Decorating with kitchen accessories

Looking around your kitchen, try to envision how it might look with a coordinated decorating scheme. You can choose colors, designs, and motifs from hundreds or thousands of products that are available at home furnishing stores or even specialty shops that exclusively offer kitchen items. Don't settle for an out-of-date look. Start shopping for some exciting pieces to dress up your work area!

1. Select a theme that coordinates with the rest of your home. For example, you don't want to mix a country kitchen theme with an art deco motif from the living and family rooms. Nor will French provincial furniture mesh with early American dining room styles. If you decorate with farm animal designs in other rooms, use more of the same, albeit it different animals, in the kitchen and dining areas. When using floral patterns, link color schemes or patterns that run in clusters or families.

2. Choose accessories that are functional. For example, there's no point in hanging decorative baskets if they will only get in your way, particularly if your kitchen is small. Work with the space you have to create an attractive decor. You could stencil the base of the island that sits in the middle of your kitchen. Or you might hang a wallpaper border below the ceiling. Opt for smaller items when you have limited space. Or select larger pieces when you have the luxury of more area to fill with cabinets, shelves, or other design features that won't interfere with cooking or eating space.

3. Link the rest of your home's colors and patterns to the kitchen decor. If the primary shades are blue and green, shop for accessories in colors that go with your decor in other parts of the house. Or if you have a tartan plaid in several rooms' decoration schemes, use a touch of it in the kitchen, for example, as a wall-covering backdrop to the eating area or as seat covers for the chairs.

4. Coordinate accessories in the kitchen that match each other. Select among options like the following to extend your decorating motif in the kitchen and dining areas:

salt and pepper shakers

dishcloths and dish towels

canister set for dry goods

recipe box

appliance covers

napkin holder and paper towel dispenser

dishes or platters

shelf decorations or accent pieces

Any combination of these pieces can share color, design, or style to balance your kitchen's decorating scheme to emphasize unity and coordination.

5. Coordinate your decor with fixtures and furniture. White or off-white appliances like a dishwasher and stove will go with just about any color scheme or decorating pattern. If you use a floral wall covering based on a largely blue backdrop, shop for accent pieces that pick up the main color, such as blue dishes or cloth napkins. You may not be able to or even desire to match every piece in the same print or color, but get things that at least go together without clashing.

Family members spend much of their time together in the kitchen, so make your special area attractive and warm by carefully choosing the right design and decorations.