Ina Garten's Rule For Deciding What To Display In Her Kitchen

When it comes to kitchen design and organization, who you gonna call? Kitchen-busters, of course. In our dreams, we all could pick up a phone and chat with the Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten, the queen of exorcising kitchen ghosts and nightmare tasks. But barring direct conversation with her gazillions of fans, Garten is still known for doling out no-nonsense cooking tips and ideas for the kitchen. When designing, organizing, and displaying items, she has a few aesthetic and practical tricks up her flour-dusted sleeves.

With her usual affinity for understated, yet warmly appealing, spaces, Garten took to Instagram and shared how she personally curates the items on display in her kitchen. First and foremost, she declared, "I love working in a kitchen with beautiful things, but I hate anything that's purely decorative." It's a classic personification of the design principle that form follws function, which dictates that decor and furnishings must first be based on usefulness. The style then arises naturally from practical needs. Garten certainly has good company in this mindset, as renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright openly embraced the concept.

When envisioning your specific kitchen and the feeling you desire when entering that well-used domain, imagine the things you often use. Whether it's an earthy olive-wood cutting board, set of retro-style cooking spoons, whimsical stoneware canisters, or cherished Ina Garten cookbooks, they're all contenders for those visible nooks, crannies, and shelves in your kitchen. Garten has even more tips on this topic.

Just because something must be useful doesn't mean that aesthetics aren't highly important as well. For British designer and artist William Morris, you could have one without the other. As noted by the British Museum (via Facebook), Morris famously said, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." Ina Garten believes both are possible at the same time in a kitchen. 

Use your own instincts, acknowledge the things you personally love, and then get busy creating a personally curated culinary nirvana. As Garten put it, "just move things around until you find the most pleasing arrangement!" She did, however, offer some practical suggestions for making that happen. First up is mixing old and new items — functional ones, of course. That could include antique salt cellars perched beside modern Italian glass bowls, or solid white plates stacked beside a brass serving tray handed down for generations. Blending well-loved items with exciting new finds creates depth and a feeling of thoughtful collecting.   

Garten's list of personal touches to consider includes choosing and implementing limited color palettes and juxtaposing varying shapes and heights against one another. For example, she said that "a beautiful plate or platter leaning against the back wall of the shelves can give height to your arrangement." Finally, there's the ultimate room definer: books. Again, choose ones you love, and place them strategically within your burgeoning, curated kitchen space. For more inspiration from Garten, check out the Barefoot Contessa's entertaining tips and tricks.