9 Creative Kitchen Styling Tips

The living room isn’t the only place for art. Consider putting a beautiful photo, painting or print in your kitchen too. It helps to add extra touches of color to a sea of neutral finishes. But be smart about placement. Since there is always the potential for spills and splatters, keep art away from sinks and the stove. Due to the conditions of the room (steam, heat and grease) it’s best to put expensive or irreplaceable pieces in another room, but thrifted or affordable art is fair game.

Turn an awkward corner or blank wall into storage in less than ten minutes. Installing decorative hooks is as simple as putting a few screws into the wall. It’s a smart way to display patterned aprons and pretty towels. But don’t be afraid to use them for other accents like hanging planters too.

Look no further than your cookware for countertop accents. Colorful cookbooks, vintage glasses, and copper pots and pans are too pretty to hide in a cabinet. Lean a stack of wood cutting boards against your backsplash and let their patinaed wood surfaces add warmth and character to the whole kitchen. The same goes for wooden spoons. Display them in a container on the counter instead of hiding them in a drawer. The wood textures lend an organic feel that benefits the entire room.

Diversify your kitchen lighting sources. Sconces add light, showcasing the contents on an open shelf while adding pretty architectural details to the walls. To keep their impact minimal, frosted glass blends into the wall. If you want to make a statement, choose a metal sconce in the same shade as your cabinet hardware or echo a bold accent color from the artwork, kitchen rugs or another accessory in the room.

Let your cabinet hardware finish and style inform other decorative metals throughout your kitchen. Modern brass drawer pulls make modern brass candlesticks look at home on a kitchen shelf. Don’t be afraid to mix metals. If you’re feeling nervous about metal-mixing, stick to a simple rule: Mix warm metals like brass, copper and gold, or decorate with cooler toned metals like silver or chrome. Stainless steel appliances are quite versatile too, working with a myriad of metal choices.

A vintage Lazy Susan next to the stove helps corral other accessories like a jar of tools, an old-fashioned pepper grinder, some of your favorite spices, a mortar and pestle and other cooking supplies. A tray on the counter works the same way, lending organization to smaller, related items.

A table lamp in the kitchen? It might seem strange, but don’t be afraid to embrace this trend. Table lamps offer a more casual look and feel while casting a warmer glow than an overhead or task light. To keep the cord from getting unwieldy, place the lamp near an outlet and wrap up any extra cord and tuck it out of sight. Like artwork, it’s a good idea to keep a lamp farther away from your prep and cooking space to avoid splatter. Smart spots to put a lamp: on open shelves or on either end of your kitchen island.

Thanks to all the stone, wood and tile surfaces, kitchens can feel chilly. Adding texture helps. Warm, weathered woods and other organic touches like plants, dried arrangements or greenery breathe life into the room. Towels, rugs and handmade ceramics soften the harder elements without getting in the way or feeling fussy.

A brass or chrome gallery rail draws the eye to your open shelving. It’s an opulent accessory that enhances everything on your shelf. If you don’t want to spend the extra money on a gallery rail, try this genius idea from The Weekender host, Monica Mangin. To get a similar look, she used towel bars turned upside down and attached to the top of the shelf. She even spray painted them in antique gold spray paint to match the shelf brackets and other hardware.