Kitchen decor

Edit: Mom said the paragraph about the outside of the house not going with the inside didn't make any sense. What I meant was that, we're really not going for a country look at all, even though the outside of our house is sort of that style. She also said that the color I mean is really burgundy, not red. I guess it is. That's a dispute we have often, whether something is red or burgundy. :) I guess I mean burgundy though, because otherwise it's going to end up looking patriotic with the blue and stuff. So, burgundy, not red!

Okay, so this conversation took place while I was peeling and slicing carrots, and Mom was at the computer looking at stuff on ebay.

I've got a plan for redecorating our kitchen, and it involves painting the walls a warmer shade tan/brown, and using red, beige, tan, and blue for the decor instead of the blue and white stuff we have now. The problem is that the tan color we have on the walls now looks very gray on the wall under the upper cabinets. I think painting the kitchen a warmer shade will fix that, but we also need to change the decor. So we were talking about what we could put up on top of the upper cabinets. We obviously have problems with over-cabinet decor...it has to be fairly washable, because it is going to get dusty up there, and it can't be too fussy. For example, fake plants are definitely out.

Me: "So what are we going to do for decor up above the cabinets?"

Mom: "Hmm..."

Me: "The only things I can think of is that we need to get some sort of red plate to replace the one over the stove there, and maybe one...basket."

Mom: "One...basket?"

Me: "Yeah, just one, and nothing too terribly well, baskety. Nothing that looks really country."

Mom: "Oh. Um, how about a ceramic basket?"

Me: "NO! No, no, no...definitely not a ceramic basket! A real basket, just a fairly simple one. What about those signs? What's your opinion of those?"

Mom: "The signs with "funny" sayings on them?"

Me: "No, the wood letter ones that say "Kitchen" and stuff like that."

Mom: "Yeah, those are...yeah, I guess those are okay..."

Me: "We could make our own, I mean."

Mom: "Oh yes, you could get the letters at..."

Me: "...the hardware store, probably."

Mom: "...the craft store. In the paintable wood section."

Me: "Paintable wood?"

Mom: "You know, the section of all the unpainted wood stuff."

Me: "Oh, the unfinished wood stuff!"

Mom: "Unpainted Arizona."

Me: "What's that from?"

Mom: "The name of the furniture store in "Raising Arizona"."

Me: "Oh yeah, I remember that." (I pause to think about that crazy movie.) "Uh, anyway...signs...we could make one, and it could say whatever you want it to say. 'Here's your sign'."

(Mom doesn't seem entirely convinced.)

Mom: "What about an eggplant?"

Me: "Made out of what?"

Mom: "Ceramic of course, I'm thinking washable!"

Me: "Oh. Hmm... No, an eggplant is the wrong color, plus it will show dust very fast. But that's a good idea, what else is there that would work?"

Mom: "An apple? A big apple cookie jar like this one?" (she pulls up an apple cookie jar on ebay.)

Me: "Yes! That would work! How much is that?"

Mom: "Well, there's a lot of them...some of them are pretty cheap. I mean LOTS of them... and a tomato."

Me: "Hmm...a tomato's the wrong color of red I think."

Mom: "Oh! here we go! This is what you wanted, right? Ceramic tomato basket canisters?"

(I'm speechless.)

Mom: "They are red."

Me: (After I stop laughing) "Oh boy, yeah, there we go. Fake tomatoes, fake basket... I was thinking of some beige canisters though"

Mom: "How would you arrange them?"

Me: "A cluster of maybe three. Beige canisters, tastefully clustered."

Mom: "I don't know. I'm not sure about putting stuff up where you couldn't practically use it. It's decor, but if it wasn't, you wouldn't put them up there, you couldn't reach them. Although we do have plates up there now..."

Me: "Oh, what about one of the platters that came with the dishes? Or would that seem strange to have the same pattern used as decor?"

Mom: "No, that would work. I don't actually use a platter very often anyway, so I certainly wouldn't need both of them."

So...maybe you had to have been there. :p

So all we really came up with was a plate for over the stove, an apple cookie jar, a basket, and a platter. And maybe some canisters. But we need more than that.

Does anyone have any ideas? We have medium oak cabinets, and about maybe a foot and a half of space above them. Fake plants are out, as well as...hmm...fake birds, wallpaper border, and anything so priceless that it will be devastating if the cat knocks it off. :)

Our house is a small one-story ranch house, so I suppose in not having a country decor it doesn't go with the outside of our house particularly. Although the front of our house looks more modern since the carpenter bees drilled out our porch railing and it rotted and fell down we took our porch railing off. (See edit above.)

The only decorative thing I've thought of since then is some sort of wood box sort of thing. You know, just a random sort of antique looking box, or crate maybe? But I'm not sure where one would get something like that, or if it would really work. We could put it in the corner though, and maybe put something else on top of it depending on how tall it was... I don't know, I guess I don't have a real clear picture of what I'm thinking of even.

So, if anyone has any ideas, let me know! And if you have any of the items that I said were out...I don't mean to offend anyone. I've seen all those things in other people's houses and they've looked fine...they're just not things that will work for us! :)