I updated this post to add photos of my weirdo soffits, enjoy.
One of the most common posts requests I get is for information on how to decorate over the kitchen cabinets. I’ve tried and tried to avoid the question. Because 9 times of of 10 I don’t like decor over the kitchen cabinets. I think people tend to put too much pressure on themselves to decorate every surface–I’d rather see pretty molding above a cabinet than have attention drawn to the top of {my} builder grade cabs.
However, I do think there are ways to really utilize the space above your cabinets really well. Like in that photo up there, the tops of the cabinets are an extention of the cabs and the bowls relate to everything else going on. I like that.
This is my personal pet peeve with over the cabinet decor. Please forgive me if this is your kitchen. If you love it, then by all means leave the pretend, long, lanky greenery on top of your cabinets. But I dare say, it adds nothing to the room. I think it would be better off empty. If they must have something up there, maybe white dishes–some plates hung on the wall above the cabs, some urns or something?
I’m at a loss. Teach me oh wise decoratory friends, show me the folly of my naked top of cabinet ways. How do you decorate above your cabinets?
for the record, here is my kitchen with the worlds largest soffits–why did this seem like a good idea to someone?
and in the other corner? no soffits.
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Did you catch the announcement about our ebay adventure?
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Girl, I am at a loss for what to do over my cabs. Like you, I am not a big fan of junk up there for just for the sake of decorating a surface. But because my kitchen is part of a great room with giant vaulted ceilings, the highest point above my cabs is about 5 or 6 feet! It looks crazy bare up there. I hope your brilliant readers have some solutions. Maybe you could do a “pimp my cabs” linky party. : )
I’m going to be very interested to hear what people have to say about this one. I go back and forth on my kitchen cabinets. I wish the cabinets went clear up to the ceiling; then I wouldn’t have to make the decision of whether to decorate or not. Sometimes I do decorate, sometimes I don’t. When it’s bear, it looks start and cold. When it’s decorated, it looks cluttered and fussy. I really don’t know what the answer is.
I got tried of trying to figure out what to put on top of my cabinets, so I finally took everything off and just put a vinyl phrase (a scripture actually) on the wall above the cabinets. Done!
I like this!!! Especially when there’s a big soffit!
I like bowls, pitchers, urns, platters, maybe even cute baskets above cabinets but just like you, I can’t stand the garland-y stuff. Ick.
My cabinets go up to my very low ceilings, but I do have a shelf on one end of the kitchen where there are no cabinets and lined the shelf with mason jars and love it.
At our old house I collect antique kitchen accessories and had them all up there. I had to sit them on phone books to be seen over the lip of the cabinets, but I loved it all. Loved shopping for them. When we moved, they were all covered in 6 inches of dust and I think I just left the phone books. GROSS.
No worries at this house. I don’t have a “top of the cabinets” at this house.
I have friends who took black and white photos of their kids, blew them up and put them above the cabinets…it was a very cool look for their modernish kitchen. How about a collection of antique tin cans? Or on top of my cabinets a collection of glass cake stands and lids. Collections of like items can make a powerful statement (like the white bowls) without looking like a junk yard…and definitely no fake greens…or fake grape vines! ugh!
It’s definitely one of those spaces that needs something… but what?! I agree that fake greenery should be banned from the kitchen – particularly when it gets all grimey (ewww). I have 1 friend who is a decorating genius and she stores her seasonal table linens up there, all stacked nicely in beautiful picnic baskets.
I used to have an all white kitchen when we lived in New Orleans. I took big glass vases (all different) and filled them with the Mardi Gras beads that we wanted to have as keepsakes.
Of course, now I live in Virginia in a green kitchen with brown cabinents and there is no space over them – the last homeowners brought the wall down so we have an odd casement like effect. ::sigh:: I miss the pretty purple, green and gold beads. And now I have a bunch of vases and beads.
Whenever I see over the cabinet decor I always think about what a pain in the a$$ it would be to dust all that stuff. At least when it’s bare up there, the dust isn’t visible.
And what’s up with the place settings on the counter top that obviously isn’t a bar? The stylist sure messed up with that picture decor!
Haha – apparently if you want to eat at that “bar” you have to stand up :)
I forgot – my mother put our family’s collection of historic (non-working) weapons over hers. So there’s several shotguns, a sword and a nightstick. It somehow works, but only because she has 20 foot tall ceilings in there!
i need to learn this lesson, too. at christmas, it’s no problem. thank goodness for department 56 houses and presents that don’t fit under the tree. but the other 11 months of the year? i’m at a loss. it looks so sad and barren up there.
I think crown molding looks and works the best. It’s the dust factor for sure! Who wants dust drifting down in the kitchen. We solved our kitchen delema when we gutted our kitchen. Cabs all the way to the ceiling with crown around the top.
smiles, alice
Sadly my old house had that greenery…just like that…but it had a drop ceiling that prevented any more space and so I left it. LOL For that greenery one above I definately think lose it or at least put something above it to make it less boring. Maybe some architectural pieces above and some lighting to make pretty shadows?
I have a dear friend whose kitchen is done in ‘coffee’ theme and she has old grinders above to tie it together. I think less is more…and you have to know when to quit…but the kitchen above begs for something AT LEAST in the back corner. Of course it also begs me to paint the cabinets, and make ALL The top cabinets glass like the one on the left. :D
OH honey, I”ve had that stuff on my cabs too! Just like sausage rolled bangs and textured ceilings, we’ve all been there.
I have to thank you for opening my eyes to the disturbing decorating folly of putting greenery on top of cabinets. Last year, when I made my black toile mistreatments for our kitchen, and I was already standing on our counters in my stinky bare feet, I ripped that greenery down with glee. It felt so good!
I don’t know where I got the idea that it looked good in the first place. THANK YOU for freeing me from fake plants. I owe you.
Now I like them bare. I figure everything up there gets so dusty anyway, why bother.
Hmmm…you sure got my gears turning with this post!
May have to blog about this myself some day- I hear that question a lot too!
Layla
PS…For the record- I, too, am a fan of leaving that space empty! :-)
and, you have BEAUTIFUL millwork {that you did yourselves} on the top part of your cabs~that in itself is art and beautiful!
I am one that DOES decorate above her cabinets..I mainly use antique English type picnic baskets and the like..
My mother in law is the QUEEN of the fake ivy over the cabinets, but it’s her style and she loves it mixed in with her birdhouses and stuff..and believe me, HERS in clean..lol..
I hate the above the cabinet space! I’m in the middle of remodeling my kitchen, so I just eliminated the space by moving my cabinets to the ceiling. I have 8 ft ceilings, so this was doable. (You can see the un-finished outcome here: http://tinyurl.com/yhl75rv)
Personally, I like nothing or collections that are kitchen-y. My aunt has baskets, which are good because they come in a lot of different sizes and she can store things in there, one of my friends puts clear glass pitchers above her cabinets. My grandma collects cookie jars, and has them displayed on the top of her cabinets. My other aunt put a really interesting, thick molding at the top of hers, so it was a decoration in and of itself. In the end though, it’s all just dust magnets!
I’m with “The Scooper” on this one. Vaulted ceilings make over the cabinet decorating tricky. For now I’m storing my soup tureens and a few other serving pieces up there–all white, so they kind of go together–but I do love Leigh’s idea of putting a vinyl saying in the space.
Aside from that, is anyone else wishing their cabinets were as tidy at those in picture #1 of this post? Sigh. If only…
I love the white kitchen! I too do not like the ivy garland look. With grease and dust flying around it’s just yucky. I believe if you do put things up there (I can’t in this house, I have a soffit and that’s bad too) you should use large easy to clean items and less is more. If your ceilings are not high then nothing is best.
Well, I have boring soffits above my cabinets but I do have a ‘God Bless our Home’ plaque above one cabinet on the soffit. Other than that they are blank.
What I like about the greenery above those cabinets in your example is the beautiful splash of hunter green color with the oak cabinets…. White dishes or urns would be really boring to me.
Frankly, I prefer tall cabinets that meet the ceiling with an obscene amount of excessive moulding….
I have soffits too so there goes that decision which is kind of nice.
You are right, white dishes would be totally boring up there, in my mind I was imagining that kitchen being mine in which case I would paint the cabs white and have some color on the walls and then my white dishes on top would show up. But, of course, I wouldn’t put dishes up there I’d beg to have that obscene amount of molding up there too. It’s to die for.
It is a huge dilemma! Mine are bare. But I do ponder it often. I’ll be watching the comments for ideas! Oh, and I am so with you on the fake greenery… I am not a fan.
Our cabinets go to the ceiling, for which I am super grateful. I don’t know what I’d do with the space! I am going to take some of the doors off the top cabinets and put baskets in the space, though. Maybe baskets on top? I have no idea.
Large white platters and bowls – it’s classy and handy!
I have a post coming up about it.
Thanks for linky love yesterday. Love YOU!
i am having THIS VERY DELIMMA!! easier said than done! the main problem that I have is – the ceiling above my cabinets are vaulted…my kitchen is under one half of angle, and the living room is under the other half of the angle! so anything that i put on top of the cabinets just looks all funky and off balance, because of the angle of the ceiling. Ive tried everything. i decided leaving them empty would be WISE! luckily we are renting so it isn’t a permanent delimma!! any advise for this one??
ugh, I HATE the area over my cabinets. HATE IT. Right now I have blue willow up there, but I just can’t stand the area at all.
I have an old Longaberger picnic basket and an old chippy birdhouse. I also hae some greenstuff…but not a big long line of it, just one pot. I think that I’m going to take it down and see how I like it without. I think that the “inner decorator” in us all feels the need to decorate every surface, but really…why? Sometimes plainer is better…
My soffits are odd in that they extend beyond the ends of the cabinets. Anywhere from 1.5 to 4 inches! Just one group is 4inches. That makes it hard to add molding in order to fool the eye to make it look like a continuation of the cabinets. Any ideas?
Same here! Ours over laps at the top like some weird upside down edge–looks like 8 inches! And out a little to the side. My advice, just don’t draw attention to it. Sometimes you can rip them out but sometimes they house stuff like air ducts.
I will be painting them when the weather warms. The cabinets that is. They are a dark yucky oak. Really brings me down! So, I will just paint them the same creamy white (when I find one) that the cabinets will be. Then maybe adding crown at the ceiling. I couldn’t find a picture of your kitchen to see your weird soffits! I will also be removing some doors and adding glass to others to try to lighten up the kitchen. It seems rather tight in there right now with all that dark oak. Anyone want to come help me paint cabinets? We can sit by the pool and have margaritas afterward :)
oh my goodness you are right, updating the post with photos of my soffits right now….
Thanks. Mine are just as strange but they extend out to the sides. Like wings! Plus I have these little shelves on the ends of 3 sides!
I don’t mind using that space to store/display our antique tins, bottles, jars and trays, but I worry that it’s a big parade of stuff.I need help organizing the items that should go there. And molding will have to wait until the other 20,000 things on our low-budget to-do list have been completed. =)
I’m so glad we have soffits above our kitchen cabs!
I hate fake ivy…white platters or yellow ware bowls would be all I could handle.
Okay, mine were BARE for several years and it bugged me! So I bought decorative urns & finials with the ‘fleur-de-lis’ theme. After a couple years, I recognized that it was just too cluttered up there so I cleared most of it out and left only a red rectangle plaque in the center, a decorative plate on the far left and a cluster of 3 pieces on the right–an urn, a vase and a finial. It looks much better. I have an arch over my cabs with bull-nosed corners and an open-floor plan, so I feel it needs something since the eye is drawn to the arch.
A friend of mine has a white theme mixed with clear glass and dried rolling vines…it looks really fabulous. I like the idea of black-and-white pics too!
I agree with the “no stuff above the kitchen cabinets.” I’ve always hated it, and because my husband was pressuring me into doing something up there since we recently bought our first home, I put random junk up there. After three days, he told me I could take it down :) But to avoid the short builder cabinets from looking too plain, We’re going to add some extra height with stained molding, kinda like Layla Palmer did in her kitchen. He’s happy and I’m happy
I agree with you … just because the surface is there doesn’t mean you have to put something on it. Decorating above cabinets may be your pet peeve … mine is fake greenery …..ick.
I’m with you, Nester. I’m at a loss, so my cab tops are naked. Have been since we moved in 6 years ago, and will likely stay that way. Unless you count the dust bunnies.
I couldn’t agree more. Twelve years ago, as a newly wed/new homeowner, I made my cabinets look like they had ivy taking them over. Bleck! I think part of the reason that top photo looks so great is because the bowls on top don’t have to compete with anything else, like crown molding and, of coarse, what you said. It’s functioning as an extension of the cabinets.
I just about had a heart attack when I scrolled down to your second picture and hadn’t read the caption! I just love about every picture you put up and so I was surprised that you liked the kitchen. Of course you don’t but it woke me up a little bit more this morning. Thanks for all your great posts! My home is a lot cuter because of you!
I put all my home canned goods up on my cabinets. It gives the jars they’re own special place and it’s the best kind of decor for the kitchen (IMO) – the kind you can eat! It’s pretty too.
Before we built this house I had never had cabinets without soffits, so I was thrilled to be able to decorate up there! My kitchen is very country/traditional, and I’m a lover of chickens. My cabinet tops hold old Fiestaware, antique milk bottles, some white hobnail pieces, antique pottery, lots of chicken decor, antique tins, etc.
And guess what…..
Now I’m tired of it all. I’m leaning harder and harder toward less clutter and to me it is all clutter at this point.
I have vaulted ceilings in my kitchen and have stuff on my cabinets. Over one set, I have all my pieces of copper (pots, bowls, canisters, teapots, and other unusual pieces) that I’ve collected from thrift stores, yard sales, etc. I used some wooden crates different “levels” and surfaces to display them and I tried to kind of layer them so they are not all just lined up along the top. On the other cabinets, I have some old canisters, a coffee grinder, and old bucket, a cute plate, etc. Again, mostly picked up at yard sales, thrift stores, etc. It’s just stuff I like….no better reason to display it than that!
As for the dust issue, I get up there about twice a year and give it all a good cleaning….basically when I can see the dust from where I stand. I live in the desert…I can’t be bothered to do it more often than that! You can dust everyday here and never catch up.
That should be “wooden crates TO CREATE different levels….” don’t know what happened!
I love having the space above my cabinets to decorate..it’s a pain to do it, tho…standing on the cabinets can be a bit inconvenient..(too lazy to bring in the ladder)…my spaces are full of antiques and right in the middle of my goodies is a sign I made that says it all …”It’s not junk….it’s a collection.”
heart you.
I used to have a couple of faux plants, a couple of teapots, a couple of pitchers and some decorative bunny plates on top of mine. It’s all cleared off except for three strategically placed faux green plants. I like it much better, it’s not a distraction because I really don’t want people looking up there, and cleaning up there was horrible {and I really hate to clean!}. I did that prepping my house for going on the market and even now that we are going to be staying for another year or two, I’m leaving it simplified. The non-housekeeper in me likes that!
In two of my homes, with 9 foot ceilings and regular height cabinets, the space above, of at least 2 feet, was just too great to ignore. We have a collection of 7 or 8 antique ice cream makers, and they fit perfectly in that space. Above my fridge cabinets, on the other side, we displayed two large antique metal coca-cola ice chests. Big items worked for me, as I don’t like fussy, little clutter.
When I remodeled my kitchen, I made sure to select cabinets that went to the ceiling to avoid the dreaded dead space. That said, I love the bowls you show pictured or even serving platters and usable items that maybe are only used a few times a year decorating the space. I have deep distaste for the fake plant/greenery look but agree with Nester – if it makes you happy, do it. But you might want to experiment a little and see if you can’t find something a little more useful and pretty for that space than fake greens. Just a thought :-)
Oh sister, if you like bare cabinet tops, you would croak if you saw mine! http://marcusanddina.blogspot.com/2009/04/welcome-to-my-kitchen.html
I just can’t bring myself to leave them naked. I have a thing for “stuff”.
I do totally agree about the greenery though!
Dina, I just looked at your link. I LOVE your kitchen!!!!
Yeah, it totally works for you! It would look weird if it were bare or neutral with all the fun goings on in your home. and vaulted ceilings in the kitchen beg for bulking up the cabs somehow! Well done!
Your kitchen is ADORABLE!!! What a happy place! Makes me want to come hang out at your house and bake cookies…So fun. As far as I’m concerned, you ROCKED IT, girl! :)
Wait wait. The lamp shade above the sink is a STRAINER. How creative is THAT?!?!
I have never liked cabinets that go to the ceiling. Most of the time they make the kitchen feel closed in to me. I chose 36 inch cabinets with our 9 foot ceilings. I have an old pickle jar, old canning jars, picnic baskets, wood crates, a pitcher and my great grandmother’s porcelain rooster. I figure it’s the safest place for it. Some of things we use every now and then. I like the feel of the open space as long as there is not to much up there crouding it all in.
I am SO with you on that. I’m not a fan either. However, we previously lived in the absolute coolest place – it was kind of like a lodge. The hand-honed rafters dated pre civil war and I’m enclosing a pic of what I did above the cabinets. Shoot me for the basket with fake ivy – so regretful. :) But I put odd things above because the cabinets were very low and had so much space above. This is the link to my pic via photobucket. Enjoy. and have a great day. Oh, that’s not me – young pretty daughter.
I have been stuck on this for two weeks. We just finished our Kitchen makeover and have vaulted ceilings. I put my Kitchen on HGTV rate my space and quite a few comments were about how bare the top of my cabinets are.
http://www.roomzaar.com/rate-my-space/Kitchens/Country-Mess-to-Checkered-Cutie/detail.esi?oid=13999343
I bought these roosters at TJ Maxx to put up there. They were adorable red polka dotted roosters. Well they look terrible and are going back to TJ Maxx. I thought about doing the white plate thing too, buts its boring to me. I like the idea of baskets and vintage wooden crates. For now I am still contemplating. Maybe one day I’ll post the roosters too for a good laugh.
well shoot. Let’s try a link again for the above comment:
http://i745.photobucket.com/albums/xx91/loriplyler/DSCN0559.jpg
I’m still undecided on what to do above mine, although I know I want to do something (there is about 2 feet of space up there- I have to do something). Right now, I have a few pitchers and plates up there, but it’s mismatched stuff I had on hand and will be changed out. The one thing I know I want up there is a handmade wooden salad bowl set (serving bowl, fork and spoon, and six individual bowls) that we bought on our honeymoon in Honduras. We never use it, but I think it’s pretty (and sentimental).
Janet, I think I can hear your cabinets begging you to do this to them:
http://www.theletteredcottage.net/2008/07/kitchen-cabinetry.html
so lovely!
Oh so funny. I had to laugh at your soffit comment. I was curious at what you would write about decorating, and as I read, I observed my own cabinets, which have about 2.5″ of space between them and the ceiling. There goes the idea of putting up some pretty pictures of something up there! Maybe I could throw a set of string lights up there or something… Hope you figure out what to put up there!
I am the frustrated owner of TONS of crystal and cut glassware. I like it when there is opportunity to use it. But not every occasion calls for the formality of the crystal cheese dish. So it is all on the top of my cabinets. I like the uniform look of it, and it gives it a place to live without crowding the cabinets up or cluttering my china hutch.
Thanks for posing this question! This is something I’ve wondered about for a long time. I have blank space above my cabinets and have been playing around with it since we moved in to find something to put up there.
For my own home, I didn’t want a “themed” kitchen so I put some general decorating items, which are not kitchen-specific, above the cabinets. It’s sort of a mish-mosh but it’s the best I could come up with. I have some black wooden candle holders, a couple of vases, a mosaic fish my father made, an owl sculpture, and a glass chicken. I never realized how random all of the items were until I just listed them!
I would appreciate any suggestions as to what to put on top of my cabinets. We are currently in the process of updating the kitchen. Here’s what the kitchen looked like mid-update after we put new counter-tops in: http://www.diynewlyweds.com/2010/01/installing-granite-countertops-kitchen.html
I agree on the greenery.. Yuck. I don’t have space to do any top of cabinet decorating so I am happy about not having to make that decision. A friend collect pitchers and she has a collection of the on top of one side of her kitchen cabinets and it looks lovely. SO I would say a collection of something kitcheny would be good.
I was scared to death when I first saw my kitchen with the lighted shadow box frames at the top. The builder was so pleased with himself that he had included these, but they made me panicky until I finally figured out something both pretty and affordable to put in them. Since I know you’re dying to see what I did with them, I’ll give you this link: http://impartinggrace-richella.blogspot.com/2009/10/diy-decorating.html
If I had open space, I might have some plates or serving trays on display. But I think just plain soffits are nice. If you’ve chosen a wall color that makes your cupboards pop, then the soffit is a good thing–kind of a frame for your cabinets.
I was very interested in what you were going to say about decorating over the cabinets. I do have crocks and a few antiques on mine. However, I did find it ironic that you would make fun of folks for putting up greenery when your bulkhead is actually worse. At least these people could change it up…you are stuck.
Please, be kind to the folks that are just trying…..
diannatha, was I unkind? I certainly didn’t mean to be, I clearly stated that it was my pet peeve and if they loved it they should by all means keep it.
If I had no opinions I’d have a blog full of nothing, no words at all~you wouldn’t want that would you? If you have greenery and love it–keep it!
I lauged when I read this post- I definitely have the greenery on top of my cabinets, because someone told me to put it there years ago (and I didn’t know any better – I’m an accountant with no creative skills, after all)! That’s why I love your site – I need the help!! Now that I look at my kitchen, it looks pretty terrible. I’m loving all of these ideas – please keep them coming. p.s. I didn’t think you were unkind at all!
I can finally decorate above my cabinets and I’m going all out, and I love it, since I have no other surface in my home to decorate! But yes, fake greenery like that other photo slays me.
Hate the green! Kind of makes you wonder if there isn’t some mystical land of gnomes living above those cabinets! yikes!
I’m SO glad I don’t have this worry! My super tall cabinets go up to the ceiling…maybe you should consider mounting plates along the soffit and some matching pottery over the other side???
Oh nester, I have wanted to ask you that question myself! I always wondered why you had not posted on that subject. My cabs are bare above and I’m okay with that. I actually think it gives a more clean look. I have a girlfriend that has TONS of stuff above hers and it drives me crazy. She is always asking what I’m going to put above mine and when. I kept telling her as soon as I knew what you had I would probably copy. She laughed, since I always love what you do and find that I’m always copying. Let me tell you, the mistreatments alone has changed my life in ways I would have never imagined! Thanks for all that you do.
We built our house when we were very young (20), and I had no idea that you could get cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling! We put in soffits, that to me, are just wasted space. Now that I am older, I look at that space and imagine it with my holiday dishes ~ ones that you don’t mind getting a step stool out to take out and put away. When we finished our basement, we put in up-to-the-ceiling cabinets and I LOVE THEM.
I have really tall ceilings in my kitchen so I HAVE to decorate the tops of my cabinets and have played around with different things. I like some of my polish pottery up there and baskets, not too much just a few. I did take down the fake ivy because of you though–thanks for that!!! :) That was a bad idea but everyone else was doing it–but would anyone have real ivy growing around your ceiling?? so why have fake?
Actually, I thought of growing real ivy up my bed posts before- ha. That was a few years ago, though. Now I’d be scared bugs and spiders would reside in it! haha
Our cabinets go all the way to the ceiling. But I do have a bookcase in our kitchen (for extra pantry storage) and an armoire (also for storage), that have various baskets on top. To think of it, I also have baskets on top of our fridge and on top of my little china cabinet. I have a lot of baskets :)
Mary Ellen
I prefer the “no junk above the cabinets” look (esp. greenery!!), but I have serving pieces above mine simply because I have nowhere else to keep them! :s
My kitchen walls are pale yellow above the white chair rail, with white cabinets. On one side of the kitchen, I have all white stuff–soup tureen, tea tray platter thingie, two pitchers, and a creamer/sugar set. I think they stand out okay against the yellow walls On the other side of the kitchen, it’s all my glass stuff: cake dome, trifle bowl, compote, etc.
It’s not too crazy cluttered looking b/c everything is spaced out, and I wish to heaven that I didn’t have to “store” stuff up there, but I do. No more cabinet/closet space in this old house, and I like to have my trifle bowl for when I entertain. Otherwise it would just would just be a bunch of brownies and pudding in a mixing bowl or something. Ew.
This is a dilemma….
Standard for me is nothing on top of the cabinets. I have a deep-seeded fear of clutter!
Nester, I must be hardcore, I change out ALL of my over the cabs decor SEASONALLY! I think this can be explained by two things, 1) I have way too much stuff and 2) with 2 toddler boys it’s one of the few flat places they can’t reach! I try to tell all of my family that I change everything around so much to give the boys new things to look at but who am I kidding? I am going to take down my winter decor this weekend. I have been collecting vintage blue ball jars for a while and want to try them up there next along with some spring/Easter stuff. I probably need an intervention.
I don’t want to intervine you–I want an invitation to come see it!
I don’t have anything on my soffits because I resent their existence. :) I’m hoping if I ignore them, they’ll just go away.
I linked to photos of my kitchen cabinet decor. It might be hard to see in the first photo, but I have antique covered glass cake plates on top of the main cabinets (I’ve added a couple more since I wrote that post). And on another set of cabinets I have three large vintage picnic baskets. These were great for hiding my crappy painting job! And they blend in well with the cabinets.
I like the idea of something simple on top of cabinets. And it has to be something that fills the space from top to bottom. Large ironstone platters, bowls or pitchers are my personal favorite, but they can be hard to come by. If you put something too small up there, then it looks like clutter.
We don’t have soffits in our apartment however we did in the house I grew up in. My mom had a collection of plates that lined the soffit and it looked great. I have also seen people put a vinyl verse on a soffit and I like that too! Now we have our nativity above our cabinets because it’s the only place it fits in our tiny apartment but I love it.
i use mine for storage in my tiny kitchen – not pretty, but necessary. My mom has two baskety urns on either side of the cathedral ceiling and nothing else. Simple and perfect.
Nester, I agree with the cabinet top decor! I have a serious love hate relationship with it. Our molding is tall so I have to lift things up to see them, but not tall enough to stand on it’s own. It either looks empty or crazy. I think it does look better {if you just have to put something up there} to do little clusters like focal points instead of dragging it all out, unless it’s a uniform collection like your top picture.
Also, I am laughing because I have several of the items you listed on ebay. Is that good or bad?
My cabinets go all the way to the ceiling – darn it!
I prefer no junk too, but felt that my kitchen with it’s all white cabinets and yellow walls needed a little something over the cabinets, so I found a set of three iron pigs! They are black with cute curly tails and the largest is about 2 1/2 x 3 feet and they descend in size.
I really love their simple, whimsical design!
I say hand paint something really pretty up there…or have a professional do it…either way.
I have “stuff” up there but it’s generall antique-ish stuff like my grandmother’s old stand up mixer and pieces of pottery that I cherish but would never want to use for fear of breaking them!
I struggle with what to put ON the counters!!! I am a HORRIBLE accessorizes. I hate having things out just to have a decoration — I want them to be practical….but still beautiful… AND serve a purpose! UGH!
Don’t even get me STARTED on my mantles (I have two in serious need of help!)
nester, your soffits are NICE and BIG…
i haven’t read all the comments above (cause, seriously? you are toooo popular for me to keep up with all the chit chat!) so I don’t know if anyone has linked to this yet, but have you seen:
http://olderandwisor.blogspot.com/2010/01/kitchen-soffits-and-other-crimes.html
she made her soffits so pretty with bead board paneling and some trim!
but… you are renting, so hey, maybe somebody else will feel like giving their soffits a kick.
Stop. The. World.
I never saw that post and it it life changing!
Attention world, PLEASE click on the above post and tell your family, friends, neighbors, mail man, and everyone you come in contact with to read it.
UH-MAZING! Why don’t all kitchen soffits come like this. Our galley kitchen has MAYBE 3 feet of normal height ceiling and huge soffits protruding from the cabinets of our already narrow kitchen. The silver lining: your kitchen seems pretty roomy, even with the soffits!
I have to giggle! I JUST asked you this, and within 24 hours you are talking about it. What power I wield! :-) And, you wrote me two emails within 10 minutes of me asking you! THANKS!!! You are awesome!
We are in the process of redoing our kitchen right now. I just put a few things back up. Many old kitchen items-mixer, scale, enamelware coffee pot, aluminum bread box, etc. Took a ton of stuff down. Wanted a “cleaner” look. Funny that you posted about this problem (if you can call it that)…I was searching all over blogland to get ideas of simple decor for above the kitchen cabinets! Will be interested in your discoveries!
Thanks for sharing,
Jody
Oh, thank you. We moved last year and have the cabinets with just a small space above them…maybe about a foot. What FITS there? I have it bare, but sometimes I look and think I’m not trying hard enough. Funny thing is, every time my *dad* visits, he mentions how good the kitchen would look with some “stuff” up there.
You’ve made me breathe a sigh of relief. I trust you. :)
At my beach house I had open space and I put LARGE items like wooden dough bowls…iron pieces…fish basket…square baskets. I don’t like a lot of items…looks sooooo cluttered! Come by and check out my CASH GIVEAWAY…I think you will like it:)
Blessings,
Linda
You have GREAT THOUGHTS Nester girl-keep up the great work and ideas. I love hearing your opinions on decorating and you always give me lots of ideas to think about.
My home is a much nicer, warm, colorful place since I found your blog. You are a true blessing in the blog world.
with 92 (and counting!) comments I hope some of you take the time to read this because you are gonna just LOVE my tip for helping with the dust problem “up there”! But here is the best tip ever – - – Ladies, ladies, ladies! – - – line the tops of your cabs with a long length of paper towels before you put your stuff up there! When it gets disgusting you just roll it up, throw it away and lay down a fresh batch! Then you might just have to clean around ther edges here and there. And when you move it will looking wonderful up there for the new homeowner who will then tell your old neighbors how clean your house was! As far as decorating – you are on your own – I have a huge silk ivy centered over my oven/mirco and smaller vignettes one on each side of the ivy- 2 or 3 decorative pitchers, urns, etc.) Not too much- just a little something. Less is more!
Joanne B.
Oh my gosh, you mean we are supposed to dust up there?!
I have a small kitchen and was lacking in storage space, so I just recently had my sofits taken out. I now use that space to store/display all of my white serving bowls and dishes that I have collected over the years. Only problem is every time I want to use one of the dishes (which is often) I have to jump up on my countertop while no one is looking!
I’m not a big fan of lots of junk on top of the cabinets, either. REALLY don’t like the fake ivy up there. If I had a nice collection of simple white serving bowls or pitchers, I would put them up there. But not too many, just a few. Last year, I saw a photo in Better Homes and Gardens where someone had put a couple large barn stars in the corners above there cabinets. I thought it was a good idea, so that’s what I have above my cabinets. 4 barn stars. I really like the look. It adds some decoration above the cabs, without looking too cluttered. But if I do get myself that nice collection of white bowls or pitchers someday, those stars are coming down, and the bowls are going up! :)
I have a soffit above my cabinets too (although my doesn’t protrude as far out as yours :)) and I absolutely hate it!! I have been trying to persuade my husband that we need to just gut our kitchen and hopefully, that will happen…with no soffits!!!
I hate stuff above a cabinet, and would never buy something to stick up there for no reason– but when we moved in our house I was unpacking my multiple tea and coffee pots (it is a problem) and stuck them up above my cabinets just to have a place for them for the moment. I forget about them until a friend was over and she loved it! I get TONS of complements any time we have people over- they are a mix of patterns colors and ages – and now they aren’t stashed under my bed. I can easily pull them down and use them and can wash most of them in the dishwasher so they really don’t get excessively dusty. I think anything pretty that you use once every so often can be stashed up there and “accidentally” turn out to be really amazing without decorating just because it is a surface!
I can’t imagine why someone put those soffits there either! (Maybe ductwork???) But I say make them work for you. They are the perfect location for halogen spotlights shining down on your countertop! Since it’s lower (not ceiling height), you can have the lights closer to the wall without casting a shadow of the cabinets. Lemonade out of lemons!
Since I am in the middle of a kitchen remodel, the top of the cabinets have been a hot topic with the hubs and me. To compromise, we are taking the cabinets up to the ceiling so there will be no over the cabinets. Problem solved. As far as soffits, no idea what you can do. I did see a cool soffit makeover with beadboard over at Kimba’s about a month ago. :)
I have several teapots atop mine. I collect them. I know…I’m an even bigger nerd than you already suspected! LOL!
I like to put old books up there. Books always seem cozy to me.
I normally paint my cabinets , actually I only like painted cabinets , so I treat the bulkhead or soffits the same as my cabinets so it all appears to be one , but that is one deep soffit , I actually would try and take that back to the depth of the cabinets and I would add a big crown at the top and paint the cabinets a color or white , that is what I would do . I don’t suppose you are allowed to paint???
I would do nothing with the top of the cabinets in the corner , nothing is sometimes better , I would put big pretty brackets on the bottom of those cabinets .
I’m sorry you have weird soffits. Do they maybe hid ventilation shafts for the a/c or pipes? Could be why they’re so big and weird and not on the other side (though really, they could have made them cohesive). If it were me, I’d get some cheap moulding and tack it up there to make it look pretty. Or you could use moulding to make little frames (like wainscoting) on the soffit and hang pics or plates inside them.
I happened to be perusing a blog a while ago and came across this post. http://musingsfromafrenchcottage.blogspot.com/2010/02/grain-sack-table-runner-and-chair.html
If you scroll to the bottom of the post you’ll see an excellent example of above cabinet decorating.
Want me to email you what my girlfriend did on top of my cabs? I think it is marvelous!!!!!!!! Ferns, pictures, urns, platters….
Maybe it’s ugly and I just don’t know. Ha! I think you’d approve!
I cheat…mine has some great molding, so I hide my silver serving ware that is in the velvet lined boxes up there, along with some large rolls of butcher paper for the girls to draw on. You can’t see it, I can reach it when needed and it’s extra space for things that don’t have a home
We have a great room combined kitchen, dining and living..I do like having decor on top of my cabinets, but right now I have too much..we are still unpacking boxes and so we just STUCK stuff up there…its real ugly…what I am thinking is we need to paint so I might paint the wall up there and that might make a good soft background for the roosters I collect..I think I will put my roosters and a few tins up there and that will be it.
Glad to see you covered this topic . . . I’m still not satisfied with above mine, actually kinda wish I had soffits, lol, are we ever really satisfied, lol?
Thank you for helping me to understand what a soffit is.
The house we used to live in had vaulted cielings in the kitchen and over the cabinets was a skinny, long shelf. I loved it but never got it right. I changed it a thousand times.
In this house I have something similar to you. I got two decorative curtain rods and hung linens from them. I think it looks really cute.
Hi! I’m thrilled that you are advocating clean space above cabinets!! You must have duct work above your cabinets, so the thing above is functional and not much you can do about that. But no big deal. It is better than fake greenery. So many new homes have “designer” stuff above their kitchen cabinets and it often includes greenery, upside down crates and ceramics. It’s not so pretty. I think clean country, sleek modern, understated European, are all better options. Then cook something!! That’s what really makes a kitchen.
I”m sorry to post twice, but I was googling …..
http://images.google.com/images?q=how+to+decorate+above+kitchen+cabinets&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=cUSHS7noGNGXtgfssrSyDw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CB4QsAQwAw
Ok, since you rent I’m assuming you don’t want to sink a bunch of time or $ into doing something major. Oh wait…that’s me since I rent that is how I feel about big projects;) Anyways, what if you covered foam core board with fabric or paper and covered the front of the soffits? Or distress some beadboard and cover the front of the soffits with them? Or frame out some vintage looking chicken wire (the circluar kind…KWIM?) and make “panels” and hang them on the soffits? I dunno…it’s kinda hard since I don’t know what the rest of your kitchen looks like but those are suggestions I can come up with off the top of my ‘lil old head.
I’m thinking that the chicken wire things may hold some possiblities in my crazy kitchen….
This sure got everybody fired up!! I had above the cabinet space in our last home and filled it with a collection and never loved it…when we staged the house I took it all down and loved it for a day or two…then felt bored!
Now, I inherited a worse problem and believe me it takes humility to show you this!!!
I have not painted walls or cabinets yet cuz I’m not sure where I’m headed. I am red/white vintage kitchen junk fanatic, so the color scheme must stay but I would like to infuse some yellow or green or something…but now I’m way off track!
I have molding that’s a couple of inches wide all around, but it doesn’t sit at the top of the cabinet. It was someone’s answer to the empty space. The neighbor tells me the first lady had plates and the next lady had the infamous greenery…which was not an option for me either!!
Here it is http://www.dirtyhands-beautifullife.blogspot.com
Let’s see what this nester crowd’s got!
(oh…it’s at the bottom and if you click the pic it will bring you right back here so that the world will know it’s a cry for help!)
I live in a 100 yr old house, and the cabinets go all the way to the ceiling. Problem solved! :) (Although, I do have to use a step stool to get things from the top two shelves, even though I am 5’5”).
I WAS inspired to take all the cabinet doors off last fall. So now it more resembles your top photo, shelves all the way up.
i’m no help. my above cupboards are bare. i’m a minimalist (read: lazy) at heart so i have to absolutely adore something to go to much work to put something where no one may ever notice.
HOWEVER, one of the comments gave me an idea. what about getting glass vases of various sizes and filling them with colorful things? i was thinking fake lemons and limes. at least that was the idea i got for my kitchen…
Hard call…but I wanted something on mine…..took me about three days to get it looking like i like it……here’s a link:
http://southernlivingatitsbest.blogspot.com/2008/11/peek-at-top-of-cabinets.html
for context:
http://southernlivingatitsbest.blogspot.com/2008/11/peek-at-granite-and-backsplash.html
Suzanne
Well here goes one more post. Years ago when I had soffits in my kitchen, I began collecting ceramic molds and displaying them on the soffits. I love my mold collection and gained quite a few unusual ones, some quite old. Several moves later, my kitchen has 8 ft. ceilings and a much smaller space above the cabinets. I had to pare down my mold collection as display space was limited but I still have my favorites up there. THey hold memories for me as some were given to me by my now deceased mother. Molds are not something you see in kitchens every day either. I love them!
I actually put a lot less above my cabinets than in the past. My last kitchen I had only baskets and they were “thrown” up there ever so creatively. So they looked like a big pile. I saw a photo that made me think people had just tossed their baskets up when they were finished using them. I thought it looked cool. They were big chunky, nubby baskets. Now I have only a couple of spots of “horrors” fake greenery along with baskets and silverplate pieces. I think it looks very pretty. You can see a glimpse in this post,
http://elderberrystreet.blogspot.com/2009/02/topping-it-off.html
When I saw the beadboard work on OlderandWisor, it reminded of something Rhoda, from Southern Hospitality, did with her kitchen cabinets.
She used beadboard wallpaper.
http://southernhospitalityblog.com/beadboard-wallpaper-project/
I meant to add that I have the same problem with my big soffits, and have always been at a loss as to what to do with them. I’m thinking of painting the cabinets and then perhaps use OldandWisor or Southern Hospitality’s beadboard technique. We shall see!
Ugh, I am having this same problem! Did you read my mind? I had stuff on our cabinets for a few years. I thought it was too busy so I took it down. Then I thought it looks so bare up there because we have really tall ceilings and it was such a big gap. I just posted on my blog a couple days ago about how I added some dishes and stuff on top, but I’m still tweaking the arrangement:
http://delightfuldwelling.blogspot.com/2010/02/decorating-cabinet-tops.html
I would love to paint my cabinets and add some huge and beautiful crown molding over the cabinets. And maybe even build in some smaller cabinets on top of the current ones. However, we might be moving so for right now I have to leave the cabinets as is until we figure out if we are staying or moving.
You inspired me to post about my decorating above my cabinets!! I use a mix of vintage enamelware, soda crates, etc. Just another little detail to look at in the cottage!! Thanks for your inspiration!!
http://northerncottage.blogspot.com/2010/02/above-cabinets-or-not.html
My favorite above-cabinet decorating that I’ve seen is whenever someone who collects pretty colored glass (like blue, red, or green) and they strategically and elegantly display them above their cabinets. Its something that adds a pop of color. Its a way to show off a unique collection without having it somewhere it can get knocked over by kids or pets. However, I think probably perhaps the easiest thing to do for your cabinets in particular would be to choose a fun quote that means something to your family or a kitchen-themed quote and stencil or use one of those rub-on-decal-thingys (I honestly cannot think of the name now…) and wrap it around your kitchen.
With a tiny galley kitchen that has massive soffits, would you suggest painting the soffits the wall color or the color of the ceiling? I don’t know which would give the disappearing affect (we also have low 1950s ceilings!). I’m a huge fan of the paper towel dusting solution for above the counter space… I will tell my MIL about that.
I have soffits in my kitchen. I don’t care for “themey” kitchens (shudders), but when we moved into our house, I didn’t know what to do. I left them blank for a while, and slowly started buying unique and interesting dinner plates in greens, browns, and whites. (No Corel!) Finally I had enough! I bought cheapo plate hangers and hung up my plates on the soffits. Each plate is unique. I painted Psalm 147:14 on the space over the kitchen sink. I love it! Makes me smile every time I walk into my kitchen.
My cabinets have the world’s deepest crown moulding on top, so I’m at a total loss how to decorate up there. Right now, I’ve hidden several flat-ish things, like the lefse griddle my MIL gave us for Christmas one year (Swedish family = must have a lefse griddle) and a few, rarely-used platters. I’d love to put something cute and decorative up there, but it would get half submerged by the crown, so it stays plain (and very dusty!) up there.
In my last kitchen, we had the soffits with the world’s least functional plate rail on them. It was too close to the ceiling to hold actual plates (even salad plates), so I ended up doing the grapevine with fake grapes hanging off of it thing. It wasn’t exactly my ultimate vision for my kitchen, but you work with what you have, right?
Girl, you hit the nail on the head.
I have NEVER understood the love affair with all that above-cabinet space. Seriously.
When we reno’d our old house kitchen (it’s about the size of a postage stamp, give or take) we actually stacked shorter top cabinets above regulation cabinets to create a double-height that runs all the way to the ceiling. Add some crown molding and Done!
Best job ever because it provides closed storage for infrequently used items and people always rave about our “old fashioned” cabinets. (that are actually cheapo Lowe’s in-stock cabinetry).
I’ve seen people do amazing things with old tins, signs, etc. above their cabinets but that requires an ongoing commitment to nearly continuous dusting and de-greasing that is simply beyond my capacity.
Good luck with your “upper areas.”
(P.S. ITA with you on the greenery).
Here’s a couple shots of part of our over cabinet areas…
HERE
And Here
I have had them eclectic like this for almost 5 years now…I am thinking it’s time to change it up? I just am not sure how….ideas? I don’t hate it yet but it has been a while!!
Ooops, sorry I didn’t link it right.. HERE is the other one
Hi Nester! I just posted my space above my cabinets after reading this. I used to have A LOT up there, then nothing. I think it’s JUST right now, lol. I know what you m ean though, the fake greenery is yucko! I don’t have a lot of “display” space in my kitchen. And I tend to like my counters for “working” even though I do have a few decorative items on mine.
Here they are! :) http://wwwthethriftygypsy.blogspot.com/2010/03/decorating-above-cabinets.html
Kristi
It seems if you decorate above your kitchen cabs it’s either really good or really bad – there’s no middle ground. Unfortunately, I have kitchen cabs that look kind of naked without anything on top of them. I think what works best are small vignettes of things you’d normally find in a kitchen, a pitcher, platter, bowl combo for instance.
I’m trying to figure out a way to build covered storage over my cabinets because I’d prefer to have them go up to the ceiling without ripping down the current cabinets.
I have the same huge soffits. When we bought the house there was some very busy stenciling up there that I hated for about 5 years before getting around to painting over it. I pained the room a very light gold (called Belgian Waffle) and the soffits brown. I have 4 plates hanging up there (2 on the long wall; 1 on each short wall) that were made for me by a professional potter. I love how it looks now.
That is so funny! I just discovered your website a few days ago.. love it, by the way. I have the ugly ivy above my cabinets. I never really saw it as ugly but I did question why it made sense for ivy to grow out the top of cabinets. Now after reading all these posts, I most definitely want to change it! I did see in a friends home that she had one of those wooden signs with her last name and Established in.. above her cabinets. It looked really classy. I am not sure what else you would put up there in addition to that.
We have crown molding and then blank space. At one point (hanging my head) I did succumb to some of the fake greenery. I did dump it, then tried baskets, wooden letters that said Cucina, tried some ceramics-NOTHING but nothing looked right. The scale is just off. Bare is best.
I am currently in the dilemna of what to do with my cabinets. I had my crystal cups & bowls (that I never intend on using but feel guilty about getting rid of) up there for a while, but it was much too formal for me. Right now, my cabinet tops are bare. I will figure something out one of these days.
My mother has a solution for me. “Why don’t you just get a bunch of ivy to put up there?” *shudder*
I have a cottage with a loft that over looks my kitchen and would like some ideas of what to put on top of my cabinets that are seen from the loft. I want something that covers the whole area so that the bare tops of cabinets are not showing.
That’s a pretty cool predicament! Have you considered some shelf paper (or wrapping paper, on the cheap)? That could be fun and unexpected. Even storing flat platters (that wouldn’t necessarily be visible from below) could be a nice way to show those off from a different angle (I’m always bummed that the only place I have for my cool serving ware is inside of cabinets).
I never put anything up there…I guess every situation is different. I go with the phrase…when in doubt do without :)