Classic bracket open shelves in my historic house kitchen

Classic bracket open shelves in my historic house kitchen

• 6.25.2025

I was really proud of these DIY industrial wood/bracket shelves when we redid our kitchen in 2019. I couldn’t find thick enough wood on its own so I use stair risers and cut off the rounded edges. They worked great function-wise, and when we first installed them, they added some nice warm because the kitchen was so plain and so white. But now… I’m really going for a more traditional, classic, and cohesive look here, and they were sticking out like a sore thumb. 

So... I replaced them with something better!!!

Thanks to Van Dyke's Restorers for partnering with me on this post.

Classic curved bracket open shelves in my traditional kitchen

I found some simple curved shelf brackets from Van Dyke's Restorers, super affordable in the paint grade wood option. They’re pretty easy to install, just two screws on the back of each one. I ordered those and painted them and the shelves with trim paint (primer first) and a spray polyurethane on top. 

Removing the previous shelves was way harder than I thought because of the extremely long screws we had used and the super thick 1937 studs they were screwed into! I finally got them out. 

I was also intimidated about drilling into the tile, but I got out my tile drillbit, and gave it a try… And it sucked. That drillbit has been through more than I thought, and I didn’t have a powerful enough drill motor. 

So I called a handyman who turns out lives like a block away and charges $60 an hour and did the job in less than an hour and a half. Hallelujah! 

I waited a few days for the paint to cure just in case, then filled them back up with the pretty bowls and mugs I’ve been collecting and we use every day. 

Something about not having that darkness above my head has felt so fresh and light. I am so happy with them! 

Honestly still several things I plan to change about this kitchen... note the mismatched hardware and two sets of (differently) awkwardly hanging cafe curtains... but this made a big impact!!

Thanks to Van Dyke's Restorers for partnering with me on this post.