Welcome to the latest installment of Project Design. Today we are sharing tips to style up your kitchen. Just like styling your coffee table or your bookshelves, styling your kitchen counters is a bit of an art. Keep in mind what types of things look good out. Keep it simple, and keep it natural. Less is more. Leave some empty areas and allow for some negative space. Use vertical objects to break strong horizontals lines. Be clean and neat.
This kitchen is from a recent project of mine. This kitchen is being submitted to a magazine so I am limited to posting tight shots so I don’t get in trouble from the editing police! Here are my tips for helping you create a beautifully styled kitchen.
Tip #1 Use Trays to Corral Kitchen Essentials
Tip #2 Add Organic details such as flowers, plants, or herbs
Tip #3 Limit cold surface items on a cold surface
This kitchen has quartzite countertops (the best) so they come off warmer than marble or another stone surface. However I like to use a lot of wood, rattan & seagrass . Here I used a seagrass tray (see below for sources), a wood cutting board, and a rope sphere for warmth. The pot, bunny and bowl are the only “cold” surface items. If you load up your counter with pottery, dishes, and metal. It will look cold.
Tip #4 Add Something Vintage
Here we added a vintage breadboard and vintage wicker covered bottles.
Tip #5 Add Pretty Dishtowels
Tip #6 Avoid Clutter
Keep it clean and uncluttered so it looks like you actually use your counters.
This kitchen has a lot of work space and a huge pantry. The owners are able to corral all of their appliances in the large pantry (a luxury yes). I don’t have that luxury in my kitchen but I am able to stash my toaster and my main coffee maker.
Tip #7 Use your cutting boards
(Lean them against your backsplash or decorate with fruit)
Tip #8 Use fruit for a pop of color
I wish I could show you more of this kitchen. If it gets turned down I will do a post on it later.
If you are interested in any of the accessories used in the photos You can shop the post below. The rope sphere can be found at Target here. The kouboo trays can be found on Amazon here and here. I use these all over the house. The Buddha head is on sale at World Market here.
Shop The Post
We have four other fabulous designers with four different takes on kitchen styling. Click on the links below to get more helpful tips.
All of the above photos were taken by the talented Megan Alldis. You can check out her work at Megan Alldis.
Cindy this is gorgeous- and my favorite mix, wood, stone and natural materials. I am beginning my home reno and I was going to go with marble and a full marble backsplash like I once had, but this is equally gorgeous and the prettiest quartzite I have seen. It almost looks like it has a texture to it. Would you be able to share the name of it? Congrats on the magazine shoot. You have fantastic taste and a great eye and I look forward to seeing more! xo Kim
p.s. I am buying some things off your links here! Cost Plus is killing it right now. So much to love.
Nothing pops a kitchen like greens & wood, love how you used it Cindy. yeah to vintage elements!
also like this kitchen, no appliances on the counter. great collaboration!
xo
Debra
BEAUTIFUL……….how exciting a magazine!!!!
This is really an amazing post. I liked these easy steps to style the kitchen like a pro. I just love the seagrass tray. Thanks for sharing.
Green looks great in there Cindy! Just feels good!
Great advice for the kitchen, I love pots of fresh herbs, it is amazing how much more we use them when we can just chop away at our finger tips rather than having to walk out into the garden, plus they look so good. Now of course I am a big fan of vintage in the kitchen, used alongside modern clean line units I think the look is hard to beat!
Wonderful tips, Cindy! Hope you have a great week.
Beautifully displayed. The Buddha head just made the kitchen for me. Who knew I liked Buddha heads? I really like #3 tip. I do that instinctively but never put it into words. Great advice and examples 👍😉
Lovely, bright and fresh. I hope this kitchen gets “fully exposed” in publication. Many thoughtful, useable ideas here.
I, on the other hand, am the anti-stylist in my kitchen. I think in almost every post appliances were hidden from sight or wish they could have been. Several stylists mentioned they are no longer cook much or at least share some serious cook time with a spouse. There are perhaps several of us left out in the world who love tools and view them as art, who love appliances for their usefulness—and beauty, and who think ingredients are to be admired. I knew in my remodel I would be going for a industrial cottage look and started with the observation that my appliances were stainless/gray and I built my kitchen around that. It also left room to display (for beauty and ease of use) my almost 50 year collection of cookware. I side with TOF: the best pops of color are to be eaten!
I still cook as well and agree the best pops of color are to be eaten!!
I hope your submission gets accepted, so I can see more OR I hope it doesn’t so I can see more here!! It looks like you used lots of green accents, which I love. My home is all neutrals (cream, stone, mushroom tones) with pops of green, but I find it difficult to find green accessories and accents when shopping. One would think with all the attention on being eco-friendly, in nature, etc. that green would be more predominate in decor, but I see very little of it.
Another benefit from those pop-of-color bowls of fruit–we’re more likely to snack on fruit if it’s sitting out waiting to be eaten.
Cindy,
i love how you used every possible shade of green from the limes, pears, apples to the plants, the napkins, the pillows in the living space! It’s gorgeous. Are the counter stools from Cost Plus too? I’ve seen something similar and love the look, especially in this mix of modern, traditional and earthy kitchen! It’s simply gorgeous!
annie
BEAUTIFUL styling Cindy! Thanks for the tips.
Cindy, this is BEAUTIFUL! So fresh and warm and inviting. Who wouldn’t want to cook and hang out in that room! Love the bowl that the limes are in and the barstools. It should definitely get published so we can see MORE!
Mary Ann
Great tips! What is the name of that quartzite. Beautiful!!!