Decorating Space Above Kitchen Cabinets – Here’s a real design debacle: what do you do with that tiny space above your kitchen cabinets??? Are you doing anything about it? I had a lot of questions about this area when I accidentally discovered the power to lift your eyes up (trust me, it’s very powerful). Let me tell you the background – – it all started with a bowl…
I live in a studio apartment with about 5 kitchen cabinets in total. It’s the perfect little space for my boyfriend and I, but there’s one small problem: We love to cook and do it often. That’s actually the root of the problem, the real problem is that we don’t have enough storage space for our pots, pans, and portable pizza ovens/grills (this is a real thing). Like birthdays, Christmases and anything else that might involve a gift, our cookware collection gets stronger, better and faster. While we love our huge collection of random kitchen gadgets, we’re increasingly desperate for storage. About 2 months ago it officially exceeded these 5 boxes and we were helpless.
Decorating Space Above Kitchen Cabinets
This is where the bowl comes into play. We realized we didn’t have a good, big salad bowl (and we like to make big salads as full meals), so I thought no worries, I’ll get one.
How To Decorate Above Your Kitchen Cabinets
Come by for our salad needs. I found a classic white from CB2, brought it home, found the perfect spot for it in closet #3, closed the cabinet door and *CLUNK* the cabinet door was stopped in its tracks by my large bowl (and was only about 0, 3 inches from fully closing). Have you been there before??? It’s depressing to say the least. So I did what anyone would do, I tossed it in the weird space above my closets because I had no choice unless I wanted my bowl in my “bedroom” closet. This was a temporary solution “for now”, until (surprisingly) I realized: “Wait a minute, I think
SOMETIMES it raised my eye (which was critical in a small space upstairs. So, when it was basketball season, I started throwing random items in there. It was a whole new world of opportunities. I threw in tall, wide, tall items that would never fit in my closet in a million years PLUS MORE space. It felt BIG.
After collecting all of my random bowls and serving platters, I noticed that they just seemed to be thrown together without rhyme or reason. And the best part? I don’t know how to fix this. So welcome to my design concern where we do what I love to do…let’s figure it out with you 😉
Let’s start doing homework (FUN!!) i.e. collecting inspirational photos that give us an idea of what has been done before, so we can copy what we like, i.e. recreate it. Let’s start with Emily’s kitchen in her first home:
Decorating Above Kitchen Cabinets: 10 Creative Ideas
Okay, let’s explore why this works and what we can take away from it. There is a lot of artwork that looks great because it adds a lot of color to an otherwise white space and can add some depth if you want to put something in front of it. It also offers height that fills in that vertical space really well if you have a lot of space between the top of your cabinets and your ceiling, as Em does here. I want to add more color to my style, so this might be a good area to do that. There are 2 more things I want to specifically point out about this style: 1. The wooden basket adds a lot of warmth and helps sprinkle the wood tone around, otherwise it’s just on the floor and the cutting board on the counter – – We like to spread the color palette throughout a room and that’s from colors you already have it’s a great area to add more (even though wood isn’t TECHNICALLY a color, you should treat it as such :)). The second thing I want to mention is that the cabinet style work above is quite minimal. Now I’m thinking about whether I should shape the entire wall of cabinets or a small part of it like in these pictures… which do you prefer?
Photo: zeke ruelas | from: the emergence of casa soria cuisine (+ 5 things I would do differently if it were my kitchen)
Oh, I love this kitchen that Orlando renovated for his family (so cute). This is an interesting photo because he took a strange corner card and dropped it on the ground, crushing it and winning the game. I love that she uses a really minimal color palette in her decor and keeps the visual interest by adding that really nice sculptural thing on the right side… I don’t even know what it is but I love it and desperately want it.
Plants!? Plants. This photo definitely reinforces that plants on your kitchen cabinets can work and make your home feel like a cute little clay greenhouse if you want. I’m not experienced enough to keep that many plants here because I’d actually forget about them and let them die (I’m not a good plant mom and that’s okay). I may choose to put in one or two easy plants, such as a succulent. Or maybe something that would make me feel a little brighter, happier, and fully alive, but I don’t think I could physically handle that much…
How To Style The Glass Cabinet Doors In Your Kitchen — Designed
We’re all about the power of repetition in some field, and this field seems to be no exception. This is an especially great option if you have a collection you want to display. For example, this would be a great place to display a record collection (my grandma has a record collection and it’s beautiful) or vases or even things like candle holders. But remember, this is probably best if you’re looking for a lot of functionality, and is best served in kitchens that already have enough storage space for your needs.
First of all, I love this style…it looks SO easy, relaxed and casual. It definitely makes me think about things. If you don’t have the space to stack your books vertically (you definitely don’t), you can also stack them horizontally and include them in your pot storage area.
If you’re interested in styling your kitchen cabinets, I thought I’d give you a little insight into our favorite decor items on the internet right now to keep them looking their best!
1. Chevron Flow Print | 2. Tara Serving Bowl | 3. Vintage Dough Bowl | 4. Colorful Flowerpot | 5. Cake Stand | 6. Tobi Taper Candle Holder | 7. Column Statue | 8. Shaped Ceramic Candle | 9. Pool Party for Two | 10. Soft Shapes IV Framed Art Print | 11. Black Candle Metal Vase Set | 12. Waverly Wall Mirror | 13. Wooden Hand | 14. Wicker Wall Clock | 15. Solid Stash Box | 16. Shaped Taper Candle – Set of 2 | 17. Wooden Chain | 18. Whitney Vase
19 Ideas For Decorating The Top Of Kitchen Cabinets
These inspiring photos definitely got me thinking and there are a few key things I know I would change after researching and writing this post. Now we’re all aware that I’m strictly here for storage due to the space limitations I’ve detailed before, so having a few bowls and random vases of storage in there will be critical for me (I’m literally driving this save point home). I think I need to get back to the KEEPING there a little bit. For example, I probably don’t need 2 of the same pitchers lined up next to each other like now (lol). Therefore some refactoring and minimizing may be appropriate. The last thing I’m thinking about is breaking up the glass vase/bowl museum and placing more of my cookbooks (probably horizontally with a small box or something on top) to give myself some more cookbook storage space (yes, that collection is growing quickly too). What are your thoughts? Any wisdom or style advice for this space before I make a real attempt to make it look nice? Thanks for reading, see you in the comments below 🙂
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