Unfitted

Until recently I was unaware that my general distaste for upper kitchen cabinets is part of a concept called the unfitted kitchen. Basically, the idea is to opt for furniture or furniture-like cabinets. Open shelving often replaces wall cabinets. Free-standing cabinetry lets them become part of the architecture and design rather than a stuck-on, applied afterthought. In my research, I realized that most of the pictures I'd gathered had very few if any upper cabinets, but almost always had an old hutch or armoire. It may sound strange, but it looks good and seems to be functional, too. It just so happens that as big as my kitchen is (ok, so it's enormous - about 350 square feet), there's not a lot of space for wall cabinets anyway.

I can't wait to hear what snarky comments the weekend help has to offer about this concept.

And also, I'm thinking this will work in the bathroom, too. Here's a picture I found before I knew about the "unfitted" thing:

I'm not going to dish out the cash for console sinks, but there are some really nice pedestal sink options that are quite affordable. And I'm almost positive that I can find a beautiful dresser at a junk shop in town for much less than it would cost to buy new cabinets. If my taste in dressers ever changes, a freestanding piece like this is much easier to replace than standard cabinets. We'll have about 4 free feet to work with between sinks if we go this route, so I'm sure to have a few options.

Or am I just talking crazy?