Spicing up your kitchen
If it’s not in the cards to renovate your kitchen, don’t worry. You can still transform the look of this hardworking heart of the home just by decorating it well. Here are three tips to get you started.
Add zest with accents
It’s time to harness the power of accents to make your kitchen look sensational.
Here are a few of the hot spots I like to hit when I decorate a kitchen:
Over the cabinets
When you decorate the tops of cabinets, remember that accents look smaller when they are up high. Little accents will not only get lost up there, they will make the overall display look busy. My favorite approach is to create a tight cluster of interesting accents, combining a variety of sizes and shapes. Consider using brightly colored pottery vessels.
By the sink
My friend Anne just built her home, so she had the enviable opportunity to create her dream kitchen. To bring out the great bones of the space, she’s selected a few great accents. For example, she perched vases above her sink. I really like this little display because it’s so functional, not frivolous. She can leave the vases empty, giving her a little pop of color, or she can fill them with spring blooms.
Or consider what Rich did in his condo’s kitchen. Even though the space around the sink is tight, he made it marvelous by placing artwork behind the faucet. What an inventive backsplash! Similarly, I have a platter behind my faucet because I like the added layer and another chance to decorate with dishes.
On shelves and ledges
If you are lucky enough to have shelves, ledges or niches in your kitchen, fill them up with accents that express your personality. The intriguing display Anne created for the ledge above her stove weaves together a few of her mother-in-law’s Royal Dalton Toby mugs and a hanging montage of transferware plates. Simple but sensational!
I added a little shelf in my kitchen, hanging it above the doorway that leads to my basement steps, so I could have another spot to display accents. The antique wooden ledge has a few hooks at the bottom, and I like to hang glass votive holders from them, decorating them for the season.
On an island or counter
Decorating kitchen islands is a blast, especially when you have as much space as Anne does in her dream kitchen. Anne wanted to leave the majority of the island open so her kids would have plenty of room to eat breakfast or do homework. So she created a simple display at the island’s center, anchoring it with two concrete garden statues. Featuring statuary on an island is a fabulous idea, but be sure to put something under the statues so they don’t scratch the counter. And make sure they’re not something you’ll need to move often. These babies are heavy!
Like me, Rich doesn’t have a lot of counter space in his kitchen, so he has to carefully choose what he puts out. He artfully combines some necessities, like his countertop TV, with service pieces that maximize space. I use tiered servers every time I entertain because they are lovely to look at, use space wisely and add vertical height to the display.
Add personality with color
Your kitchen is a great place to work in your favorite hues because you can get away with things in this room that you wouldn’t in more formal rooms. When I first laid eyes on Rich’s kitchen, with its bright orange cabinets, I jumped for joy. How bold! How refreshing!
If you can’t replace your kitchen cabinets, transform them with paint, like Rich did. Bright orange might not be your pick, but there are so many wonderful colors out there, from creamy whites to serene blues to zippy reds, that you’re sure to find one that makes you smile.
When I renovated my kitchen, I picked cream cabinets, backsplash and walls. But I still wanted to bring in a pop of color, so I painted the ceiling blue. Recently, I added Roman shades in a teal-and-raspberry paisley.
Add stylish storage
We all have lots of stuff to store in our kitchens, so why not make those storage containers as lovely as possible? For example, I found an old planter that fits in the spot between my stove and the wall, and filled it with Dan’s cooking oils and vinegars. I collected cooking spoons in an inexpensive white chalice.
Another must-have kitchen-storage tool is a wonderful tray or two. Anne uses a big tray to hold drink decanters in her kitchen’s wet-bar area. Trays give everything that’s put upon them a dignified air.
Ÿ Adapted from Mary Carol Garrity’s blog at nellhills.com.