How To Decorate Above Kitchen Cabinets -Modern Farmhouse Style

Looking for ideas on how to decorate above kitchen cabinets with a modern farmhouse style? Should you decorate above kitchen cabinets? I’m sharing ideas for when to decorate and what decorations to put on 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, there are some simple rules I follow when decorating this space.

dried hydrangeas in vintage dough bowl and wooden bowl on top of kitchen cabinets

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How To decorate above kitchen cabinets with vintage collections.

Should You Decorate Above Kitchen Cabinets?

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

Reasons To Not Decorate Above Cabinets

  • First, if your cabinetry is close to your ceiling, adding decorations above the cabinets may feel crowded.
  • If the cabinets have elaborate moldings at the ceiling or on the cabinet tops, any additional decor may compete with the molding for attention.
  • Finally, if you have a modern, minimalist-style home, adding decor above the cabinets may feel out of place.

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.
What Decorations to put above kitchen cabinets for farmhouse modern style.

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.

Vintage Amber Bottle Collections are great for decorating above kitchen cabinets modern style.
How To Make DIY Bottle Labels for Vintage Bottles

Here are some of my favorite collections that I have used over the cabinets.

  • Amber Bottles
  • Vintage Crocks
  • Old Books or Cookbooks
  • Ironstone or Milk Glass Collections
  • Pottery Pitchers
  • Vintage Scales
  • Baskets
  • Dough Bowls
  • Wooden Bread Boards
  • Vintage Plates and Platters
  • Old Bowls
  • Art
  • Plants, faux or real. Remember that natural plants may require more light, and watering can be difficult.

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.

Vintage Crock collection for Farmhouse decorating.

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.

Add vintage crock collection above kitchen cabinets

Handmade Baskets

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

Vintage and hand crafted Baskets for French Farmhouse Style Decorating

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.

Vintage Baskets above cabinets in modern farmhouse kitchen

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.

Collected vintage decor to put on top of kitchen cabinets

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.

Vintage dough Bowl and large European wooden bowl above cabinets in modern farmhouse kitchen

You Have Permission To Make Changes

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.

Vintage European wooden antiques fill the space over cabinets

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

dried hydrangeas in vintage dough bowl and wooden bowl on top of kitchen cabinets

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.

Dough Bowl, antique wooden bowl, vintage crocks, and vintage candy container.

Insider Tip

If you want to prevent dried hydrangeas from fading store them away from sunlight. The top of a kitchen cabinet is an ideal location for displaying hydrangeas without fear of fading. Plus, they are protected to air vents and being jostled causing dried petals to drop.

wood dough bowl filled with dried hydrangeas over kitchen cabinets

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.

mixed textures, metals, wood, ceramic, glass pottery, with elements of nature

Resources: Shop This Post

More Kitchen Decorating Ideas

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

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How To Decorate Above Kitchen Cabinets in A Modern Farmhouse - Cottagecore style with curated farmhouse decor.

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40 Comments

  1. Thank you, Rachael. You always provide great ideas. I did decorate above my cabinets, and after reading your post, I know I did it right!

  2. So many great ideas for cabinet decor! I have a small space as well and love adding decor. Thanks for the inspiration!

  3. I don’t have a farmhouse style house/kitchen. I have always decorated above my kitchen cabinets. I like the way it looks! I have used old advertising tins before. Now, I have a collection of old ice cream cartons. I love the way it looks and add to it when I find a new one. (But, they are somewhat hard to find.)

  4. Love this! I had always decorated with vintage pieces above my kitchen cabinets. When our kitchen was repainted, I decided to make a change and not put anything above my cabinets.
    Reading this made me miss “the look”. You inspired me to be me again and do the look I truly love.
    Thank you!

  5. Thank you for this post. I will definitely try some of your ideas. What I did want to mention is your kitchen is beautiful (I would be quite happy in this room), but your island is absolutely stunning. Maybe one day when I grow up.

  6. Great tips Rachel. My cabinets go all the way to my ceiling, but I have small cabinets with glass at the top and I could use this same concept and ideas.

  7. Your kitchen looks wonderful Rachel! I love your ideas for decorating above your cabinets, I need to do this in my kitchen, mine are so bare! Had to pin to save your awesome ideas!

  8. Great tips Rachel! I think decorating above kitchen cabinets can be difficult but you made it easier with your tips & tricks!

  9. Rachel, you always have great tips. I love how your style above your cabinets. It’s prime real estate for collections of found treasure above the cabinets.

  10. I love all the many ways you decorated above your kitchen cabinets Rachel. So many great ideas.

  11. I love how the top of your cabinets look with the crown molding. Can you tell me how tall your crown is? Thank you!

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