Decorating and styling awkward spaces is…well, awkward. One area I’ve always had a problem styling is above the fridge. If your refrigerator doesn’t fit perfectly snug under your cabinets (or you have no cabinets at all), then you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Check out our refrigerator area. Our fridge is short and squat and definitely doesn’t fit snug into the open space. I think the builder anticipated a much taller fridge going into this spot. Yes we have 2 nice kitchen cabinets above for storage, but we’re also left with a weird in-between area.

Because it’s so darn awkward, I’ve chosen to neglect and ignore this area. I just threw a basket up there, and a vase with some napkins in it and called it a day. But the area always bugged me (it looked pretty terrible), and I knew I couldn’t leave it looking like that much longer.

So I took 10 minutes, gathered some stuff from around our house that was currently “homeless”, and got to work styling.

I knew that I wanted three things for this area.

1. I needed some height. Putting something short and squat up there was not going to do any good.

2. I didn’t just want this to be decorative…it needed to also be functional with some kitchen storage.

3. If I needed to access those upper cabinets, I had to be able to take down and put up the decor very easily.

I think my wicker tray (found in the basket aisle at HomeGoods) definitely helped fulfill all three categories.

It’s great because it corrals all of the items, so they’re not loosely hanging atop the fridge. If I need to access the upper kitchen cabinets to find my fondue pot (you bet I’ll be using that bad boy for some chocolate fondue once lent is over!), then all I have to do is lift the tray right down onto the counter, and then put it right back into place.

It’s also great because it holds some items that were crowding our bar cart like these Pellegrino bottles and champagne glasses.

I also tucked some extra coasters, a candle, and our linen napkins right up in the wicker tray. The silver candle looks like mercury glass and I’m obsessed with this HomeGoods find. Something that smells good and looks good? Yes, please! The peacock bowl was found in the HomeGoods clearance aisle last year and it’s currently holding some blue linen napkins.

Now if I need to set the table I’ve got all kinds of goodies right at my fingertips.

For now, I’m loving my new styled area in our kitchen. The space is definitely less awkward, and a lot more “me.” (But heck, I’m plenty awkward too.)

Bridget added a fun and unique setup above her fridge. Check out her “Pop Shop” in this post.