Decorate a kitchen? When moving into a new home, most people won't give much thought to kitchen décor. After all, there are curtains to hang, floors to cover and living room walls to adorn. The kitchen has cabinets and appliances that take up most of the space, and the rest should take care of itself. Right?

Then comes the stark realization that the space between the cabinets and the ceiling look bare. Head back to the new home models and you'll notice that designers have placed objects in those spaces that can really make a big difference in your kitchen.

Olivia, the owner of Olivia's Home Accessories in Anthem, has spent many a morning in people's kitchens, trying to solve the niche and shelf problem. "Many people don't really know what to do with those spaces above the cabinets," she says. Olivia and her design team have decorated more than a few kitchens in the North Valley, and they've offered a few suggestions to help you do more than just fill these spaces with stuff.

Think Three
"As a rule of thumb, try to group three items together," says Olivia. She often combines two hard items and uses greens as a third. For example, group an iron object, a pot and a green. Or, combine a print, a green and a vase. Odd is the idea, so you could also group items in 5's. Olivia had a big space to fill in Bill Van Peeren's kitchen, so she grouped a manzanita branch, some greens, an urn and 2 wicker boxes stacked on top of each other.

Go Grand
"There's 42-52 inches up there to fill," says Olivia. "You should place items that fill over half that space." To fill up a large space over cabinets at Roger and Andreana Daniels' home, Olivia's designer, Angelique added a large, round wall clock. The clock serves a practical purpose, while adding a focal point to a large, bare space. The simplistic elegance of the clock needed no addition.

Arrange items with differing heights. The Daniels had a tall iron pyramid that Olivia arranged together with lower greens and other smaller items. She also likes to use Manzanita as a backdrop for pots and greens. Greens and florals come in different shapes, and can be arranged to provide the height or keep lower.

Any display on the top of cabinets should be flush with the crown moulding. You can use wood blocks or any other platform to bring everything up to the moulding level.

Add Color
Angelique Flanders, from Angelique Interiors, used a multi-colored bush in the Daniels' kitchen to add color and tie together colors from other items in the collection. Greens look great with brown pots or iron, and you can add a bit of red as well for impact.