Alexandra Frost is a Cincinnati-based journalist. Her work has appeared in Apartment Therapy, Glamour, Women's Health, Reader's Digest, and other publications.
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Open Spaces is a home organization brand that creates products to make your home more welcoming and less stressful.
We reviewed two of our favorite Open Spaces products, the Shelf Risers and the Entryway Rack, to get a true idea of how this brand works within the function of a real home.
We loved the quality of the products, the sleek and subtle designs, and the versatility each item offers.
What if you couldn’t tell the difference between your favorite home decor, organizers, and the most functional items in your home?
Open Spaces accomplishes this feat with its range of beautiful and sustainably made home organization products that serve multiple purposes in a variety of rooms.
When it comes to creating a space that feels welcoming and calming, it can be easy to get lost adding more and more boxes and baskets in the name of “getting organized." But in reality, you're just adding more clutter to an already cluttered problem. Instead, we need streamlined, versatile and functional pieces to ease the stress of organization, and that's exactly what Open Spaces delivers.
What I Love About Open Spaces
As a busy parent of four young boys under age seven, home organization is often a laughable concept. Everywhere you look there are shoes, toys, and chaos. Open Spaces was founded on this problem, and seeks to ease the clutter of everyday life through purposeful products that can work equally well in a bathroom, entryway, or kitchen.
And the brand delivers on its promises, as its Shelf Risers and Entryway Rack (the two products we tested as part of this review) seamlessly integrated into my family’s daily processes, and immediately served a specific purpose — without adding any additional clutter.
As I used Open Spaces products, it became quickly apparent that maybe, home organization isn’t a spring cleaning week, but slowly and intentionally adding specific products that streamline current attempts at home organization.
Open Spaces offers a range of aesthetically pleasing storage and home organization solutions.
When I first pictured utilizing a shelf riser, what came to mind was a clear and cheap plastic riser that helped me see all of my spices in my kitchen (a worthy endeavor, but never a successful one in the long run). So when I unboxed the Open Spaces Shelf Risers, I was pleasantly surprised to see a high quality wooden surface, paired with white risers that immediately had me wondering where I could put this item so it was visible to others, as a design piece.
Very rarely do we look at organizational items and think, “How can I also utilize this as home decor?” But that’s what makes Open Spaces different. The products aren’t about hiding clutter in already brimming closets, but rather looking at a problem space, such as an entryway filled with shoes, and finding a natural solution that works with, rather than against, a family’s natural processes. Both items I tested not only fulfilled a specific purpose — solving a home organization problem — but also improved the aesthetics of the room.
"Both items I tested not only fulfilled a specific purpose — solving a home organization problem — but also improved the aesthetics of the room."
Consumers more than ever are purchasing items with sustainability in mind, and Open Spaces demonstrates its commitment to that not just through the materials it uses, but the versatility of its products. Both of the products I tested could work equally well in about four other rooms, meaning that they will survive my on-a-whim redecorating, or even moving homes in the future. By creating items that are more versatile Open Spaces is preventing waste and increasing the chances that I’ll be using these items for decades rather than months.
Pros
Products are sustainably-made, versatile, and beautiful.
Each item can be used in multiple other spaces, rooms, and even for entirely different purposes over time.
Materials are high-quality, minimalistic, and serve a purpose.
Items double as trendy but timeless decor.
Cons
It’s possible for people to not know exactly where an item fits best due to such an expansive versatility for each item.
Out with the boring shoe racks and in with this vibrant, three-tier entryway rack. It’s not just for shoes, but with all of my little people running around that’s what it’s destined for in my house.
The rounded edges are a brilliant design feature that makes it perfect for tighter entryways so nobody is scraping their legs passing by. This is intentional, as the company is proud of the rack's “gentle curves” which its says is more homey and approachable.
The width of the product is a just a few feet long, but features enough depth so that an entire shoe can fit without hanging off into the walkway, or a small basket will fit to catch items in the “drop zone” where everyone throws their gloves, keys, and sunglasses. It’s also an ideal size to fit in both roomier and smaller entryways, but could also serve as a handy shelving and storage unit in other rooms — this proves the versatility the company is known for.
While the top handlebar doesn’t seem to serve a purpose at a first glance, it makes the item feel finished and the shoes and other clutter more contained visually. It also makes for easy transport between rooms if you do decide to stash your stuff away when friends or family come over, or to move it permanently to another room.
The Entryway Rack is available in a range of colors (a pale and darker blue, white, blush, and dark green), though some colors are usually sold out due to the item’s popularity. I didn’t find a single disadvantage to the product, aside from there being a few rooms in my home that wouldn’t go as well with a metal product.
A two-pack of shelf risers seems like a purchase you make when all of your mugs fall out of your cabinet, and you realize just how much vertical space you have that’s completely underutilized. The risers double your vertical space instantly, allowing you to put items both under and on top of the natural wood platform. The most obvious use for them is in cabinets and pantries themselves, where shelving may not be as adjustable as you’d like, and you want to ensure you are getting the most from the storage space you have.
Additionally, the shelf can serve in an office space as a way to easily access desk supplies, and to keep them organized, rather than having staplers, pens, books, notepads, and more scattered around the desk. We’ve all knocked over a cup of coffee during a Zoom call and tried to keep a straight face while rearranging all of the junk that’s accumulated on our desks — this solves that annoying problem, and looks stylish while doing it. Some people even use them as laptop stands for remote working too.
The product is special because it doesn’t look cheap, plastic, and tacky, but rather looks like an intentional piece of office or kitchen decor. When you picture the cabinets and pantries of home organization influencers, this is the type of item you can imagine seeing. WIth its Shelf Risers Open Spaces has created a product that elevates the space around them. They're beautiful pieces that help you to create order from chaos, and that makes them a versatile must-have for any home.
"They're beautiful pieces that help you to create order from chaos, and that makes them a versatile must-have for any home."
The only disappointment is that they don’t come in a pack of four, because after placing these around my house I knew I could use a few more. It’s also important to measure the width of the space you’d like to utilize them in before ordering, because my standard kitchen cabinets were a bit too narrow for the width of the shelf riser, meaning my mug cabinet is still in disarray, and I will still hold my breath opening it each time. We’d love to see these risers featured in more sizes to accommodate tighter and larger spaces.
About Open Spaces: A brand making room for life to happen
That feeling when you walk into the house after a long workday and stuff is everywhere — clutter on the kitchen counters, half-finished laundry and projects scattered about, and last night’s dishes hanging out one day too long — is the feeling Open Spaces is working to eradicate.
Open Spaces is focused on creating smart products that allow you to live your life, feel at ease when you are in your home, and to de-clutter in an overly materialistic society. The brand ethos is less about eliminating your stuff, and more about containing, controlling, and managing it through beautifully designed products — its site explains that rather than approaching organization as an “added chore” it should be more of a mindful practice in identifying and thriving in our habits and routines.
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Living up to a promise of versatility, responsibility, and quality
More than ever consumers care about the ethics and philosophies behind the products and brands they invest in. We are no longer seeking the cheapest option, or the trendiest item, but rather materials that are built to last, and brands that understand what we truly care about and need. Open Spaces’ design ethos lives up to its promise to represent three key pillars: Quality, responsibility, and versatility.
The items seem to be built to withstand the test of time, with both high-quality materials and the versatility to last even as tastes and homes change. By integrating natural and neutral colors, minimalistic designs, and function that holds true room to room, the items are more likely to stay in our homes for years and less likely to end up in a landfill.
Other traits the decrease the items’ environmental impact include:
Compressed felt made from recycled plastic bottle fibers
Leather accents sustainably sourced from a gold-rated tannery
No single-use plastics in the actual products or packages
Open Spaces offers stylish, versatile home organization solutions
We love the idea of investing in a company’s products that help us enrich our current lives, rather than just gather more stuff. The next time I feel like a space is disorganized and isn’t serving my family well, I will be skimming the solutions at Open Spaces, because I now trust the quality and look of the products, and know that each item will last long into the future.
"The next time I feel like a space is disorganized and isn’t serving my family well, I will be skimming the solutions at Open Spaces."
From wire baskets to storage bins to nesting trays, my wish list of future Open Spaces products is expanding, especially as I learned more about the company’s mission and ethics.
Shop some of Open Spaces' best-selling pieces below.
Alexandra Frost is a Cincinnati-based journalist. Her work has appeared in Apartment Therapy, Glamour, Women's Health, Reader's Digest, and other publications.
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