Essential Decor Items For Kitchen Shelf Styling

Kitchen shelf styling is an often overlooked way to make the room where you prepare your meals feel more sophisticated. Rather than placing items on the shelving haphazardly, it's worth it to take the time to decorate the storage space with intention. Since shelf styling can be confusing, you might not know where to start. Thankfully, Erika Dale, an Interior Designer and the founder of Erika Dale Interior Design shared some of the essential decor items for kitchen shelf styling. The expert recommends displaying several elegantly designed decorative kitchenware items alongside more functional decor like baskets and cookbooks.

"When it comes to decorative open shelves in the kitchen, since they do not really need to function primarily as storage shelves, you can have a little fun and show off your style," Dale said while speaking exclusively to House Digest. "It is nice to start the selection by showcasing really special, beautiful to look at kitchen- or bar-related items such as wood or marble cutting boards, sculptural earthenware, cute canisters, lovely cake stands, tea kettles, glass cloches, copper or brass items, and other pretty yet practical items." Setting up a stunning arrangement of these items on your open kitchen shelves can completely transform the feel of the space.

Now that you know which items look great on kitchen shelves, the next step is to figure out how to arrange them so that they are visually pleasing. Dale shared that mixing kitchenware with other decor pieces is one technique worth trying out. "The key to an elegantly-styled shelf is to then layer in decorative items to bring it to life, such as small art pieces, plants, vases, candles, small baskets, or stacks of nice cookbooks," she said while speaking exclusively to House Digest.

According to the interior designer, it's also important to select only items you would actually want to look at every time you step into your kitchen. It's best to avoid putting items on exposed shelves that simply don't have any other assigned storage space. This is a common shelf styling mistake many homeowners make. Decorating with intention produces the best results. Dale also recommends keeping things minimalistic. "Packing too much stuff on there will read cluttered rather than chic," she explained. You can also use this same method to decorate your kitchen countertops without clutter.

While speaking exclusively with House Digest, Dale shared a few other kitchen shelf styling tips you can use to help design an arrangement that speaks to you. "Layering pieces in front or behind each other creates a nice depth," she revealed. "Varying the height and material of the items also creates a dynamic mix that keeps the eye moving."

Developing a palette is also helpful. "While it is exciting to use mixed materials, develop a palette to stick to, which will help keep everything feeling curated and cohesive," Dale explained. "Keep it simple and play around the arrangement until it looks and feels just right." Using this method ensures your kitchen shelf decor arrangement won't look thrown together. If you need a few budget-friendly pieces to add to your shelves to follow this advice, consider checking out your local thrift store and online marketplaces that sell used goods. When you are done applying these tips, your guests might start to question whether a professional decorated your shelving.