How To Decorate The Top of Kitchen Cabinets -Modern Farmhouse Style

Looking for ideas on how to decorate above kitchen cabinets with a modern farmhouse style? Should you decorate the top of the kitchen cabinets? I’m sharing ideas for when to decorate and what decorations to put above kitchen cabinets. Budget-friendly ideas that include vintage kitchenware, thrift store finds, and antiques for a curated decor style.

We only have a small amount of space above the cabinet to decorate. However, I follow a few simple rules when decorating this space. Let’s explore these rules, along with some Christmas decorating ideas and other seasonal options.

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Should You Decorate The Top of Your Kitchen Cabinets?

You will find many opinions on whether you should decorate the top of a kitchen cabinet. In most cases, I would say it’s perfectly okay to decorate above your cabinets. However, there are a couple of exceptions.

Because I’m a more-is-less kind of decorator, the bare space above my cabinets is begging for attention.

However, as with most decor dilemmas, whether you should decorate above Kitchen Cabinets is a personal choice.

What Decorations To Put On Top Of Kitchen Cabinets

This is the million-dollar question. However, I have a few rules to help you decide which decorations to put on kitchen cabinets.

1. Use decorations or kitchen utensils that are not frequently used.
2. Add collections to your cabinet tops.
3. Decorate with vintage and antique decor.
4. Protect valuable and breakable decor by displaying it out of reach.
5. Use this space to store hard-to-store collectibles.
6. And remember to group vignettes with uneven numbers. Either three or five items will make the vignettes more eye-catching.
7. Add seasonal decor, especially Christmas decorations: Christmas is a more is less holiday and decorating the top of your kitchen cabinets adds a cozy holiday feeling.

What Vintage Collections Look Good on Kitchen Cabinets?

If you have vintage collections, this is a good place to create displays. Most collections don’t need to be moved often, and they are kept safely tucked away.

In addition, here are lovely milk glass displays by All Things Heart and Home and a vintage dish display by Homedit.

Decorate Above Kitchen Cabinets – Modern Farmhouse Style

To decorate above kitchen cabinets in a modern farmhouse style, think in terms of collections.

Vintage Crocks

First, begin to gather your collections. If you collect vintage crocks, they are an excellent choice for decorating above your cabinets.

They can be filled with other vintage collections or left empty.

When staging similar items, it’s best to group in uneven numbers. For this area, I used groups of 3 and 5. They provide a clean, minimalist feel without adding much color to the space.

Consider adding a small amount of greenery and wooden utensils to keep the area fresh and modern.

Handmade Baskets

Another collection that looks great above kitchen cabinets is handmade baskets. Gather baskets in a variety of shapes and sizes.

A handmade basket looks great on its own or filled with greenery, flowers, fruit, and more. I began with several baskets, but quickly realized that less is more with baskets.

To keep the cabinet tops from feeling too heavy, I mixed the baskets with a few crocks to make the vignettes more interesting. Although I’m not a minimalist, I like to let the area breathe by creating space between each vignette.

Create Vignettes Of Several Collections

Another idea for decorating above kitchen cabinets is to create several vignettes of vintage decor. This cabinet-top display features crocks, vintage scales, and a collection of pottery pitchers.

Wooden Collections

Finally, I decided to add several of my vintage wooden pieces above the kitchen cabinets.

Once again, I found that using all wood felt too heavy, so I added three crocks at the center instead. To keep with the wooden theme, I added a cheese board, wooden rolling pins, and smashers to the crock vignette.

The antique dough bowl and vintage wooden bowl are both from the French Farmer’s Wife Barn Sale.

You Have Permission To Make Changes To The Tops Of The Kitchen Cabinet

After our kitchen restyle last year, I decided I needed to make some changes above the cabinets. I don’t change this space often, and I usually have Brad help me because it isn’t easy going up and down with heavy decor. I do like to make some seasonal changes, and with Spring just around the corner, I needed to make a few adjustments. After adding the DIY copper spice rack, I felt the cabinet top could use a touch of copper. Therefore, I added this unique copper pot filled with some faux greenery.

This year, I added more dried hydrangeas to the vintage wooden pieces to brighten the area for spring.

Final Tips

These tips can be used for any kitchen style. However, you must consider large-scale accessories if you have high ceilings and a tall space above your cabinets.

The space above my cabinets is only 13 inches, so smaller items don’t get lost in the area.

Below are examples from Designing Ideas and House Beautiful of large-scale items and design that appropriately balance the space above the cabinets.

In addition, the old country store candy container was previously displayed on the countertop. We believe it was once filled with candy in my great-grandfather’s country store. Instead of candy, it now has vintage cookie cutters and other small vintage kitchen utensils. Mixing it with the crocks helps brighten the area and protects it from breakage.

Seasonal Decor On Top of Kitchen Cabinets

When decorating the top of my kitchen cabinet for Spring and Summer, I like to keep it light and airy. I reduce the number of pieces I use and keep the items neutral in color.

However, when decorating for Fall and Christmas, I begin to fill the space with cozy seasonal decorations. Here are a couple of my favorite Fall and Christmas decorating ideas for the top of my kitchen cabinet.

Fall Decorations on Top of Cabinets

To decorate for fall above the cabinet, I combined amber bottles with several copper pieces to add a cozy autumn vibe to the kitchen.

Another year, I used my entire collection of amber bottles, mixed with a vintage washboard above my laundry room cabinet.

One of my favorite displays for fall is the top of the cupboard. The combination of copper, browns stems, textured pottery and a basket is so warm and cozy.

Christmas Decorating Ideas On Top of Cabinets

Christmas is my favorite time to overload the tops of cabinets with holiday decorations. Here are a few of my favorites.

Adding greenery to the wooden and earthenware containers on the cabinet tops coordinates with the mini-wreaths on the cabinet doors. While a softer look includes dried hydrangeas with vintage shiny brite ornaments tucked into a vintage dough bowl with sprigs of boxwood in other containers on the cabinet top.

The top of the hutch provides space for taller vintage pieces such as the gathering basket and a small Christmas tree in a vintage bowl. Another old bowl is filled with vintage colorful ornaments.

Final Tip: Mix Textures

The most interesting vignette displays will include a mixture of textures that allow the eye to move from item to item. Here, I included a mix of textures, including metals, wood, ceramic, pottery, and elements of nature. The still life is an interesting mix of vintage items that create a unique visual display that draws the eye upward, above the kitchen cabinets.

More Kitchen Decorating Ideas

• 11 Ways To Add Vintage Charm To a Modern Farmhouse
• Christmas Ideas for a Farmhouse Kitchen
• Best Modern Farmhouse Kitchen Ideas
• How To Add Open Shelving
• How To Build Open Cabinets for a Cottage Kitchen
• 19 Ways To Add Charm To A Modern Farmhouse

Thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to sharing my next adventure with you.

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