I also have that dead space between my kitchen cabinets and the ceiling. Here's how the previous owner of my home had it decorated:
Blech.While it's useful to have display space for my vintage finds (because really, I have no place to put them otherwise and I really don't want to just get rid of everything) but I kinda hate how it all looks just lined up like that.
There are a couple of other problems I've run into regarding using that space for display. The first is that the top of the cabinets is actually set quite a few inches below the top of the molding. This means that you can't see the bottom few inches of whatever you put there, unless you place something underneath to raise it up higher. I started out using a bunch of books we never read, but that has become an issue because of problem #2: everything I place up there gets coated with a layer of grease and dust. I truly don't cook a lot of greasy foods, so I'm not sure why things up on top of the cabinets get so very nasty, but they do. Perhaps I need to be using the vent hood on my stove more often?
At any rate, I need to make a change to that space. My kitchen always feels cluttered, mostly likely because it IS cluttered! I have a difficult enough time controlling the junk on the counters and table and front of the refrigerator. I know that I could make my kitchen less visually cluttered by reducing the amount of "stuff" that I display atop the shelves. It may be time for some tough decisions on how much I truly love and need to keep the items I currently have up there, and what I could ~ahem~ re-home. (somewhere, my husband just got happier, and he doesn't even know why. ;D)
Do you have anything displayed above your kitchen cabinets? Do you have any tips for me as I begin my makeover?
okay, you're talking about my favorite things! repurposing things you already have and soffets! love it! i helped rochelle with hers and it was so fun.
ReplyDeletep.s. i use all those annoying phone books that get delivered like every other week to my house to stack things on my soffet. i don't care if they get nasty and greasy!
p.p.s. when helping rochelle with hers we learned that that orange glow stuff worked great for getting the grease off of stuff! amazing.
I love that little space above cabinets to display nic-nacs! I know what you mean about the greasiness, though! That makes me crazy! No matter what you cook, it seems to always end up covered in that delightful mix of dust and grease! I dont have any shelf space above my cabinets, just flat wall so I decorated with wallpaper. I rent a townhouse so I cant actually wallpaper but I found retro reproduction wallpaper from bradbury and bradbury and I bought about 25 samples of them, lined them up perfectly so the edges would match and used rubber cement to adhere them to the wall. Crazy as it sounds, it worked perfectly! The rubber cement isn't permanent and wont damage the wall or paper but it keeps it up there beautifully, with no peeling corners. And, I get that lovely retro 50's border without the cost of an entire $80 roll of wallpaper! woo-hoo!
ReplyDeleteIf you still want to keep some of your pretties up there, arrange them in smaller groups, spaced out along the top of the cabinets so they aren't just in a line. Only use your favorite items and find a new spot (or new home) for the rest. I like the phone book idea to raise them up. If you get up there and dust that stuff off maybe twice per year, they should be okay. Good luck!
Ha! I read your post and was going to simply write: "Call Kayla. She'll whip you into shape." I see she got here first :)
ReplyDeleteI would love to have cabinets like that, every house I've ever owned has had cabinets that go up to the ceiling. If I ever get hubby talked into replacing ours, I'll make sure they are the kind I want and there will be a display space! My mother in law has a board that she puts on top of hers, that way the bird houses she has displayed are visible and not half covered.
ReplyDeleteMy cabinets are completely covered on top too. I'd say mine actually have a lot more stuff on them than yours. Things definitely do get gunky up there! I love the display space though. I've pretty much kept everything on top mostly restricted to things that are red and white with a little bit of aqua (the same color as the walls). Keeping the color scheme simple helps it not look cluttery. I think for me having it absolutely full by overlapping items makes it look less cluttered also. I've been meaning to photograph mine and put on my blog but that just hasn't happened yet!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all... We just became your 100th follower! Now to your space above your cabinets. I can see your dilema. As for the grease...your overhead fan would help. The amount of dust that lands on my over-the-counter space is disgusting too.I have a vintage water pitcher collection above mine and I like the way it looks. My suggestion to you is since you have a lot of various wonderful items, try grouping them more in little mini displays, leaving space between each group. That way they won't look as lined up. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteMermaid Debbie
Here I was thinking "Ah! She has the same problem as I do and she's going to tell me how to fix it!" But it turns out, you just have the same problem as I do! Still, lots of good suggestions in the comments section.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with yours!
OK, I finally had a chance to watch. There were some good tips.
ReplyDeleteHowever, does that guy always dress that horribly??? Seriously! A guy in "mom pants"! I may have to write KSL a letter and demand they fire their stylist! Horrible, Horrible fail! LOL!
I wish I had that display space:( I like the suggestions in the comments, either make mini displays of like items or really fill it up overlapping like colors! Can't wait to see how it turns out!
ReplyDeleteI dont have any storage up there anymore. Ours go all the way up. I think I remember Sarah having vintage goodies up there? Maybe that was the rental house, but I'm sure she has pics!
ReplyDeleteI have stuff above my cabinets that I specifically bought for that purpose. My kitchen is kind of country-ish so I have a wooden apple basket laid sideways with hay and apples spilling out, a few ivy plants, and a few other country-ish items I got from Michael's. I'm in the process of transitioning my kitchen to a vintage look so I'm always looking for new ideas. The first thing I think of when I see pics of valuable items above peoples' cabinets is "WHAT ABOUT THE GREASE?" And I'm with you, as i don't actually FRY anything. A few years ago, I did find a special spray for artificial flowers that works as kind of a dust repellent so I sprayed everything down with that and it seemed to help for a while. I found it at Michael's.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to know what you ended up doing above yours. :)
I have decorated above my cabinets with antique baskets and put a string of LED lights behind them. Ran a plug down to the microwave plug. Looks cool at night.
ReplyDelete