 

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