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I’m so proud of the way our recent kitchen remodel turned out. When it was near completion, I started to look for a few special decor items that would really make it feel finished and polished. The items you’ll find in this post are a mixture of those new things and some timeless, tried and true pieces that I’ve loved for years.
Dishes.
Now, since we have all upper open storage now, our kitchen ‘decor’ includes dishes, so I’ll start with those! A few years ago, I found these Red Vanilla china dishes and they have held up SO WELL. Currently, we have a mixture of those dishes and some older dishes from Target that I would not recommend as they all have chipped and shown scratching. Eventually, I’ll replace the old beat up ones, but for now, here is the link for my favorite everyday white dishes:
The other dishes you’ll see around our kitchen are: drinking glasses, mixing bowls, pinch bowls, coffee cups and wine glasses. I found these affordable drinking glasses last year and love their fun, bubbly texture. They’re also nice and thick, so they hold up nicely and aren’t easy to break. They come in sets of 4 and we have them in the tall and short sizes.
Our wine glasses are ones we’ve had for years! I love their shape and how sophisticated they look – we always get compliments on them. We have a set of the white wine, red wine and G has a few of the Double Old Fashioned glasses too since that’s his favorite cocktail 🙂
Coffee Cups.
At our coffee bar, you’ll find a few different styles of coffee cups. We have the Red Vanilla set, which are simple, understated, round mugs. Then, we have a set of these beautiful stoneware mugs from Mcgee & Co. They are the ones G and I reach for most often. I love their irregular shape and the handles are long and skinny, so they’re fun to hold! They also have a nice round base, which makes them nice and sturdy.
Finally, we have these oversized cappuccino mugs from Zara Home. I love these because, well, who doesn’t love a big cozy mug? They’re perfect for cappuccinos or just having room for that extra shot in the morning 😉 I couldn’t give these a fancy link, but you can find them here!
Pinch & Mixing Bowls.
I use all of these little bowls almost every evening when prepping dinner. I LOVE these textured ones that I found at Anthroplogie because they add a little pop of color to our neutral kitchen and they have a convenient little pouring spout! G loves them for making sauces too.
I recently found these stoneware pinch bowls from Target’s Hearth & Hand with Magnolia line and have loved them so far! They’re perfect for holding sauces, dips and different ingredients while prepping dinner.
Other Decor.
Other decor that you’ll see around our kitchen includes some practical items made pretty. These include wooden cutting boards, my favorite tiered tray that I use for storing produce, this pretty gold pepper mill, wooden pedestal trays, artwork and these pretty rattan trivets that I keep hung on the wall for style and function! All mentioned items are linked below:
**Note: the two cutting boards you see next to our stove are from Homegoods! They always have awesome cutting board options at great prices. TJ Maxx too**
Not seeing a link you want? Feel free to leave a comment below and let me know what you’re looking for!
Why I love open shelves in the kitchen.
When we got rid of our upper cabinets in the kitchen, I know many people watching on Instagram thought I was crazy. People wanted to know why I would get rid of all that storage, but the reality is that the cabinets we got rid of were not very full to begin with. And getting rid of them forced me to reevaluate what we had. If I didn’t want to display an item, I either found room for it in a lower cabinet or I donated it! Simple as that. It has also allowed us to be more intentional about the items that we choose for our kitchen. Now, we don’t simply buy things on a whim with the crutch of being able to store it out of mind/sight. Everything that is bought for the kitchen is now intentional, functional.. and pretty! Ultimately, I think open shelves have encouraged us to buy less and enjoy the things we do have more.
The other thing I love about open shelving in the kitchen is that it allows you to integrate decor throughout without making countertops or walls feel too cluttered. I love a clean, open area and was finding that the upper cabinets in our particular case were making our kitchen feel enclosed, lifeless and unpersonal! I know they are not for everyone, but we love them for our home 🙂
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Hazel Avery says
What a great article. I love your cabinets. The white is to die for. I’m trying to get a fresh cabinet painting soon in my own place, and seeing your design was really helpful to me. Thanks for sharing!
amanda says
So glad you found it helpful! Thank you for being here!!