Top Tips to Accessorize Your Kitchen Design

Planning a kitchen remodel in Gainesville is an exciting time, and an opportunity to improve your kitchen’s efficiency, functionality, and style. Deciding on practical items, such as storage or flooring is easier when you have chosen a style for your kitchen design. When you know what your overall look will be, then you can visualize how every element of your space fits together to achieve a cohesive design, including your accessories.

The kitchen design is a place where you cook, relax, work, and entertain, so you need to factor in this requirement for multifunctionality at the design stage. If your countertops and floor space are filled with clutter, then your surfaces will be inefficient and visually unappealing. Incorporating adequate storage into your design leaves room for you to accessorize to bring out your style, with plenty of space to cook up a storm and enjoy your surroundings.

Here are our top ten tips to accessorize your kitchen design.

1. Clear out your kitchen design.

Whether styling a new kitchen remodel or changing up a tired kitchen design, you need to start with a blank canvas. Clear out your kitchen cabinets and remove everything from countertops. Go through each item and ask yourself if it’s useful or beautiful. You might be keeping seasonal items such as Halloween cookie cutters or Christmas platters. However, if you haven’t used them in over a year then donate them to a thrift store so they’ll be used, and you’ll have more space.

If you’re going for a minimal, sleek kitchen design style, then remove small appliances from countertops, unless they’re essential and stylish. If your appliances suit your style, you can display a small selection to enhance your design.

How do you curate a display of your favorite objects? Start with the largest one, such as a vase or bowl. Place it on a shelf, island, countertop, bookcase, table, or by a window, and then decide on the best position. Color, texture, and style all make for good accessories that work well with your kitchen remodel. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t force it, just save it for another room.

2. Form vs. function for kitchen design accessories.

Can functional items enhance the style of your kitchen design? Of course, they can! The key is to focus on details to ensure every element of your kitchen design is as aesthetic as possible. There’s no point in investing in a luxe, brass faucet if you throw an old towel over it. Keep these in a drawer for cleaning purposes and only display fresh towels that complement your kitchen design. Hang them on chic hooks or bars so they’re neat and hygienic.

Put soap in a pretty dish or pour liquid soap into a ceramic or glass dispenser. Source other stylish containers to keep on your countertops. Tea, coffee, sugar, and snacks can look great in pottery or mason jars. Why not use large bowls for fruit or vegetables instead of leaving them empty to gather dust? Free up shelf space by keeping recipe books in baskets or wooden crates. Whatever your style, there’s a container to complement it, but make sure to carefully select those items to display that complements your kitchen design and don’t overwhelm your countertops.

3. A guide to grouping accessories.

You’ve identified a space on countertops or a shelf to accessorize and chosen several items to display, but they look odd. What is the trick to accessorizing in groups for a stylish kitchen design? Firstly, ensure that you have fewer than four items per group. Choose things to group that have similar colors, textures, functions, or styles. When you’re deciding where to place them, stay away from spaces where you keep big things like food mixers so nowhere is too crowded and you retain a sense of balance throughout your kitchen design.

Try putting smaller items in or onto a larger decorative item. Cooking utensils could go in a statement vase, or flowers in a glass jug, and a beautiful cocktail set could sit on a tray. Vary the heights of the objects you display, with smaller items in front of larger ones to give the display depth, as opposed to placing them side by side. Ordinary essentials such as cutting boards look great leaning against each other in order of size, instead of in a pile. Use your imagination and make the every day into pieces to be admired either alone or in groups with dimension and texture.

4. Accessorizing a classic white kitchen design.

White kitchen designs never go out of fashion. Clean and calm, white kitchen cabinets, walls, and floors give a chic backdrop to a kitchen remodel that can be decorated with ease. Another great thing about a neutral white kitchen design is that accessories can be changed as often as you like, giving your remodel a whole new look without a complete kitchen renovation.

If you want to keep everything white then accessorize with neutrals in differing tones and textures for a sophisticated, organic feel. This year’s rattan lampshades work well for this look, bringing natural textures to your kitchen design.

If you prefer to introduce pops of color, then choose your favorite accent colors and decide the areas you want to focus on. You can also segregate your white kitchen design into zones with color by keeping certain colors in the living or dining area. Accessorizing a white kitchen design with dark tones makes for a classic monotone look that will never date. Why not go for black and white tiles or black matte hardware against white cabinets and sinks? Whatever you decide, white is the perfect partner for any accessory.

5. Open storage is still in.

Open storage is having a moment in kitchen design. As upper kitchen cabinets give way to shelving, it’s the perfect place to accessorize your remodel. As long as you dust the shelves and don’t crowd them, there’s no reason why this styling won’t work in any style kitchen remodel. Display your favorite items in groups on these shelves and find spots for one or two larger items like oversized plates. Keep glasses, tableware, and candles on a shelf near your table for casual dining with elegance.

The shelves themselves can also make a statement with their materials. Choose wood to bring warmth and an organic feel or try a painted surface in a soft or vibrant color. Metal or steel shelving perfectly complements an industrial kitchen design. Glass shelving is popular in bath design, but why not try it to open up and let light bounce around your kitchen design? Your shelving style can either blend or contrast with containers placed on it, but they should work well together to enhance the style of your kitchen remodel.

6. What to do about walls.

Open storage reveals more wall space, which turns the wall surface itself into a feature of your kitchen design. Decorating walls is a great way to bring life to a kitchen remodel but overdoing it can ruin the look you’re trying to achieve. Wallpaper is increasingly popular but should be kept as a backdrop to shelving or kitchen cabinets if it is a bold pattern. Or try a contrasting tile in a recessed storage niche like this Gainesville kitchen design.

Rails with hooks or pegs are always good for storing utensils, cutting boards, or herb pots, bringing practicality and character to your food prep area. Hang art that complements the tone of your kitchen design and picks up on colors in other accessories. Large mirrors also work well in a kitchen design, increasing brightness and reflecting colors.

7. Bring plants into your space.

Don’t overlook the power of plants when accessorizing your kitchen design. As well as purifying the air, they make us feel connected to nature. You can go large with a Swiss Cheese plant or keep it small with succulents on a shelf. Hanging planters, suspended with cotton, leather, or metal chains, depending on your taste, or trailing plants on shelves or cabinets all add character and charm to a kitchen remodel. Air plants can also be suspended for a quirky, yet sophisticated look. Plants come in many shades and textures, so there’s one for any corner of your kitchen design. Fresh fruit and flowers also liven up any space, but there are fantastic imitations out there if you don’t want to maintain the real thing.

8. Make a statement with standalone furniture.

Custom cabinets and islands are the ideal storage solutions in a kitchen design, but there is always the option of adding a stand-alone piece of furniture to your kitchen remodel. You can move these pieces around, and paint or upholster them whenever you like too.

A rocking chair with a statement pillow or velvet footstool makes any corner inviting. You can pick up these colors or textures in seating around your island or table, especially in on-trend banquette seating with throw pillows. Try upcycling pieces too, transforming a closet into a place to store linen and china, or using an old wooden chest or steamer trunk as a coffee table. Mixing old and new, and freestanding and built-in adds more character to your kitchen design.

9. Dress up your windows.

Windows presents an ideal opportunity to accessorize your kitchen remodel. Any window treatment you choose can dramatically change the look and feel of your design as well as serve a practical purpose. Blinds can be structured or soft, like Roman blinds, and come in light or heavy fabrics. They are available in a huge range of colors and patterns and can complement your color scheme beautifully. If you choose to have drapes in your kitchen design, the organic look is on the rise, involving fabrics in neutral and raw materials such as cotton or linen. Keep the patterns, textures, and colors of your window treatment in line with other soft furnishings, like throws or rugs, for a unified feel to your kitchen remodel.

10. Light up your kitchen design.

Lighting is important to highlight certain areas of your kitchen design and create ambiance. You can also accessorize with lighting by choosing dramatic fixtures such as a statement pendant light over an island or table to make a unique focal point. Place a streamlined floor lamp beside a chair for an instant reading nook with style. Include strong lighting under upper kitchen cabinets for prepping food on countertops. Lighting itself can accentuate areas of your remodel if you uplight an island, downlight art or shelving, or create a different mood with colored lights.

There are so many ways to successfully accessorize your kitchen design, further enhancing its style and functionality. Why not explore our kitchen remodeling gallery for further inspiration? Also check out our full range of light fixtures, home accessories, and more to fit every style and every room in your home. Contact us today at Haile Kitchen & Bath LLC to discuss upgrading your kitchen design with one of our remodeling experts.