What To Store Above Your Kitchen Cabinets?

The unused area above the kitchen cabinets has an untapped potential for extra storage and attractive displays. With creativity and careful preparation, you can turn this often-overlooked space into a chic centrepiece that improves the kitchen's style and function. 

Above your kitchen cabinets, you have much room to maximise storage, display treasured items, or add a bit of flair to your space. In this piece, I'll share some of my favourite tips and tricks for making the most of this often-overlooked area of your home. We'll show you how to make your kitchen cabinets more than a storage space by implementing various organisational and decorative techniques. So let's dive in and explore what you can put on the shelves above your kitchen cabinets!

Guidelines For What To Keep In Above Kitchen Cabinets 

If you need to store items in a cabinet that is a bit or a lot out of the way, here are some things to remember. Following these guidelines will simplify selecting what to store in your upper cabinets. The primary objectives are stability, ease of use, and strategic planning.

• Avoid putting heavy or awkward items. This is essential for both safety and convenience. If you've ever attempted to draw down a heavy appliance while standing on a step stool or your toes, you understand what I'm talking about.
• Save space by putting fewer, bulkier things in storage. The point is to avoid collecting items in a tough spot. The lighter weight is possible even for larger things. Also, find a way to organise your smaller goods by placing them in a box, bucket, or basket.
• Feel free to stick to things for the kitchen. If you have extra room, you could put cooking-unrelated things there. After all, one can never have enough space for their belongings. On the other hand, don't keep anything in your kitchen that could get ruined by the heat, humidity, or smells.
• Keep a sturdy step stool on hand. Be prepared with a dependable means of gaining height when accessing upper cabinets. It would help if you didn't utilise a chair, piano bench, ottoman, or anything else around the house that isn't designed for this purpose.

Tips for Decorating the Space Above Kitchen Cabinets 

Use A Highlight Colour Above Cabinets

Using an accent colour high up on a wall is an easy technique to provide a dramatic contrast to a space without making it feel overbearing. The unexpected pop of the accent colour pulls the viewer's attention upward. This can be used in rooms with high ceilings or elaborate cornices to highlight those design elements.

Improve The Visual Appeal 

Discover kitchen art ideas and decorate with art above cabinets and storage to bring some pep into your cooking quarters. We can't help but agree with those who say the artwork is as welcome in the kitchen as in any other space.

Install Wall And Ceiling Panels

Wall panels are a great way to liven up the boring area above a kitchen cabinet. Matching or complementing a period home's original style and architecture with modern wall panelling ideas is a great way to blend the best of both worlds. Alternatively, a panelled room is a great way to give personality to a featureless space like a kitchen that lacks decorative aspects or original architecture.

Decorate The Area Above Your Cabinets With Things You Love

After doing some reading around, I got some fantastic suggestions from people who revealed the contents of their upper kitchen cabinets. These can be anything from conventional to highly original.  

Use Pretty Bins, Decorative Boxes, Or Baskets

Put whatever you need out of the way but want to keep in the kitchen in a few attractive baskets or boxes that fit above your cabinets. You'll have more storage and a lovely manner of concealing ugly clutter. This is a terrific way to keep cooking utensils that are irregularly shaped and that you don't use very often, as well as to store seasonal goods like popsicle moulds or holiday cookie cutters. Even better, you may buy baskets, boxes, and bins to enhance and complement your kitchen décor in various colours, patterns, and designs. When determining whether or not you want storage with lids, be honest about how often you'll need to dust there.

Fill With Recipe Books

If you have the space, line the tops of your cabinets with cookbooks (or any literature, really). This keeps them close at hand yet out of sight, like a basket. Meanwhile, if the books' spines wrap over most or all of the cabinets, your kitchen will have an eye-catching design feature. To keep the books in readable condition, you need to dust and clean them often. This is a lovely way to show off your collection of treasured family cookbooks. Find a nice recipe box to store and organise your recipes if you plan on storing loose recipes or recipe cards. It will complement your cookbooks, plants, or other decor while keeping your recipes tidy and easily accessible.

Add Art Or Collectables

Art, antiques, collections, and whatever else you want to show off can be hung from the empty wall above the cabinets. Items utilised as top-of-kitchen cabinet decors, such as a pottery collection or selected antiques, are well secured, away from the kitchen's hustle and bustle. However, always keep items dusted and clean to prevent deterioration from kitchen residue. If your kitchen is on the smaller side, hanging artwork or collections from the ceiling can give the illusion of more space. If you don't have any paintings, vases, ceramics, or other decorative pieces that would work, check out any secondhand stores or art fairs in your area. You can use your imagination to create something unique for the room!

Expand The Pantry

To make more room in your current pantry, remove any visually appealing goods from the upper shelves and put them elsewhere. While cereal boxes and cans of beans may not complement your kitchen design, jars of olives and glass containers of pasta do. Extra food or supplies can be stashed in the less obvious areas, such as above the cabinets or towards the wall. Other kitchen necessities, like soda, jams, jellies, and even hard alcohol, are best stored high and out of the way. Be wary of putting too much bulk up there or leaving perishable goods too long.

Go Green

For those with a green thumb, plants are a great way to incorporate kitchen cabinet decor into tight quarters. Find plants that can thrive in indirect light, higher temperatures, and a wider humidity range. If there is enough light and space in your kitchen, you may even grow some herbs for cooking. Fake plants are a great alternative to real ones if you don't have a green thumb or if your kitchen cabinets are too high to reach the water easily. They require only the occasional dusting to keep them in pristine condition. Pick containers that complement your kitchen's aesthetic and add a splash of colour or design.

Store Large Serving Pieces

Serving utensils can be difficult to find a home for once you use the space above your cabinets. If that's the case, there's now a spot for those obtrusively large serving pieces like cake stands, platters, and even picnic baskets. Furthermore, they have an aesthetic appearance. So decorating the area above your cabinets with the serving pieces you only use a few times a year but love to look at is a win-win situation.

Let The Space Speak

Put your stamp on the space by adding a family crest, a family quote, a family photo, some ornamental letters, or a blackboard painted with family drawings. It will make you happy every time you look at it, and it will also talk to your visitors and share what they should know about you. You can switch things up for the different seasons or leave them as focal pieces all year round.

Add Wallpaper

You may give your kitchen a new lease on life by hanging patterned wallpaper above the cabinets. You will be amazed at the transformation that seemingly insignificant area undergoes once you add a splash of colour, imitation brick, or a bold floral pattern. Once you do so, even a couple of vases or bottles perched atop the cabinets will seem fresh and full.

Light It Up

Why not put in more lights if your kitchen is shady? Sometimes, all that's needed is little lighting, whether from little lamps, twinkle lights, or uplighting. Extra illumination is also useful for showcasing prized possessions or maintaining healthy houseplants. Of course, it's a plus if the lights you employ are attractive and functional.

Close The Area

You might even decide that the decoration over the kitchen cabinets doesn't suit you and that you'd prefer to cover that area. There are various techniques to close the area above kitchen cabinets. For example, consider putting in a small curtain if you want some colour but also need to conceal some items. Hang some of your favourite cloth on a tension rod to make a stylish curtain that can conceal anything from bulky kitchen appliances to ugly family relics you can't bear to part with. Another choice is to increase the number of cabinets in the room to increase storage. 

Guidelines For Decorating Your Cabinets' Tops

Here are some things to remember now that you have some suggestions for what to put on the shelves above your kitchen cabinets for decoration and style.

Combine Items In A Group

When deciding how to arrange a collection of decorative things, it's helpful to consider their size, shape, colour, texture, and style. The composition is visually appealing because of the careful placement of these elements. The visual impact of a collection can be increased through the strategic use of grouping by subject, colour, material, or contrast.

Avoid Items Overcrowd

Stay moderate with the number or placement of decorative items in a room. It underscores the significance of providing enough visual and physical distance between objects to allow for their collective appreciation.

Maintain Cleanliness

To keep these things looking nice and free of dust, dirt, and other debris, they must be cleaned and dusted frequently. Whether in the kitchen or another room, keeping the area around the cabinets clean is an easy way to keep things looking neat.

Switching The Items Regularly

The kitchen may be kept aesthetically interesting by regularly switching out decorative pieces. Instead, it keeps the area from being stale and boring, giving it a modern makeover. 

Seasonal decorations for the various holidays can also be added. For example, pumpkins and fall flowers work well for the autumn season. At the same time, evergreens and flocked branches are appropriate for the winter season, and flowers are appropriate for the spring season.

Conclusion 

The unused area above kitchen cabinets can be transformed into a chic centerpiece that enhances the kitchen's style and function. By implementing various organizational and decorative techniques, you can maximize storage, display treasured items, and add flair to your space. To store items in the upper cabinets, follow these guidelines: avoid heavy or awkward items, save space by putting fewer bulkier items, and feel free to stick to kitchen-related items. Keep a sturdy step stool on hand for easy access.

To decorate the space above kitchen cabinets, use an accent color to provide a dramatic contrast without making it feel overbearing. Enhance the visual appeal by incorporating kitchen art ideas and installing wall and ceiling panels. Decorate the area above kitchen cabinets with things you love, such as pretty bins, decorative boxes, or baskets. These can conceal ugly clutter and enhance kitchen décor.

Fill the tops of cabinets with cookbooks or other literature, keeping them close at hand yet out of sight. Dust and clean the books often to keep them in readable condition. Finally, find a nice recipe box to store and organize loose recipes or recipe cards, complementing your cookbooks, plants, or other decor while keeping them tidy and easily accessible. To create a visually appealing kitchen, consider adding art, antiques, collections, and other decorative items to the shelves above the cabinets. Hang items securely away from the kitchen's hustle and bustle, and keep them dusted and clean to prevent deterioration.

If you don't have any decorative pieces, check out secondhand stores or art fairs to create something unique. Expand the pantry by removing visually appealing items and storing them elsewhere. Go green by growing plants that thrive in indirect light, higher temperatures, and a wider humidity range. Store large serving pieces like cake stands, platters, and picnic baskets to create an aesthetic appearance.

Let the space speak by adding family crests, quotes, photos, ornamental letters, or blackboards that speak to the space. Add wallpaper to give the area a new lease on life. Light it up with lights that showcase prized possessions or maintain healthy houseplants. Close the area by hanging a small curtain or increasing the number of cabinets in the room.

To decorate the cabinets' tops, combine items in groups based on size, shape, color, texture, and style. Avoid items overcrowding by maintaining enough visual and physical distance between objects. Maintain cleanliness by cleaning and dusted frequently. Regularly switching out decorative pieces can keep the area aesthetically interesting and give it a modern makeover.

Content Summary: 

• The unused area above the kitchen cabinets has an untapped potential for extra storage and attractive displays.
• With creativity and careful preparation, you can turn this often-overlooked space into a chic centrepiece that improves the kitchen's style and function.
• Above your kitchen cabinets, you have much room to maximise storage, display treasured items, or add a bit of flair to your space.
• In this piece, I'll share some of my favourite tips and tricks for making the most of this often-overlooked area of your home.
• We'll show you how to make your kitchen cabinets more than a storage space by implementing various organisational and decorative techniques.
•  If you need to store items in a cabinet that is a bit or a lot out of the way, here are some things to remember.
• Following these guidelines will simplify selecting what to store in your upper cabinets.
• The primary objectives are stability, ease of use, and strategic planning.
• Avoid putting heavy or awkward items.
• This is essential for both safety and convenience.
• If you've ever attempted to draw down a heavy appliance while standing on a step stool or your toes, you understand what I'm talking about.
• Save space by putting fewer, bulkier things in storage.
•  The point is to avoid collecting items in a tough spot.
•  The lighter weight is possible even for larger things.
•  Also, find a way to organise your smaller goods by placing them in a box, bucket, or basket.
• Feel free to stick to things for the kitchen.
• If you have extra room, you could put cooking-unrelated things there.
• After all, one can never have enough space for their belongings.
• On the other hand, don't keep anything in your kitchen that could get ruined by the heat, humidity, or smells.
• Keep a sturdy step stool on hand.
•  Be prepared with a dependable means of gaining height when accessing upper cabinets.
•  It would help if you didn't utilise a chair, piano bench, ottoman, or anything else around the house that isn't designed for this purpose.
• Using an accent colour high up on a wall is an easy technique to provide a dramatic contrast to a space without making it feel overbearing.
• The unexpected pop of the accent colour pulls the viewer's attention upward.
• This can be used in rooms with high ceilings or elaborate cornices to highlight those design elements.
• Discover kitchen art ideas and decorate with art above cabinets and storage to bring some pep into your cooking quarters.
• We can't help but agree with those who say the artwork is as welcome in the kitchen as in any other space.
• Wall panels are a great way to liven up the boring area above a kitchen cabinet.
• Matching or complementing a period home's original style and architecture with modern wall panelling ideas is a great way to blend the best of both worlds.
• Alternatively, a panelled room is a great way to give personality to a featureless space like a kitchen that lacks decorative aspects or original architecture.
• After doing some reading around, I got some fantastic suggestions from people who revealed the contents of their upper kitchen cabinets.
• These can be anything from conventional to highly original.
• Put whatever you need out of the way but want to keep in the kitchen in a few attractive baskets or boxes that fit above your cabinets.
• You'll have more storage and a lovely manner of concealing ugly clutter.
• This is a terrific way to keep cooking utensils that are irregularly shaped and that you don't use very often, as well as to store seasonal goods like popsicle moulds or holiday cookie cutters.
• Even better, you may buy baskets, boxes, and bins to enhance and complement your kitchen décor in various colours, patterns, and designs.
• When determining whether or not you want storage with lids, be honest about how often you'll need to dust there.
• If you have the space, line the tops of your cabinets with cookbooks (or any literature, really).
• This keeps them close at hand yet out of sight, like a basket.