Mark Feldman, chief home officer and general manager at Riverbend Home, shares his expertise on how to tastefully display your kitchen accessories.
1. Hang pots overhead. Busy cooks need quick and easy access to their cookware. Get those pots and pans out of the cabinets and hang them overhead using a pot rack. Ceilingmounted racks work well over kitchen islands or in another central location.
2. Keep a functional flow with movable storage. If you’re tight on cabinet space, choose movable storage options. Rolling bar carts, such as those from Riverbend Home, give extra space to store items, can double as an island for food prep and will roll out of the way as needed.
3. Use the walls. Use any and all wall space you have to maximize storage. A narrow standing shelf unit is a great place to keep everyday cooking tools, and a wall-mounted bar with S-hooks is a great small kitchen solution to free up cabinet and drawer space.
4. Make functional tools part of the décor. For blenders, toasters and microwaves, opt for designs and finishes that complement the overall décor. Stick to a monochromatic theme to blur the distinction between cabinet, wall and appliances. Or, go for a colored appliance to add a pop to the kitchen.
5. Incorporate plants. Growing herbs on the windowsill in decorative pots is a great way to add some life to the kitchen. Or, display fresh-cut flowers in a ceramic pitcher.
To achieve this farmhouse look, mix vintage items with new. While the cabinets and island are new, some of the accessories, such as this amber glassware and vase set, are vintage. |ABOVE| A LITTLE VINTAGE CAN GO A LONG WAY. Kara hung a vintage strainer among a set of new copper pots from Riverbend. She also suggests displaying functional pieces such as this LeCreuset Dutch oven, also from Riverbend Home.
|TOP| Kara came across this vintage platter on a shopping trip and thought the colors in the scenery complemented the kitchen. “It’s like a little painting,” she says. Vintage ironstone is a smart way to organize utensils and add character to the kitchen.
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SWEET DREAMS. “With such strong statement pieces as the Thos. Moser Pencil Post bed’s simple yet elegant design, along with the Moser rocking chair, the room doesn’t need much else,” Kara points out. “I added an antique pine chest, antique Eastlake side tables, brass plug-in wall sconces and draperies for a splash of warm color.”
|RIGHT| “L” IS FOR “LAUNDRY.” “The laundry room on the plans called for an alley cabinet layout with no sink. However, the homeowners loved my idea of redesigning the layout into an ‘L’ shape to be able to include an apron-front sink in front of the window,” Kara says. This left an open spot for a furniture piece they could use for storage. “I styled the room with an antique pine dry sink that serves as a place to pot plants and trim flowers for arrangements,” Kara says. “I’ve found that in older homes without a lot of space, creating multifunctional rooms makes them more livable.”
|OPPOSITE, BOTTOM| MISSION RESTORATION. Kara’s team restored the old fireplace in the dining room to its original beauty; and, by designing a built-in china cabinet with Emtek hardware using the existing utility-like shelves, they could keep the historic appeal of the room while simultaneously improving its function. “One of the best parts of doing a renovation to a historical home is discovering buried treasures. Here, we found beautiful brick under the tile surround and quartersawn oak under all those layers of paint,” Kara says. “I added a marble hearth, along with a marble counter edge to the china cabinet, ensuring we stayed true to the room’s Old-World ambience.”
|ABOVE| PRETTY PANTRY. “It was important that the main pantry wall be beautiful, because it would be a focal point in the kitchen,” Kara explains. “Using trim from Woodgrain, we designed shelves accordingly and then added beadboard as backing. We lined the shelves with beautiful kitchen cookware and serving collections from Riverbend Home and then mixed in some vintage kitchen finds.”