One of my all-time favorite things to do around the house is to decorate small areas.  Areas like a table top, dresser, buffet, or in the case, the kitchen island can get a makeover in about ten minutes.  And making a few little changes makes you feel like you have a totally new space.  I absolutely love using every day items within my decor, especially in the kitchen.  Dishes, silverware, a pile of cloth napkins within your decor makes you reach for those pretty things and actually use them.  How many beautiful things do you have in your kitchen that are hidden away in cabinets?   I wrote a post a long time ago about my favorite antique dishes and talked about using and enjoying them.  Why have them if you don’t get to see them daily?

I recently redecorated one side of our antique kitchen island here in the cottage, and used a lot of the items that we use on the regular.  I love how it turned out.

Decorating the Kitchen Island with Every Day Items

Tray / Basket / Barrel Top

When decorating smaller table top areas, I love to start with a tray, basket, or in this case an antique barrel top.  It keeps smaller items corralled and makes the space look less cluttery.  I found this barrel top when we went on one of our antiquing adventures last fall.  See my entire haul here because I found some great items.  Check out all of these different types of barrel tops, if you are interested.

Small Riser / Cake Plate/ Large Candle Stand

I love to add height using small risers.  You could use a cake stand or even a large candle stick.  I like to use them to display plants, candles, or even a container with pretty silverware.  See several small risers here that would work great for this.  Here is the link to the one I used.

Greenery or Plants

Of course, I had to add an artificial plant to the kitchen island display.  This is one that I got several months back. It looks and feels real which are my favorites.  It even came in this perfect white pot.

Dishes

The two sets of dishes that I have in this kitchen island display are from Amazon.  We use them almost every single day.  The larger bowls are perfect for salad or pasta as they aren’t really deep.  I love the scalloped design on the outside of them.  And the little dessert plates are adorable as well.  They have the little beaded design around the edge and are perfect for a sandwich, a small snack, fruit, etc.  

Cloth Napkins

We switched to cloth napkins a long time ago when I found a bunch at a garage sale for a few dollars.  I love these linen napkins for display.  They look like they are antique ones and come in lots of colors.  I, of course, went with a neutral color.

Silverware

I found this set of gold spoons on Amazon a few months back and love them.  They are not only perfect for displaying here, but they come in very handy for coffee, mixed drinks, or a nibble of peanut butter from the jar.  

Container – Urn, Jar, Crock

I grabbed this little gold urn from The Nested Fig several months back.  I believe they are out of stock currently but you could use an old crock or even a glass jar.  Hold pretty silverware, straws, or in this case, beeswax candles sticks.  I love the natural texture they bring to this area.  They even smell like beeswax.  And they are perfect to have on hand for last minute celebrations for cakes, cupcakes, etc.  

FYI – The Nested Fig is a great online shop that has so many cool items.  I have gotten several things from them.  And, I also have a code.  Use DANDD10 to get 10% off of your order.

Check out our Amazon storefront!  If you ever remember me sharing anything from Amazon, but you can’t find it, make sure you check out storefront.  I try to keep everything there.

If you want to see another barrel top display that I did last fall, check out this post.