Katie:

This is really a bad idea. You're doing all the work and spending nearly the same money to have something that won't be quite right when you're done.

Save your money, be patient. Get a professional design and do it right once the first time.

Hm. I'm not sure what you mean. I probably need to draw up the new plan so you can see what I'm talking about. We need to update our kitchen for eventual resale. New cabinets are not in the budget, and we don't live near an Ikea. We've done a full remodel on a previous home, and trust me - I'd love to do that again - but it's just not feasible here. I may price out a cabinet maker for a couple of drawer bases around the stove if it's imperative for design and functionality, but we just can't replace them all.

What I'm looking for are wall storage solutions other than standard wall cabinets. I'll consider open shelving, but I wanted to see if anyone had hanging racks for pots and pans and how they felt about them.

Are you telling me there's no way to do a kitchen without getting all new cabinets?

In our last house, we hung pots and pans on a wall prior to a reno. We had very limited storage and it freed up a cabinet for other things. The wall was ship lap boarding and we used these hooks http://www.homedecorhardware.com/acorn-am5bp.html. The openings were against the wall which kept them pretty clean.

I understand what you're saying. And for selling a house, it is all about what it looks like for the majority of the potential buyers.
I've never had pots hanging or open shelving, but agree it would look better in the eyes of a potential buyer than a hodge podge of different cabinets.
This kitchen is one that a GW member did that got lots of acclaim several years ago.

I would think that a cohesive wall with some shelves and some hooks would be appealing. Just know that it could be a Pain to live with until you sell, and when you do get ready to put it on the market you're going to want to seriously edit what's showing, and keep it really clean. Notice how the bottom of all those pans are spotless?

For 7 years now we have had this set up. All our copper skillets/saute pans hang on the Lee Valley Rack on the wall along with our utensils. My oldest son and his wife are professional chefs and I worked in one of their restaurants as the dishwasher for 5 years. After that experience when I re-did my kitchen I wanted everything at hand. I love it ! Wouldn't change a thing and the 1500 cfm hood insures that we don't have "stuff" all over the pots or the open shelves. Also everything gets used all the time as we cook a lot.

another pic and you can see part of the open shelves that are to the right and over the sink area. All our daily used serving dishes and glasses and plates are on these shelves. They get wiped down to get clean the dust about 2x a year. That is all they need.

in this pic you can see the open sliders down at the bottom that hold more pots and the iron skillets and lids.

better view and shows the cab at bottom right with the rest of the pots . All in all everything can be reached with no steps or one step. Extremely efficient and as I said has worked great for 7 years. Hope this helps. We do have a LONG haired cat that weighs 20#...still not a problem. c

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this shot of the open shelves was early on in remodel ..has changed as far as content but otherwise the same.

Thank you!! This is a lot more what I was talking about. I definitely know what it's like to stage for buyers. I'm a freelance real estate photographer, and we managed to sell our last home FSBO in just two weeks. That's why I'm so torn about this open concept - As people on a budget who love to cook, I know something like trail runner's setup would be ideal for us function-wise (if they really don't collect dust), but for an easier time re-selling, they'd have to look more like the photo mlweaving_Marji posted.

I guess what I'm hoping to pull off is something in between. Since our cabinets aren't nearly so luxurious, the look I'm hoping to end up with is an intentionally eclectic mix of woods and metals, where maybe some used pots on the wall might be more charming than "dirty" looking. Of course, it's probably about as hard to pull off as it is to describe...

I do have some 30" wall cabinets that could go on either side of the hood, and then perhaps we can have a carpenter make us some 30" drawer bases for either side of the range. I miss my drawer bases for pots and pans, and the shallow drawers at the top were perfect for spices and utensils.