How To Decorate Shelf Above Kitchen Cabinets

How To Decorate The Top Of A Cabinet (AND How NOT To)

STOP! Don't leave the step ladder notwithstanding!

(Sorry to startle you lot. Information technology's just that I have to stress something to yous before we climb up on the counters with our accessories in tow.)

Before you make up one's mind to brandish something up loftier, cease and take a moment to evaluate why, exactly, you want to practice and then. Too many people think that someday a shelf is in sight there needs to exist something resting on meridian of it.

I'm sorry, only that'southward just not true.

As a general dominion, if you have under 2' of space in a higher place kitchen cabinetry, very alpine armoires or built-ins, don't decorate the space. All likewise oftentimes, doing so dates yous to the 1990'south and the area does cipher but catch dust.

Oh, and I'm sorry, merely if y'all e'er feel possessed to put some faux greenery upward there, then consider yourself banned from my site!  ;-)

When Non To Decorate In a higher place The Chiffonier

Here's an instance -- using ane of my remodels -- of what it looks like when you don't decorate above kitchen cabinets.

Had nosotros placed objects up in that location, do you lot see how they would take distracted the eye from the island and those gutsy light fixtures? In the field of flossy white, the accessories would have stood out and called attending to themselves.

This kitchen was remodeled with new finishes and a new island, merely nosotros left the perimeter cabinets. These days, we by and large take cabinets to the ceiling or at least higher than this, and so my purpose here was to blend the cabinetry with the wall color and so that these older cabinets didn't stand up out or go noticed.

I wouldn't desire to call attention to their height by putting things up there, now would I?

Besides much fussy decor to a higher place kitchen cabinets

Fussy Decorating

This case is just likewise chaotic with too much stuff placed style upwardly high. It's also busy, and at that place are way too many different types of things up there.

Where is all the money in this kitchen?

...It's in the cabinets, the appliances, the tile.

And so why distract from the money? Why bring all the attention to the $3 slice of dried organic cloth up there, when you could be feasting your eyes on gorgeous wood or lovely tile?

Plus, isn't this merely a dusting nightmare?

There are times when decorating to a higher place the cabinets can work.

Items that are elementary in way and shape are all-time up high.

I am such a fan of kitchen cabinets to the ceiling and overscaled, tall cabinets that fit the peak of these new homes with higher ceilings.

It's as if the builders didn't get the memo that if y'all're going to enhance the ceiling, the cabinets and other elements need to go too!

Seriously though . . . While I'm non in love with the stuff that people arrange fashion up loftier just to fill a pocket-size void, and I do retrieve people overload those areas where it's non necessary, in that location are certain situations and certain times when some decorating actually does need to be washed above a cabinet.

For instance: If your chiffonier is fairly curt -- let'south say about 5' or half-dozen' high and information technology looks way shorter than the ceiling. If it sort of cries out for something to be put above it -- that'southward okay, you can decorate it ;-)

Really, there are a few approaches you can take when decorating above a cabinet.

And so, to make certain i of them actually works for yous, you beginning have to determine if you have the right space for what yous want to put up there and if yous have the right accessories to do the job.

If you lot do, you can then begin to address your cabinet decorating every bit follows.

High Ceilings And Lots Of Space Above Cabinets

Are your ceilings really high? Is at that place so much vertical space between the ceiling and your cabinets that the room looks empty and unfinished?

Many times a bookcase, or cabinet, or the kitchen cabinetry feels manner too squatty in a room. This is an instance when you need to permit your decor items visually extend the height of the article of furniture or the cabinets.

No thing what, do not put things that are small and detailed upwardly there! You tin't see them very well because they are then far abroad.

Decorate With Larger Items upwards high

If you put any items upward there, they need to be big and bulky. Larger, bolder objects should always exist used if you'll be viewing them at a distance.

Personally, I prefer large baskets or boxes/containers, large similarly styled vases or urns that are full and bulbous-looking in a mass. Any kind of big-scaled simple objects that are similar in type will likely work.

What nosotros're trying to practise here is extend the visual summit of the piece, so it appears taller.

Take a close wait at the images below to encounter how bulky items do a great task creating that illusion.

Run into how the unproblematic, warm-colored shapes of the pieces placed above these cabinets, pictured below, extend the cabinet upward, making it appear taller?

The large olive jars and baskets create a textural mass that extends the height of the armoire. Designer: Jeffrey Bilhuber

Look how brusque this piece would seem without these tall items to a higher place? Designer: Carla Aston

These decor items, grouped together on height of a chiffonier, are all taller items and add height to the piece. (Photograph by Carla Aston from Highpoint Marketplace)

Displaying Collections To a higher place Cabinets

Do y'all have something special you desire to brandish or prove off?

When y'all have a really amazing collection of something, and you actually, really, really desire people to encounter it, displaying what you lot have to a higher place the cabinetry tin can be appropriate.

Retrieve: Quantity is your friend in this state of affairs. You're creating a visual horizontal ring or edge, kind of like a cornice or architectural frieze of some kind, which can only be achieved with lots of repetition of shape and value.

For example: I wouldn't put a collection of vases in a line, up loftier, if they were all of unlike color and value (lightness/darkness), because information technology would create a spotty type of visual effect and ruin the purpose.

Take a await at this prototype.

Practise you lot see how the candlesticks are all linear and dark? That'south is a perfect instance of this technique using repetition of shape and value.

Don't line them all up in a row. Group them where they overlap, or slightly stagger them and then they wait a scrap randomly placed.

What a cool collection of fans! They're so perfectly placed with the window behind. Prototype via: Country Living

These are perfect with all the same color and blazon used. It's similar someone painted a green, colorful band all the way across the wall. Gorgeous. Photographer: Paul Costello

Here are some more expert examples...

Perfect use of the blue and whites, all close together. Habitation of Oscar de la Renta, Image via: Marker Sikes

I like how Martha did this. Articulate glass is used, which isn't visually heavy or distracting. And I love how they are stacked and arranged to highlight the diverse styles of her impressive collection. Beautiful. Image via: marthastewart.com Photo past William Abranowicz

A Decorative Element To Acme A Cabinet As An Ornament

Does it feel like something's missing? Like maybe an ornamentation of some sort?

Another reason to put something on top of a cabinet is to just top information technology off, to provide some kind of decorative decoration or architectural slice that's missing from the cabinet. A flourish.

These are perfect examples beneath.

Notice how only ane object is used on top of these tall, slender bookcases, kind of like a crown of sorts. It makes them seem taller, kind of similar an architectural topper of some kind. Designer: Magdalena Aguilar, via: Nuevo Estilo

The silhouette of the object visually becomes an integral function of the piece of furniture. Designed past: Donna Talley

Decorate With Objects That Blend With The Background

Perhaps you don't have quite so much space simply yous'd all the same love to display something upwards at that place.

Okay, despite what I've said about not feeling like you HAVE to decorate upward there, there is a way to put some personality up there without having it look like an over-packed free-for-all.

Having decor items on pinnacle of a cabinet that blend with the wall tin give yous the storage and display infinite you lot desire, and they won't boss the scene or make everything seem top-heavy.

Meet how these white vases and jars alloy into the white walls across but withal provide some interest and a identify to store these items successfully?

I dearest how these ginger jars are massed together, Had they been black like the chiffonier, they would have acquired the piece of furniture slice to overpower the infinite. The chiffonier would've appeared HUGE and the things on elevation would have looked crowded. Designer: Sean Michael Pattern, via: houzz

The cabinet stands out (as information technology should), and the white ginger jars are displayed but don't dominate. Prototype via: Mix and Chic, Designer: Watch Design, Nicki Clendening

Will placing artwork up above cabinets work?

I've helped people who accept had more artwork or wall decor than they take wall space. Since most people think all artwork needs to be hung at eye level, one of the places I often expect is up.

Hanging artwork on the wall above a chiffonier pretty much does the same thing every bit all the other suggestions I've mentioned here, however the object is flat and hangs on the wall instead of sitting on meridian of the chiffonier.

Look how it extends the summit of the wait of that wall, in the pics below.

I love how a "frieze" is created on the furr down above the bookcases . . . the horizontal banding or border. Designer: Lizette Bruckstein, via: SFChronicle

This artwork is stacked all the way beyond, creating that horizontal banding I mentioned before. Instead of objects, they're flat pieces of art! Designer: Abby Rizor, via: House Beautiful

Imagine if that slice of fine art had non been hung above the cabinet. The cabinet would not take had the presence it does without that added piece upwardly there. Designer: James Michael Howard

grouping Similar objects create a more than cohesive argument

Keep objects grouped together in a like style or color to create a less busy and confusing look.

You can run into these blue and whites seen at Loftier Point Marketplace don't backbite from the beautiful cabinet below. Imagine a mass of different types of objects up there. It would shift your focus.

Blue and white ginger jars create interesting decor items above this lacquered green cabinet. Keeping decor objects like in style and color assistance create a simpler and more impactful visual when decorating in a higher place cabinets.

This collection of rustic pottery, pictured beneath, brings height to the dining room hutch and adds to the room's overall casual vibe with a simple look.

On this remodel project of mine, the homeowner had an interesting drove of rustic pottery that we grouped above her hutch. It created a prissy mass and added top to the cabinet too as working well with the artful of the dining room. Carla Aston, Designer | Miro Dvorscak, Lensman

Demand some ideas for larger objects that work well up high, above the cabinets? Check out these links beneath.

My blog contains chapter links. Any purchases, at no additional charge to you, brand me a minor per centum, are most appreciated and brand this weblog possible. :-)

Source: https://carlaaston.com/designed/how-to-decorate-cabinet-top

Posted by: mieleyouresser.blogspot.com

Share this post