How to Decorate the Tops of Cabinets

Utilize the space above your kitchen cabinets to display decorative accents.

Homemakers often focus their attention to a kitchen's decorative detail primarily on the countertops, walls, cabinets and floors. There's another space, however, that is easy to overlook, even though incorporating it into the overall design will add a finishing touch to your kitchen decor. Decorating the space at the tops of cabinets -- whether it's an open storage shelf space or a solid wall that is flush with the face of the cabinets -- can tie together the look of your kitchen, from top to bottom.

Things You'll Need

• Decorative dish sets
• 1-by-4-inch wood boards
• 1-by-6-inch wood boards
• Decorative wood trim
• Compound miter saw
• Pneumatic nail gun
• Brad finishing nails
• Goggles
• Level
• Stain
• Paint

Instructions

Open Space

1. Decorate the open space above your cabinets with plates, tea sets, crockery or shiny pots and pans. This area gives you a lot of bonus space to display your specialty kitchenware without infringing on the high-use areas of the kitchen.

2. Space the items evenly across the tops of the cabinets in decorative arrangements, much like you would arrange them on a table or a buffet.

3. Interchange your decorative pieces periodically to refresh the kitchen's look. This practice also affords you the opportunity to display more decorative items than can fit in the space at any given time.

4. Arrange the decorative pieces in color or style themes, such as groups of blue and white ceramics, green glass, textured baskets or copper pots.

Wall Above the Cabinet

1. Enhance the tops of your kitchen cabinets with decorative wood trim molding when the wall above them is flush with their panels. Select trim molding similar to the design of the cabinets. Use a narrow trim molding to simply accent the cabinets or build up a wide, dimensional molding that layers 1-by-4-inch or 1-by-6-inch wood boards with decorative trim along the edges.

2. Measure the length of the cabinetry. Put on safety goggles and cut the trim molding to size with a compound miter saw. Miter the molding at the corners with 45-degree-angled cuts, so that it meets at the inner and outer corners of the cabinets and wraps around the tops of the cabinets.

3. Nail the trim molding into the wall or cabinetry top with a pneumatic nail gun. The addition of this molding adds height to the cabinets and gives them a more stately, weighted appearance.

4. Stain or paint the trim molding to match the cabinets. Select the exact stain color used on wood cabinets to make the accents look like original elements of the design. Paint the trim molding to match painted cabinets or use any color that coordinates with the overall color theme of your kitchen.

5. Apply a paint finish to the tops of the cabinets, even without the addition of decorative trim molding. This elevated area is ideal for a highlight color that draws the eyes upward and expands the visual impact of your kitchen design.

References

• Pier 1 Imports: How to Decorate Above Cabinets