The Top of Kitchen Cabinets

Hi Christine,
I love your website and I've learned a few decorating tips. My bedroom looks so much better now that I've gotten rid of my husband's deadfish pillows. So now I am looking for pointers for my kitchen and family room. What kind of stools would you put by the island? What would you put above the kitchen cabinets? Any tips about adding fake plants that don't look cheesy? What would you put on the wall? In my kitchen I have skip trowel walls. Would you faux paint or is that too trendy? Also, what kind of window treatments would you put up? I want my kitchen to look great and I like it but it just needs something.
Lori

Hi Lori,
I wasn't able to copy your photos- if you could re-send them for me- saved as jpeg attachments- that would be great- I will add them to the post.

1. Your barstools. You have wood floors, and wood cabinets. Don't add wood finish barstools- they will blend in. Your kitchen is in need of some contrast. I would use painted barstools- like those from Decorize in this post. Find barstools that will stand out in your sea of wood.
2. Next- I will address the top of your cabinets. Scale. Scale. Scale. Check out the photos in this post for some ideas. Pay particular attention to the scale. When I see the tops of cabinets decorated poorly- most of the time it is simply because the decor is too small for the space. Scale. I like big pretty bowels, personally. I also love baskets. I like to be able to use the items for other purposes.
3. No- I would not faux paint. To me it says- "I am trying to be Tuscan- but I really am not."
4. Window treatments. Your pictures didn't show any windows- so it is a little hard for me to say- but from the rest of your kitchen- I would say to do a fabric treatment- like a Roman shade- that can bring in some color and pattern.
   

   
   Greenery- the secret to fake greenery looking good is being willing to spend some money on the greenery. Super cheep ivy usually looks super cheep. Remember that it can be as much about the container as the gerrnery.

   

   Vintage Collection - I did a collectionn of copper containers for the top of a client's kitchen cabinets and really liked it - it is one of my favorites.

5. 

   Pitchers

Bowls

Anyone have any good ideas for the top of Lori's kitchen cabinets?

Kitchen photos from Country Living

More Barstools

Here are some more barstool thoughts for Kim- what do you think? Any favorites?

Lauren's New Home Part III

Today's post is a continuation of the last two on Lauren's new house. I had a few more thoughts for her today. I found a new rug option for her today. From- Crate and Barrel- the Sash Rug has it all- It has white, terra cotta and blue. There you go- you can look no further.

Secondly- furniture. I did not like the way the previous owner used a sectional in that room. Ideally the furniture would frame and face the focal point- and the sectional put it more off center than I like to see. I would use a sofa and have it right in front of the fireplace/TV alcove. (I wold do a built-in for the TV.) This will give you enough room to walk around the sofa on both sides. Add some chairs that bring in texture like the ones above from West Elm. I also like the idea of using a white slip cover on them. Your white cabinets will stand out more when you paint your walls- and repeating the white will make it stand out in a good way instead of a bad way. Small slip covers are easy to wash and not terribly expensive to replace. Use a nice long sofa - take advantage of the size of the room. The one above is from Pottery Barn. Pull in some more pattern with throw pillows that pull on your wall color and rug colors.

I have been giving your counters some more thought- and this is what you should do. Use the Silver Siena slab on the backsplash. The white in it will work great with your cabinets- but at the same time will give you color and contrast. I would use your stone here to pull out your paint color for the room- a nice neutral warm gray- with a hint of blue. I woulld look at Sherwin Williams Comfort Gray, Oyster Bay and Sea Salt. Remember- everything else first- then the paint color.

For your counters- use wood. You don't have wood floors, or wood cabinets- yours is the perfect room for wood counters. It adds warmth and charm so much more than granite or other solid surfaces. Sure there's maintenance- but sometimes it is worth it. Houses have maintenance- let's face it.

You have a tiny little three pendant light in your family room. What is up with the size of that? The nice part is you have the wiring for a better sized fixture- like the pendant light above from Lamps Plus.

Find a nice narrow table for your dining area- and bring in some warmth using a bench on the window side and then a couple of upholstered chairs on the other side- like the ones below from Crate and Barrel. You could go red and bring in some red accents- or keep it more neutral and go brown leather.

For your barstools- I would go backless. You want something that will slide under the bar and get out of the way. The stool below is from Sundance.

Congratualtions on your new home Lauren. Don't go off making your own decisions now- just do what I said to. :)

XOXO

Christine

Great Barstools

Dear Christine,

I have an unrelated question, but something I've noticed in nearly every kitchen photo I see -- (on this post) awesome counter stools. Christine, where oh where can we find great counter stools that are not at the mass produced stores we all see? I checked out some online sites but still haven't located stools that are interesting.

Thanks muchly.

Well-

I can take you to the design center and we can select some fabulous ones! The bad news - they are expensive. I have found that people have NO IDEA how much stools can run. You can get them for under $100 every day - and yet - $700 is a very reasonable price that freaks clients out when they start multiplying it by five. However - for barstools to be in the thousands - you really open up your options for beautiful, unique stools. Stools with a back and a swivel that are under $400 are probably not a great quality. I like Palecek for a good source for barstools. They have a large selection, and good prices. The stool at the top of the post is $295. The cow hide is $429 and the other two are $599. I tried to find reasonably priced ones... :) If you want to go into the thousands - I'll take you shopping.