Style Your Kitchen Like a Pro! Before and After Makeover
Welcome to another Project Design: How To Style Your Kitchen Like a Pro! This is a topic near and dear to my heart!! Here are eight items to keep your kitchen fresh, useful and uncluttered. You can see how I arranged these items in my client, Melba’s recent kitchen remodel. Use them to style your kitchen.
- fruit bowl
- art
- fresh herbs
- cutting boards
- rug runner
- cookbooks
- tray
- dish towels
Cindy from Rough Luxe Lifestyle, Annie from Most Lovely Things and I are happy to have Carla Aston Designed and Monica Wants It join us for this Project Design.
Here are some before photos. Not bad but not as updated as Melba wanted. 
fruit bowl
One or more fruit bowls on display encourage healthy snacking. I keep my tomatoes out, too. And fresh flowers are a nice luxury!
art
The paintings in Melba’s kitchen are by artist Tjasa Owen.
Fresh herbs and cutting boards
Five different herb plants from Trader Joe’s are placed in a soup tureen. Wood accents warm up the white and are useful.
rug runner 
black and gray runner
Cookbooks for inspiration
I like to rotate a just few favorite cookbooks on the counter for color and inspiration.
Inexpensive dish towels
These Target dish towels are not so costly that you yell at your husband for wrecking them with tomato sauce 🙂 (Heck, I’m thankful he cooks).
An oval rattan tray and farmhouse utensil holder keep things tidy.
For Melba’s remodel, I encouraged her to use a round table (from RH) in this angled smaller space (instead of a bulky rectangular table–she has a large dining room and table) with black dining chairs.
The cabinets were painted Benjamin Moore Light Pewter, the new counters are Corian Quartz London Sky and the walls are Benjamin Moore Winds Breath.
We also have new cylinder pendants and Schaub cabinet pulls and knobs. Below you can see some of Melba’s beautiful woodland view.
We have been considering lots of different new counter stools…but I like Melba’s existing (valuable, comfortable and classically modern) leather Bottega counter stools. They add a splash of color.
Thanks, Melba, for letting me show your new kitchen.
I know you will want to get some advice on how to style your kitchen from these ladies!!
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Love what you did! We’re thinking of lowering our counter an going all white too.
Right now we have white cabinets with uba tuba verde (ugh!). Have been looking at stilestone statuario for both counter & backsplash. What tiles did you choose?
Thanks
Nancy
That sounds beautiful, Nancy. I am thinking of a hand-glazed tile in a warm white in between the counter and cabinet color.
The table makes the room. The wood and the size – perfection!!! Is the floor new? I read it twice but maybe I missed that??? Really incredible makeover.
You did your thing once again and worked wonders in this kitchen, it’s so gorgeous! Of course, there’s nothing better than an all white kitchens. I love the black and white touches, the pop of color with the red counter stools and it is styled to perfection!
Wish it was my kitchen.
xoxo
Gail
You have a great kitchen, Gail. I want to see photos of the new upstairs!
hi Mary Ann
wow, I stopped & studied this kitchen and came away with many ideas. it is perfection!
lucky Melba, clever you ❤️
Debra
Thanks, Debra!
LUCKY LADY A NEW KITCHEN!SO CLEAN AND SHARP!
Love the new pendants… nice update. Great round table… perfect for that spot.
Love the update and herbs in tureen. It’s stunning and useful. I agree with the red barstools make a zingy happy note. One of things I like is the real hood over the gas range! Smart choices and the results is a clean, updated and workable kitchen space.
ps I’m the only cook in my kitchen and years ago I gave up on “pretty” kitchen towels. I buy only white so they can be bleached. No one to blame but me when sauce splatters. Although I’m still training my husband of 43 years that the bar towels are for spills on the floor. I’m thinking that the training wheels will never be coming of. Sigh!
You did an amazing job with this kitchen update, love the white cabinets, new backsplash and countertops, hardware, and all the pretty styling!
Nice job Mary Ann! Big difference!
I have to admit I am a fan of the clean line white kitchen, mixed in with some vintage items like chopping boards, fresh herbs and a solid wooden table and one can’t go wrong in my very humble opinion!
What a great remodel and lovely styling, Mary Ann. Love the red barstools too. 🙂
Lovely fresh crisp clean kitchen. Love the areas of display you did. Just the right pops of color and texture needed. The bar stools are definitely keepers great suggestions and tips.
Hi Mary Ann
Do you know where the very small set of wood nesting bowls are from. They are pictured with the farm style utensil display.
That is a beautiful light filled kitchen.
A beautiful remodel. I love the fresh, airy look of a mostly white kitchen.
A white kitchen always looks great.
The artichokes with the flowers made me smile–I just bought way too many artichokes, and put them in water like flowers, which they are, after all.
I am going to copy that soup tureen herb garden. I have too many tureens, and the herbs in the garden get gobbled up by snails.
Mary Ann!
I love this kitchen! The art, the red counter stools, the flowers, the herbs in the tureen, the wood boards all warms up a beautiful white bright kitchen! This is the kitchen of my dreams! And I need that black and white bowl with the oranges!
annie
Such a pretty kitchen. I love the counter stools with that pop of color. Melba is so lucky to have your talented eye to add just the right accessories and touches. You and Carla both love proteas!