You might think the fun stops once you’ve got your dream kitchen installed. Not so. Now you need to make important decisions on how to dress up the counters. Here are some kitchen counter top decorating ideas to give you some inspiration on where to get started.
Pick and Choose Carefully
Magazines make it look easy to have beautifully organized and appealing kitchen counters. It can be easy, but careful choices must be made. If you just throw everything you regularly use on top of the counters, your space will be cluttered in no time. The old saying “a place for everything, and everything in its place” was never truer for counter organization. We should add to it “a tastefully attractive place for everything, and everything in its tastefully attractive place” to make the saying a little more accurate.
Know when to add a Splash of Color
A key to tasteful counter decorating is to add color to liven up the area, but not to much or too many colors. If you examine magazine kitchens carefully, you’ll start to notice the color accents are strategically placed and coordinated to work together. A trick to this is to keep most of the countertop storage elements (such as canisters) a neutral color (metal is considered neutral) or colors which don’t stand out too much against the walls or counters/cabinets. Then you can choose an accent piece or two in a brighter color to add pizzazz. The kitchen won’t be overwhelmed but will be interesting. Choose accent colors to decorate which compliment the colors of your kitchen. Some accent items might be a colorful plate on display, a colorful tea kettle, a colorful vase, etc. Fruit can be used to add color. (The only disadvantage with fruit as an accent is that it disappears as you eat it.)
Levels of Interest
Consider the height levels of the items on your kitchen counters. When you give the eye different levels of height to look at, you create more interest. Have a look at your existing counter design. If you have an area with all flat items, the area will be fairly boring. For example, if you have a cutting board next to a shallow fruit bowl next to a low spice rack, there is nothing to bring the eye up. There will be no excitement in the arrangement. Instead, replace one of the items with a taller version. Start with a tall fruit bowl closest to the side wall, followed by a medium height spice rack, followed by the flat cutting board. The eye will flow from the tall height to the low height which creates interest and movement.
Another way to make height interest is to use hanging objects on the wall or small shelves in between the counter and the upper cabinets. There are so many ways to use height in considering decorations for your counter area. You can really have fun using these simple decorating principles incorporating elements of your own style.
There are no definite rules with countertop decoration. You have to like what you see. Look at magazines and kitchen books for inspiration. You’ll be surprised at what you can come up with once you start to imagine the possibilities.