Open Shelving in the Kitchen

When we moved into our house, the kitchen had been recently "updated." Updated meaning contractor grade oak cabinets and blah home-improvement-store-sale tile. Not excatly the modern kitchen I was hoping for.

So, being the handy go getter I am, I went to work painting the cabinets white...still wasn't doing it for me. It was an imporvement, but I knew it could be better.

Which brings me to my lastest saga in, Making Do With What You Have, Even Though You Hate It. I've been contemplating taking the cabinet doors off some of the uppers for an open shelving look.

Image: Ione Skye's LA kitchen, featured in Domino

Image: indebleu.net

I would paint the interior of the cabinets a dark charcol gray to make the white dishware really pop. (note to self: buy white dishware)

Image: Country Living

Photo by Nice Decor

In my dreams, I would be cooking in this:

Image: freshome.com

Would love to put up a subway tile backsplash and change out the hardware to something gold...ahh, mental picture bliss.

How do you feel about open shelving? Modern Minimalistic? or Dust Haven?