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Why cottage kitchens and open shelves get on so well

Old cottages were rarely built with a long, straight run of wall cupboards in mind. Beams sit low, windows are small and deep-set, and walls have a habit of bowing out just where you would like a cabinet door to close. Open shelving sidesteps all of it. Nothing needs to be plumb, light travels through the room instead of stopping at a slab of painted board, and a small kitchen reads as bigger than it really is.

The catch is that open shelves are not storage. They are display with a job to do. Everything on them is visible from the kitchen table, so the shelves need to be arranged, not just filled. The good news is that when you treat them properly, they do more for a cottage kitchen than any cupboard ever could: they show off the everyday things you actually like using.

Give every shelf one clear job

Clutter on open shelves almost always comes from mixing purposes. A shelf holding a stack of plates, a jar of pens, three cookbooks and a tin of dog biscuits will look messy no matter how neatly you arrange it. Instead, decide on a single role for each shelf before you put anything back.

• Reach-height shelf: the things you touch several times a day — mugs, bowls, everyday plates, glasses.
• Middle shelf: the useful-but-prettier items — a favourite jug, wooden boards, a small stack of side plates.
• Top shelf: lighter, slower items — baskets, large platters you use at Christmas, a row of storage jars, dried flowers.

Keep like with like. All the mugs together, all the glassware together. Grouping is what turns a jumble of mismatched china into something that looks deliberate.

Arranging everyday crockery so it looks calm

Stacks are your friend, but only short ones. Four to six plates or bowls in a pile looks tidy and is easy to lift down; twelve looks like a shop display and is a nuisance to use. If your china is a mix of patterns and eras — as it usually is in a cottage — pick one thing to repeat so the eye has something to hold on to. A single colour running through the collection, or all-white with a few bits of colour, works well.

Stand larger plates and platters upright, either in a shallow rack or leaning against the back of the shelf with a small wedge behind. Mugs can hang from cup hooks screwed into the underside of the shelf above, which frees up the shelf itself and looks charming. Space them in odd numbers where you can — three or five mugs read better than four.

Most important of all: leave a gap. Aim for roughly a hand's width of empty shelf at one end. Empty space is what stops useful shelves from tipping into clutter, and it gives you somewhere to put the mug you are carrying.

Wooden utensils, boards and other honest things

Wood is the material that ties a cottage kitchen together, and it earns its place on open shelves because you use it constantly. Keep your working utensils in a jug, a small bucket or a stoneware pot — but only the ones that get used. A wooden spoon, a spatula, a whisk, a pair of tongs and a sharp knife is usually plenty. If the pot is overflowing, some of it belongs in a drawer.

Chopping boards should lean rather than lie flat, largest at the back, smallest at the front. A shelf made up entirely of wooden things looks wonderful: boards, a rolling pin, a couple of small bowls, a pestle and mortar, a bread board. Rub everything with a little food-safe oil every few months and the wood will keep its colour instead of going grey and thirsty.

Small pots of herbs and a bit of green

A few small pots of herbs bring life to a shelf, but position matters. Thyme, rosemary and oregano want the sunniest spot you have, ideally a south-facing windowsill, and they sulk in shade. Parsley, chives and mint are far more forgiving and will manage on a shelf a little further from the window. Basil needs warmth and light and rarely lasts the winter, so treat it as a short-term guest rather than a permanent fixture.

Group pots in threes, in matching terracotta or plain glazed pots, and always stand them on a saucer or a shallow tray — you will otherwise be wiping water off the shelf below every time you water them. Turn the pots a quarter turn each week so they grow straight rather than leaning towards the light.

Keeping shelves tidy week to week

Open shelving needs a ten-minute reset once a week and a proper clean once a month. Take everything off, wipe the boards with a damp cloth and a little washing-up liquid, dry them, and put things back where they came from. Keep a spare washing-up bowl or a trug to carry the contents in one trip.

The shelf nearest the hob is the one to watch. It collects a fine film of cooking grease, so keep glassware, rarely used jugs and anything fiddly away from it. Put the most frequently washed items there instead — mugs, everyday bowls, utensils — so they are constantly being run under the tap anyway.

And be ruthless about rotation. If something has sat on a shelf for a month without being used, it belongs in a cupboard, in the charity bag or on the table with flowers in it. Open shelves work best when they hold the things you love using every day, and nothing else.