Accessorizing Above Kitchen Cabinets

I received an e-mail from someone who was going to be moving into a different house and wanted me to do a post with tips on how to accessorize above kitchen cabinets. I believe she's finally moved into her new house and may be ready to accessorize soon, so I thought I should probably get the post done.

As with anything in decorating, kitchen trends come and go. Many kitchens have taller cabinets and so much interesting detail elsewhere it's unneccessary and, in some cases, impossible to accessorize. If you do decide to accessorize above your cabinets there are a few options.

1. For a clean, simple look consider just accessorizing the wall above the cabinets. There are many options but some ideas are: framed art, plates (plate hangers are available in a variety of stores), flat trays or baskets, painted wood signs, or a vinyl or hand painted saying that would span the width of the cabinets.

OR

2. Place just a few simple groupings of items (the options here are endless depending on your decorating style and taste) on the cabinets with nothing on the walls. If you have collections of larger items that would still be visible when displayed above the cabinets, this is an opportunity to display them.

OR

3. Do a combination of accessories both on the wall and above the cabinets. Here are some tips to help you create a visually interesting display:

• Remember to allow some blank space in your display. A little blank space allows the eye to rest for a moment and will make the displayed items more important.


• Use a common color, theme, style, material or subject matter to link items together.


• Create interest by varying the placement of objects at different heights.


• Make sure the items are scaled appropriately. Smaller items can be grouped together for impact and raised on books or pedestals to give them added weight and interest.


• It's typically best to use odd numbers. Three items together are much more interesting than four.


• Color can give weight to items. Consider this when grouping items so that balance is achieved.


• Depending on the depth of the area being accessorized, stagger items from back to front.


• For more interest, vary the texture of the items.


• If you want to use greenery, it's best to intersperse smaller potted plants instead of strands of ivy. (Whether these are fake or real depends on your space and green thumb (or lack thereof in my case!)).

Here is an example of cabinet display from Pier 1. They've gone with a full display to sell their products, but have still kept it fairly simple. I thought it was a good visual to demonstrate some of the concepts that I've mentioned above.

Happy decorating! - pk