Email Answer: Cabinet Conundrum?
Q: I love your blog and would love some advice. We’re saving up for a full kitchen remodel, but want to make the best of it in the meantime. Our current kitchen cabinets are “builder standard” and there are about 18 inches between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling. At some point we’d love to have extra tall cabinets that extend all the way to the ceiling, but right now we’ve just got a giant space up there to deal with. I’ve tried to “decorate” that area by displaying some nice serving pieces, fun ceramics, vases filled with lemons and limes, etc. However, I don’t want it to look like overflow storage. What would you suggest doing in that “dead space” above the cabinets? Leave it empty? Decor it up? Help! Thanks so much. – Jennifer
A: There’s really no right answer to this question since it’s all about personal preference, but we like the idea of “grouping like objects” (you know, things that are similar in texture, color, material, etc) which can look less chaotic and more balanced and unified. We always love a grouping of textural woven baskets along the top of the cabinets to keep things looking consistent and extra charming (like these examples from Domino and House & Home):
Of course some people prefer to keep things totally bare up there (like this kitch from Coastal Living). It would be easier to dust, but again it’s your call. And if you’re in the mood for extra credit, adding some chunky decorative molding along the top of your cabinets is another way to make them feel polished and lovely just the way they are. Oh and adding some above-cabinet lighting can also introduce a ton of ambiance (you may even be able to plug a strand of white string lights in behind your fridge and drill a small hole to feed them through the upper cabinet to create a super affordable glow up there).
There are a lot of eye-pleasing solutions, so just displaying a collection of simple platters and plates can do the trick (like these from Cottage Living):
Or blue and yellow glass accents (like these from Sunset Magazine) might be the perfect thing to polish off the tops of your cabs (just picture them above solid cabinets instead of inside glass ones)…
A collection of white ceramic pitchers or similarly colored pottery would look nice- since it has the tone and the material in common (like this example from Cottage Living)…
… and these two spaces from Country Living continue that idea (just picture these objects above closed upper cabinets instead of displayed on open shelves):
So our suggestion would just be to figure out what you love and try to amass a nice collection of that item (whether it’s sunny yellow Fiestaware or an affordable collection of 40% off baskets from Michael’s (which can also double as concealed storage for other objects that don’t look as good when they’re out in the open). And our other tip would be to ensure that the objects aren’t too petite since that’s the fastest way to make them read as “clutter” instead of proportionate and balanced accents. So when in doubt, go with fewer larger items up there instead of a million little ones.
Oh and we’ve actually seen people remove their upper cabinets and rehang them at ceiling height to eliminate that space above them and then they just install a nice open shelf below them for charming exposed storage. So that’s another more creative and hands on option for you that’s still relatively cost effective (check out more details about this amazing Cottage Living kitchen makeover right here).
So that’s our take on the top-of-cabinet conundrum. What do you guys prefer when it comes to accessorizing the top of yours? Share and share alike.
Psst- Wanna know how to paint your cabinets? Check out that step by step tutorial right here. And for a bunch of other decorating tips and tricks check out our How To page and scroll down to the “Decorating Lessons” category for tons of ideas and advice.
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I have a similar situation above my cabinets, though maybe my area is taller. I keep serving platters tilted up on end so that they are like displayed art and pottery serving pieces that are too large and or delicate to be anywhere else. I disagree that they all have to be the same tone etc unless that is your thing. Mine are just an amassed collection over time. I agreee that scale is important and certainly not making jamming too many things in there…
We have low ceilings in our home, about 4″ shorter then normal. This is fine for us because we are both about 5’5″. We could have hung our cabinets at the ceiling but being so short I wanted to be able to reach the shelves without a stool everytime. So we hung them whatever the standard was above the countertops and then had about 7″ of space leftover at the top. I worked with my Dad and used an idea I saw on Ikeafans and we built custom wine cubbies to go over one side of the kitchen and we are working on plain storage boxes for the other side. After finishing them off with trim moulding they look great and it really completes our kitchen! If we had higher ceilings I probably would have gone with the taller cabinets.
I have 2 glass containers I guess I would call them with a wood Bistro sign in the middle. Then over my frig I have a large vase the same color as the 2 glass contianers & a woven vase of tall grass next to it. I like the look. We have tall cabinets, plus a catherdal ceiling, so I needed to fill in space to make the kitchen feel warmer in style. You can see some pictures here of my kitchen. http://www.lifamilies.com/community/album/?ID=5687
Thanks for the link Jen Z. Your kitchen is looking great!
xo,
s
I like both – sometimes I prefer nothing on top. I think it just depends on the coloe scheme and what exactly is going on top.
Not sure if it was on purpose or not, but did you notice all of your kitchen pics were of white cabinets? Can you do similar things with cherry cabiinets? Or would having brown baskets on top look too dark?
We don’t currently have anything on our cabinets but it’s on the ever growing “to do” list. One thing we would love to do is somehow have lighting on top of our cabinets. Do you have any suggestions for putting that up? Maybe use string lights somehow? Thanks
Hey Jennifer,
We did notice that! The funny thing is that I went out of my way to try to find some darker toned cabinets with a space on top of them but all of those images featured ceiling height cabinets (perhaps because they’re pricey and new so no one left a space on top of them, whereas white cabinets may be repainted older cabinets with the space above them that still has to be addressed). You can definitely do everything that we suggested in our post with cherry or dark wood cabinets (and if you fear brown baskets would be too dark, lighter wheat colored ones like the second basket image would still look great). And as for lighting on top of your cabinets, string lighting or that similar tube lighting (where the lights are encased in plastic tubing) would definitely be cost effective solutions (you’d just have to figure out how to get them up there while obscuring the cord- maybe get an outlet installed up top for around $100?). Good luck!
xo,
s
I love the last one with the cabinets moved up and the shelf underneath. We have very little counter space and it would be awesome to have that frequently used stuff off the counter, without it being tucked away in a cabinet.
I was just going to note that, Jennifer F! It seems like all we are seeing right now is white cabinets. Is there still room for wood? (Admittedly, I have THOSE EXACT maple cabinets from the Urban Grace post “before”) :) And while I hate the kitchen right now for the RED countertops and mixed appliances, I’ve been hoping to embark on a re-do that makes the most of the maple cabinets..any ideas??? Thanks!
I like things on top only if you can avoid the cluttered, “stuff is about to fall on my head” feeling. In my own kitchen, I’ve kept that space bare. It’s a small space and I want to avoid overwhelming it with stuff. The pictures above that work best are the ones with the large platters and the one with the very organized baskets. I think it’s the scale of the items–large is good in this case (as you pointed out, small items will quickly make the space feel cluttered).
Just move your cabinets up–DUH!! This is why I love you guys. I’ve been trying to think of a way to open up my galley kitchen for six months or so. I painted my cabs white but was still puzzled over how to handle the 12″ gap between the uppers and the ceiling. This makes total sense! Thanks Youngsters!
We have the same thing: builder grade oak cabinets, about 12-18″ above them. I did have some baskets and glass vases up there, but the cabinets actually had a 2″ lip on them, so everything sunk down a little bit and looked funny.
This past winter, I talked my husband into adding some trim around the top of the cabinets (I took him to Lowe’s and pointed it out in their kitchen section…he didn’t get what I meant when I explained it). It took some patience, but we got the trim up and it looks fabulous. Much more finished and less builder-grade.
In the meantime, the area above the cabinets was cleared out so we could install the molding, and I have to say, it looks soooo much better empty. I’d love to use it as storage for platters and some cool pottery pieces I picked up on our honeymoon in Italy, but it just isn’t a tall enough area.
Maybe, if your kitchen allows, you could paint the wall up there a different color, just to do something with the space if you think it looks bad empty. Just a thought.
B
I must say that I just love the look of the shelf below the raised cabinets. However, I’m 6’2″ and Mom and Mommom are not, so I can’t have them struggling to reach the cabinets. I raised my cabinets in my kitchen and then lowered them some, because I thought that I had moved them too high, but they are still above average, otherwise the microwave hood sits right on the stove which is not good for me. Anyway, I had to tear out the soffet above the cabinets to do it, which makes the room feel much bigger. I think you can put whatever you want up there, but leave some room for it to breath so you still get that high ceiling feeling above the cabinets. One tip I would give is that I use something like a clear plastic flower pot liner turned upside down to raise any item I display above the edge of the cabinet. If you want lights and you have a range hood, you can tap into that electric, it’s normally in the cabinet, just drill down to it.
J&S your bedroom mirror made AT yesterday, they love you guys.
DE – J
Thanks for the heads up Jason. We didn’t even know! Off to check it out…
xo,
s
I agree with Sherry about grouping objects – stuff of similar color, seems to work best – and if you have a dark stain, just use something lighter (whites beiges, etc)
Honestly, we HAD to use the space above our cabinets for storage space. My husband and I got married less than a year ago and have been living in an apartment, so there’s no ripping out the cabinets and hanging them higher for us! We don’t actually have that much storage space, so we’ve had to store/display some of our cookware up there. It’s honestly not too bad–like Sherry said, they are larger items like cast iron dutch ovens and big pitchers so that it doesn’t look like a bunch of knick-nacks on top of our shelves.
I prefer to leave the space between my cabinets and ceiling bare. For me, its a clutter issue as the items I have on hand to store would end up looking more cluttered than decorative. I think though its definitely a personal preference and its worth just playing around it. Trying something above the cabinets, leave for a few days and see hwo you feel. Or leave the area bare and see how you feel a few days after that. Sometimes when you live with a new decor idea for a few ideas you get a better idea of if it works or not.
two additional thoughts – my Mom or Grandmother neither one have used my kitchen yet other than to stand in when they came over, so maybe one should do what they want with cabinet height…lol
2nd if anyone wants to move their cabinents and you have a range hood – remember your vent may be in the roof or the wall, if it’s in the wall you have to figure out changing that on the outside of the house.
I also am a huge fan or re-hanging the cabinets higher and adding open shelving underneath. I also really like the big bulky baskets on top. I would probably try to find something with a lid so that I could use them for storage without worrying about all of the dust. (Why does it get so stinking dusty up there, anyway?)
A couple Christmas ago I asked my mom to decorate that part of my house as my gift; She’s great with that stuff and I can never get it quite right. She used different vases platters and wine racks to make it all look great. I think she just went to TJ Maxx and made everything coordinate. She also {with permission from my husband and I} drilled a hole that went from the top of the cabinets through the bottom right above the fridge. She used small christmas lights and it plugs in right behind our fride. You can’t actually see the lights themselves, but it has a beautiful glow {esp. at night!}.
What a simple and fabulous top-of-cabinet lighting solution Lori! Thanks so much for sharing.
xo,
s
We have a few large bowls and vases stored on top of our cabinets, but we also use that space for something a bit unconventional: stereo speakers! My musician husband placed a few good quality speakers up there and ran the speaker wire through a small hole in the kitchen wall to the living room stereo. I wasn’t too excited about the idea at first, but I have to admit, it doesn’t look bad and it’s really nice to have a good music setup in the kitchen without it taking up any counter space.
I love the idea of moving the cabinets up and adding open shelving! You youngsters are so smart.
As another temporary solution, I’ve also seen adding wood and molding to the top of the cabinets to make them seem taller. It doesn’t add storage, but it is surprisingly effective. Layla and Kevin did this on The Lettered Cottage blog, so you could check out their kitchen remodel for an example.
Probably the simplest solution of all is to paint the kitchen a great color, keep it nice and clean, and let the color do the work for you.
Oh yeah, we love the look of some substantial molding installed above your cabs to take them from basic builder to customized and lovely. And we also love Layla and Kevin’s kitchen. They’re busy little bees over there!
xo,
s
I know most modern day kitchen makeovers tend to include getting rid of above cabinetry space, but I totally agree with you guys. It can really add a great element to any kitchen! Another option that I love is adding above cabinetry lighting in order to highlight any accessories, pottery, etc. It can really lighten up a space and add a sense of uniqueness to any kitchen space :)
What’s your opinion on lighting above cabinetry?
Hey Laura,
We agree that lighting up there can be very ambient and lovely indeed. In fact scroll up for a reader submitted idea for cheap and simple above-cabinet lighting. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
You think those shelves are the floating shelves like you used in your dining room?
Hey Jason,
It’s definitely a possibility! Ours are from Ikea although we’re not sure if they had their shelves built or used off-the-rack Ikea ones to create that awesome kitchen ledge.
xo,
s
I like the simplicity of the cottage living with the plates and platters.
great post!
Great post! My mother in law lives in Florida and uses the space above her white cabinets to display a few large colorful wooden fish (she got them at Pier 1 Imports, not sure if they sell them anymore). It looks very nice and they’re each perched on a stand so the added height makes it easy to see them over the cabinet molding.
I know this is not helpful at all, but this post reiterated how much I still miss Cottage Living!
HEY there YHL…
Ahhhhhh…we literally JUST went through this dilemma over here at CasaCullen!
I just had to give a shout-out to something we did with that annoying/above the cabinet/in-between space. I think it fits into ANY budget, adds a touch of personalization and creativity and truly looks really good too!
We didn’t have a ton to spend so for $85 we enlarged and framed 9 black and white images of some of our FAVE moments so far in our marriage!
You can see pictures of this project and a tutorial at the link below. I really think it’s a great ‘in-between’ decor idea while we decide if we want to purchase new cabinetry, add non-builders trim to the rim or even start a collection of some sort (globes, glass jars, etc! Enjoy and cheers! – CasaCullen
http://www.casacullen.com/2010/03/decorate-diy-framed-black-and-white-pictures-above-the-kitchen-cabinets.html?cid=6a00e54ed9ed5388330133ec5bdd20970b
Fantastic solution CasaCullen!
xo,
s
I have tall cabinets and still have space above. I display large serving pieces and vases that are not currently in use. The only problem is that when I host a large party and start to use most of what’s on display, it starts to look a bit bare. And then I get concerned that people who are not frequent visitors to my home will think it always looks that way. I haven’t really figured out a solution, since I like to buy things that are useful and not just for display. I’m also quite short and my friends laugh at how out of place I look in my tall kitchen. :)
ps – Lori, I would LOVE to see a pic of your Christmas lights!!! that sounds adorable indeed!!!
I have this same problem in my apartment. I chose to simply not put anything up there. Mostly because I am short, and there isn’t much that I own that I don’t use on a regular basis, and I don’t want to climb up there to get things down all the time. But I’ve been thinking of getting a few picnic baskets to put above the cabinets and keeping my holiday decorations up there since that’s one thing I don’t use on regular basis and won’t have to ‘get down’ all the time, and it would majorly de-clutter some valuable closet space. Also picnic baskets are covered and will keep most of the dusk and grim off my things.
I’ve been thinking about this myself. I’m somewhat resistant to the whole “collection on top of the cabinets thing” because A.) I don’t really have an appropriate collection (I have a lot of things, but they are varied and definitely NOT a collection) and I’m not sure I want to go out and buy stuff just to have it sitting up there and B.) What is with the superpowered dust that ends up on top of cabinets. It is the grossest, stickiest, greasiest, most disgusting dust in the world. I’m not sure I want to have to clean more stuff.
SO … I’ve been thinking about building boxes that are trimmed and painted out like the cabinets, with some nice molding to “tie them into” the cabinets and some great crown on top, then putting lighting into the display boxes and putting stuff up there that way. What do you think of that? Too much?
Hey Erin,
It sounds lovely. Not too much at all. We say go for it! Good luck…
xo,
s
All those kitchens are totally drool worthy!!!
One of the themes I saw in the lovely photos Sherry picked out is that they all have a statement lighting fixture. So I would suggest, if you have a statement lighting fixture thats drawing your eyes up already, have fewer, larger, more muted colored peices that are all similar texture, as to not compete with the fixture.
If you dont have one you’re in love with, them some uplighting (as follow reader Lori says, some hidden christmas lights can go a long way!) and some color in there but stick with a color scheme to make them look unified and intentional. :)
I like to keep it nice and bare on top of our cabinents with the exception of one quick cleaning trick i stole from Real Simple. I line the top of the cabinents (and our fridge) with a single layer of paper towels. That way all the dust acculumates on the towels and clean up is a snap. Just dispose of the paper and re-line as necessary.
great ideas–induced a little cottage living sniffle, I miss that mag!
In our old kitchen, we had tons of things above our cabinets, but I never managed to make it ‘pretty’. I love the look of the baskets in those photos, that’s a good way to go.
Our new cabinets go right to the ceiling, so it makes it hard to accessorize the space at all. I’m still thinking of doing a thin Ikea shelf above the window and adding some vintage plates from my grandmothers…
Lots of great ideas and photos in this post! We have a small kitchen so we needed more storage. We used the basket technique you described to fill in the open space above the cabinets and also get lots of useful extra storage.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sa4jFrt3B4M/S4QQcPiqbfI/AAAAAAAAJME/4YVbBxnf2Z8/s1600-h/d-059.jpg
It’s funny that today’s post has everything to do with what’s going on in my life RIGHT NOW. We live in military housing so changing things is often difficult.
I LOVED the look of the baskets in the kitchen from House and Home, so I looked it up to find out where to buy them. Those awesome baskets are from Tap Phong Trading Co. in China Town Toronto, which does NOT have a website. OH NOES! I’ll have to make a run over to world market to see if they have them there.
Thanks Sherry and John for the post.
I love the look of stacking stuff atop cabinets. We have the extra tall ones, so this isn’t an option. But I love all the photos of inspirational spaces you’ve pulled together here. All I’d suggest is be careful when placing things like plates and other items that aren’t as balanced or secure. You don’t want a knock on the head!!!
I also agree with keeping it to a collection/theme. We “collect” Fiestaware pitchers (I have that in quotes because it wasn’t intentional, but we find ourselves with several now). And it looks more purposeful that way.
<3
OK – i think i’m in the minority here! I hate anything on the top of cabinets. Hate hate hate it! I don’t know why – it always just looks like clutter to me. I always raise cabinets on my houses to the ceiling but in my current home that’s not an option. I just can’t stand anything out on ‘display’ – but agree that uplighting can look stunning.
“I’M GETTIN’ JIGGY”
All my woodworking projects are now much easier since I got my Kreg setup.
I made a 5 foot tall bookshelf for my grandson in less than 4 hours. This system works so well I have put my Sears Radial Arm saw and Dado blade up for-sale.
In my home we have the same dead space. I collected vintage lunchboxes when I was younger and found them to be a fun punch of color above my cabinets. They also make fun conversation pieces when people see them.
Ironically, I’ve been dealing with this exact scenario at my Apt, which also lacks any type of storage space. My husband and I just got married and we didn’t realize it when we did it, but we mostly had kitchen stuff on our registry, so we got alot of kitchen stuff (stuff we wanted, and of course stuff we didn’t) I have about 12″ There’s a lip of about 1″ in the baskets, but I decided I’m going to use some baskets from Tarje’ and put them uptop with all the overflow tupperware, I also displayed my white pitcher and platters! I still have my crock-pot up there, and my Rice cooker but I’m sure I’ll find a place!!
*P.S. Thanks for all the suggestions and perfect timing of this e-mail answer :)
-MiraMae
I just finished my own kitchen remodel, and the space above the cabinets was something I did not want to deal with. I used the photo of Ann Turner’s kitchen (at the bottom of your post) as my inspiration and I LOVE it. Here is how my kitchen turned out: http://confessionsofjenny.blogspot.com/2010/03/kitchen-episode-7.html
Holy cow that’s amazing! Great job. And thanks so much for sharing the link!
xo,
s
Hey Jen Z. had a good link to her cabs and they’re dark wood..
She definitely did- we love her space. And we also love that everyone’s sharing links to their kitchen. So much eye candy, so little time!
xo,
s
A artistic friend of mine has a tiny kitchen with a gap above the cabinets that isn’t big enough to display large objects.
She bought long, rectangular picture frames that have openings for three or four photos, and filled the frames with some of her own photography. Next she screwed two eye hooks into the long side of each frame (one at each end), and then hung the frames horizontally from hooks that she screwed into the ceiling. They’re flush with the front of the cabinets, so it gives the illusion that the cabinets go all the way to the ceiling. It looks great!
I probably wouldn’t recommend this for a large kitchen, but for a small kitchen with only a few cabinets, it really works!
I have never seen the last option (where someone rehangs their cabinets higher with a lower, open shelf below), but I really like it! Very functional, and inexpensive — for new cabinets, too.
Also, I’ve seen a lot of people with this type of design install additional lighting above the cabinets. It’s cheap and provides a nice glow in the evening.
Kelly
Hi could you tell me what AT is?
“J&S your bedroom mirror made AT yesterday, they love you guys.”
Thanks
Hey Margie,
The site: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com is commonly referred to as AT. It’s a great resource for all things home related. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
i’m not a fan of storing/displaying stuff on top of the cabinets…. i like the clean/clutter-free look!
i don’t have the issue because my kitchen has a dropped ceiling…. when we finally do a complete remodel we’re going to remove the dropped part and have our cabinets go all the way to the ceiling!
I think all these photos are gorgeous, I’d love to put some things above our cabinets, but even though it looks so nice I automatically think – Dust and Allergy Trap!
Instead of traditional baskets, I used fabric storage bins on top of the cabinets for extra storage in my super cramped apartment kitchen. They are a lot easer to clean the dust off of then getting in all the little nooks and crannies of a woven basket. They also have a little extra give for maximum stuffing. I have four of the exact same baskets in a color that complements my other kitchen decor. They have great little pockets on the front for labeling exactly whats inside. They’re super practical, add some much needed storage, and pack a fun pop of color. And at $4 a basket, it doesn’t get much cheaper.
I’m one of those who leaves them completely bare. Why? a) I really think too many of those spaces end up looking cluttered rather than neat (so the idea of like items could combat that) and b) even more importantly, anything up there gets greasy and dusty from the kitchen…it just happens and that stuff is tough to get off the top of a cabinet, let alone baskets or something that can’t go through the dishwasher. For me, putting stuff on top of my kitchen cabinets means I’m actually creating work for myself for very little payback. (I do, however, lust after some chunky crown moulding to finish them off.)
I’m with Erin about that disgusting grime that collects in the kitchen. I had lower cabinets over which I displayed a collection of pitchers (openings covered with plastic wrap so I didn’t have to scrub the insides, as well as the outsides, if I wanted to use them). I also used covered picnic baskets to store table cloths, but the basketweave collected that grime and it was almost impossible to scrub off. Finally got ceiling-height cabinets last year. I will NEVER have an open shelf in my kitchen again!
Have you checked out what Layla from theletteredcottage.net did with her kitchen cabinets? Soooo clever and high end looking. You wouldn’t even know it’s the same cabinet.
Hey Michelle,
Yup, we love Layla’s kitchen. We were actually talking about it above in the comments!
xo,
s