The Perfect Pieces To Style Your Kitchen
The kitchen, more than any other room, gets dressed in layers. Below, our considered guide to the five pieces we'd reach for first — the art, the easel, the vase, the bowl, and a little greenery used sparingly.
A piece of art, propped not hung
There’s a particular pleasure in leaning a piece of art against the wall rather than committing it to a hook. It looks unfussy — like you might move it next week, or you might not — and it lets a kitchen breathe in a way that a perfectly hung gallery wall sometimes can’t.
A botanical print works especially well in a kitchen: living things, on paper, near other living things. Choose something with quiet colour rather than a loud statement, and it will sit beautifully alongside whatever you cook, eat, and pour beside it.
Art
A vase, kept simple
A kitchen vase doesn’t need to be a statement. In fact, it’s usually better when it isn’t. A single ceramic or glass vase on the counter, holding one type of stem — eucalyptus, olive branches, a handful of dahlias from the garden in summer — does more for a room than a full bouquet ever could.
Choose a shape you’d happily look at empty, and you’ll never feel the pressure to keep it full.
Vases & Pots
A footed bowl, left out
There’s something about a bowl raised slightly off the surface that changes the energy of a kitchen counter. A footed bowl asks to be filled — with lemons, with pears, with a few stems of rosemary — and rewards the small effort with a vignette that looks considered without trying to.
Our Striped Footed Terracotta Bowl has earned its place; the Tuscan Rustic Terracotta is its rounder, warmer cousin. Either works.
Bowls & Dishes
A little faux greenery, used sparingly
We’re cautious about faux greenery — it’s the difference between considered and catalogued. Used well, it’s wonderful: a single stem in a vase, a sprig of olive trailing from a footed bowl, one trailing plant on a high shelf where real plants would struggle.
Used badly, it overwhelms. The rule we tend to follow: if you can imagine cutting it from a real plant, it works. If you can’t, it doesn’t.
Greenery
A well-styled kitchen is about layering — natural texture, considered pieces and a few things left beautifully on show. Whether you're dressing an island, a run of open shelving or a breakfast bar, the aim is a space that feels lived-in and warm rather than staged. Here's how we'd approach it at CharlesTed.
Start with the island
The island is the natural centrepiece, so seating sets the tone. Complete it with a rattan bar stool, its handwoven texture softening hard worktops and cabinetry and bringing organic warmth to the heart of the room. Line up two or three for a considered, unfussy look.
Layer the table and shelves
Build in tactile, everyday pieces you're happy to leave out. Our crockery and tableware — dinner sets, scalloped plates and serveware — earns its place stacked on open shelving as much as on the table. Add depth with kitchen accessories like wooden boards, placemats and linen, which bring the natural materials that make a kitchen feel grounded.
Finish with the details
The finishing touches are what pull a kitchen together — a bowl of fruit, a bundle of stems, a tray gathering the small things. Browse our full range of kitchen and dining accessories for the trays, crockery and decorative pieces that turn a functional kitchen into a styled one.