Since this is a place that is not used most of the year, I would not recommend open shelving. You will have more dust and bugs to clean up when you arrive for vacation.

Also, you might want to consider medium stained wood cabinets to keep the space light. Dark cabinets tend to make the space look smaller. Since you have white cabinets now, it will be a big difference to go dark.

If you do not need the pantry, then taking that out and use base + wall cabinets will give you more counter space and make the kitchen feel bigger too. It also looks like you have 36" tall cabinets currently. I do not see a bulkhead which means you can easily go to 42" tall cabinets and add storage that way if needed. It looks like it will clear your ceiling beams.

agree with hallstrom, i love my open shelves at home, but my vacation home doesnt get enough use most of the year and i'd end up cleaning the glassware all the time. keep the doors on and if they have a big gap between them consider closing them on a piece of weatherstripping when you leave each time.

if another owner would also use it only occasionally, consider skipping a lot of upper cabinets completely and just have space for art on the wall, i have a lot fewer sets of dishes, etc at the vacation home and dont have nearly the storage needs that i have at home.

There are a few things to consider before going to open shelving upper cabinets.

• Are the inside of your cabinets cluttered?
• Are you ready to continually see what is inside of your cabinets for the 4-5 weeks that you are there?

Article from Apartment Therapy: Open Shelving: Love it or Hate it

You are all so right! I don't go on vacation to clean my kitchen shelves!