Using Kitchen Cabinet Dead Space

If you have a kitchen with that empty space above the cabinets, you know what I'm talking about. It really is "dead space," and it's hard to know what to do with it. It would be awesome if we could just throw our boxes of Christmas decorations up there, or use it for extra pantry space. But both of those options would be terrible because it is open and visible! And that dead space is one of the first things your eyes see when you walk into a kitchen! Renovating your kitchen may not always be an option if you're renting your home or even if you own it because a kitchen-reno is super expensive. Because I am renting and there's nothing I can really change about my kitchen, I have found some fun things to top my cabinets with, as well as make it useful.

My solution: I use this space to house my vases, pitchers, and decorative serveware.

It's hard to know how to store your vases anyway, since they can't be stacked in a precarious place and they are usually unique shapes and sizes. Different-sized glass and ceramic items are so pretty grouped together, so I arranged all of my pitchers and vases in a semi-spread-out cluster. They are not things I use everyday (like pots and pans, dishes, and baking bowls), so I don't mind climbing up there to get them down on the occasional days I need to use one. I added a couple inexpensive colorful vases that I got at HomeGoods (seriously, less than $10 each) to the other end to balance out the overall look and tie in my kitchen colors.

I also have placed some serving items, like that Wilton platter and the silver Pottery Barn Chancellor Bowl, both of which were wedding presents. It is fun to have those on display, rather than locked away in a cabinet or closet somewhere.

I placed my glass cake dome on the other side of the kitchen - another big, weirdly-shaped item that is awkward to store but looks pretty on display!

  

I have also seen people decorate their kitchen cabinets with collected wine bottles, baskets, or some type of garland or ivy. How do you fill the dead space above your kitchen cabinets? What are some other ways you store awkwardly shaped items?

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