Simple Shelf Styling for the Kitchen

Here's a few tips for simple shelf styling for the kitchen.

Do you remember the red buffet I made over in May {you can read about her story here}? She finally is in her forever home in the kitchen's breakfast area. Although she made a great mail/toy/junk catch while she awaited her permanent placement in the entry hall {insert eye-roll}. I just love how she looks in here. Is it annoying that I'm over-personifying this thing yet?

I can't wait to serve off of this piece! Can't you just see it lined with pies at Thanksgiving? Or stuffed with cookies for the Christmas goodie swap? It makes me kind of giddy, y'all.    

I decided since the buffet was such a dark and heavy piece, I wanted something light and airy above it. My husband originally thought I would be using these new Ikea shelves to alleviate the overflowing kitchen cabinets we have going on {I have an insane addiction to plates and glassware}. Much to his chagrin, I showed him the stash I'd been thrifting for the last few months to fill these babies. {I don't know how he didn't see that one coming}.

Again, these shelves were straight from Ikea. The key to this was finding anchors that held over 70 pounds each...and each bracket has two anchors. So technically, we can hold over 280 pounds of dishes for my *slight* obsession with anything serving related. We aren't. But we can. 

To keep the look light and consistent, I went with three basic ideas:
1. Only clear, white and wood tones went on the shelves. And wood tones were kept to a bare minimum.
2. Items that can easily be changed out for the holidays {I plan to fill the two domes with jingle bells, ornaments, peeps, conversation hearts and much more throughout the seasons}. And I can easily hang a little greenery or a burlap banner from corner to corner of one of the shelves.
3. I used multiple styles of white dishes {bought at several thrift stores and one set of Ikea} to add some fun and whimsy.  

{Above...in the working stages.}
The wooden base of the cheese dome along with the cutting board on top are meant to tie in to the dark top of the buffet. I may sand down the cutting board and add a darker stain to it...still thinking on it. 

The rectangular plates I used were given to me by my friends at Cafe Press. I was able to create my own graphics to use on them {I've always wanted hotel-logo plates, which is where the one on the left comes from}. I also created a couple of holiday ones to switch out for the seasons. I decided to keep the one on the top of the stack in display mode...to kind of break up the monotony of stacked plates over and over.

Want to make your own plate like the ones above? Check out the selection of design-your-own plates and serving platters over at the Cafe Press site. {If there's enough interest, I'm happy to put the two holiday images on here for free downloads...just leave me a comment; they're the design size of their large serving platters}. 

While you're there, be sure to check out the other cool things they have to design...including t-shirts and tons of cool invitations.

{While this is not a sponsored post, I was given free product from Cafe Press to review and give my opinion on.}

I'm not 100% sure on this printable yet. I like it, but not sure this is the spot for it. Since those plates above it have writing on them, I wonder if the wall is too wordy with all of it together. I might just print a simple graphic or something instead. I will put this out as a Friday's Freebie for those interested {look for it at the end of the month}.

Can you see the ladder in the glass reflection on the above printable? The entire room is still a work in progress. It's slowly killing me. A part of me dies every time I walk into it. Every. Time.

So, what'cha think? I'd love any thoughts or suggestions.

And I'm dying over what to do with that stupid phone jack. 

I can't Photoshop it out in real life.

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Here are some of my other finished kitchen projects thus far:

DIY Cabinet Upgrades

Kitchen Island Transformation

Pantry Redo

{i linky-party here}

and at Coastal Charm and Savvy Southern Style

Neglect your chores like me and don't miss a thing:

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