How to Style Your Kitchen Counters

A kitchen is one of the most high-traffic and most utilized areas of a home and while it should be functional, that doesn’t mean it can’t be pretty! Since moving into our current home, I’ve been playing around with our kitchen’s style and the design of our favorite and most used items to create a space that makes me truly happy. After playing around with different items, I’ve finally found the ones that make the most impact in the space without sacrificing functionality. 

If you’re not sure how to style your kitchen counters, today’s post is for you! I’m diving into how you can easily style your kitchen counters and some of my favorite pieces to incorporate into your space.

Related Post: Tips & Tricks for Styling a Console Table

How to Style Your Kitchen Counters

Cutting Boards

There’s nothing more I love in a kitchen than a pretty cutting board. I seriously love them so much and always find myself shopping for them even though I have a pretty good collection going already.

Even though cutting boards are a fun way to style your kitchen, it’s important to not overdo it. In a larger kitchen, three cutting boards is more than enough and if your kitchen is smaller, try to keep it at one or two boards.

When selecting cutting boards for your kitchen, make sure you vary the sizes, tones, colors, and shapes to get a good mix that doesn’t look too “perfect.” Look for ones with a cool handle or one that is an irregular shape to really draw the eye in. If you’re not sure what to do with them, try layering two and leaning them behind your oven, or have one flat on the counter with some drinks on top!

Decanters & Canisters

Don’t sleep on decanting your dry goods and displaying them out on your counters! I love this because it not only styles your countertops but it makes those items more accessible when cooking and baking. You can opt for decanters and canisters that are solid or ones that are translucent. I personally love doing a solid color canister than bringing in translucent decorative jars to place on top of cookbooks, on my island, or on a shelf.

These, these, and thesethese, are all great options for storing your dried goods but I’ve included a few more options below that would fit any kitchen style!

Cookbooks

I love styling my kitchen countertops with cookbooks. They’re practical, especially on the days you have no idea what to cook, but they also add a visual element to your space. There are a few ways you can style cookbooks in your kitchen: open on a book stand, stacked, or standing with the spines out. I personally think all three ways look great and a lot of times, how you style cookbooks in your kitchen all depends on the balance of the rest of your styling and how much space you have. 

Since we have open shelving on both sides of our stove, I chose to balance the space with stacked cookbooks (love this one, this one, and this one) on a shelf with a clear ginger jar styled on top of them. On the opposite side, I have a few cookbooks stacked on the counter with a topiary (love this faux greenery option so much!) and a bowl styled on top of them. 

Art

Art is such an easy way to bring personality into a space and there are so many fun ways to display it, especially in a kitchen. My three favorite ways to display art are (always in a pretty frame) leaning on the counter against the backsplash, ON the backsplash (yes you can totally do this without damaging it!), and standing on the counter or a shelf! In our current kitchen, we have a piece of framed art on our open shelving and it’s SO cute. 

If you’re going to adhere the art to your backsplash (love this idea for freeing up counter space!), make sure to use command strips that are heavy-duty so you don’t have to worry about the art falling and breaking.

Cake Stands

Cake stands are an easy decorative piece that add interest and height to your countertops but can also be used for cake (duh!) or stacked for extra appeal. I have a few cake stands that I stacked on our open shelving next to our stove and love them so much!

When stacking cake stands, try opting for smaller size stands to avoid taking up too much valuable space in your kitchen. Love these ones, these ones, and these ones!

A Fruit Bowl

Alright, you already know how much I love a good cookbook in a kitchen but you know what really says I have my life together? A bowl of fresh fruit. 

When styling fresh fruit, I usually use a small bowl or a pedestal-style bowl like this one for more visual interest. Depending on your lifestyle and what your family likes, you can either fill the bowl with all of the same fruit (apples for example!) or do a mix of fruits to cater to everyone’s needs. Both look great!

Herbs or A Plant

As one of the highest traffic areas in a home, there’s nothing better than greeting your guests or family members into the space with fresh herbs or freshly cut flowers. Not only can you use the herbs while cooking, but both the herbs and fresh flowers will instantly transport anyone that enters your kitchen into the English countryside. All jokes aside, both will bring color, texture, and scent into your kitchen to breathe a little life into the space! 

Don’t be afraid of playing around with size and contrast with the pot/vase your greenery is in. You can instantly add drama to your kitchen with a larger, more voluminous plant or keep things simple with a delicate vase and flowers picked from your yard.

Have a plant for your kitchen but need some pots? Or a new vase? I’m loving this one, this one, and this one, and also linked some other options for you to shop below!

When it comes to styling your kitchen counters, don’t be afraid to move things around and play around with function and beauty. At the end of the day, a kitchen is still a kitchen and it being functional for feeding yourself and your family is the top priority!

Thanks for reading! Be sure to follow along with me on Instagram @curlsandcashmere.

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