What to Do With The Space Above Your Kitchen Cabinets

I am very excited that today I got my first follower that I don't know personally!  I am wondering who is reading this and it makes me happy that someone found me!  Welcome Craig!

Okay now on to the kitchen....

In my kitchen I have a couple of issues.  One is what to do with the space above my cabinets and the other is how to store the many bowls, serving platters, vases, etc. I have.  I currently use this antique chest but frankly it was a lot of weight and I was worried that I might be ruining this beautiful piece of furniture.



Also, as you can see in the top picture, there is a lot of clutter in the kitchen.  I wanted to take care of that as best as I could too.

The first thing I did was research.  I went online and found lots of pictures of groupings on shelves and above cabinets.  I found that things in all one color or a similar color scheme worked well.  I first thought I would go with all white but I didn't really have enough.  So I pulled everything I had that was either white, blue (to go with the living room accent color) or pewter.  That gave me a lot more options.

I also took everything off of the front of the refrigerator and placed some things on the counter down below in my cabinets so it wouldn't look quite as busy. 

This picture is quite dark but you can see the general idea.  I wasn't sure about it and was planning on sitting on it for a few weeks.  I got my answer when at the shower I received several compliments so I figured it was a keeper!

here it is close up...you can see how some things are on boxes.  You cannot see that from the floor but it helped to bring things up so you could see the whole piece.

I am enjoying it visually but also practically.  There is A LOT less in that chest of drawers which makes me feel better.  I am hoping to keep that piece for a lifetime and I won't if I use it too much.