I'm sharing some of my own kitchen styling tips today and linking to some other talented design bloggers who are styling their kitchens too.

It's a fun way to keep your kitchen feeling new and fresh and just change things around in a room where you can't move the furniture to get a new look!

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Glass containers are versatile kitchen styling tools

I use these glass containers, from Container Store, in my kitchen and have used them in just about every photo shoot of a kitchen I’ve ever done.

They work with any style, the ingredients are really featured, and they don't compete with the backsplash, which is usually something I prefer the attention go to in any kitchen I design.

Kitchen Styling - Carla Aston, Photographer: Tori Aston #kitchenstyling

Depending on the style of the kitchen, I will put different ingredients inside. I like the pistachios and navy beans because they are light colored.

The browner beans, like pinto, bring in a natural textural look into a kitchen. White or brown rice works well too. I’ve used coffee beans, to create some contrast and add a dark element into the kitchen, or perhaps cookies and crackers.

If I want the space to come off as a cook’s kitchen, I’ll use flour and sugar, baker’s ingredients.

I always like to include a small scoop in the product. Even if I don’t use these products every day, I would like for it to look like I do! (Dreaming of getting back to my cooking days!)

Cutting boards add warmth and texture to kitchen styling

An all-white kitchen needs an element of wood to make it feel more approachable and inviting, in my opinion.

I have an antique bread board I found when I lived in Norway, propped up in my kitchen. It has the hand carved “Brød” in Norwegian. It makes this kitchen uniquely mine. :-)

I have a couple of nice wood boards I always use when styling for shoots, one is round. I like having unique shapes propped up on the backsplash. It makes for a pleasing composition.

Kitchen Styling with herringbone backpslash - Carla Aston, Photographer: Tori Aston #kitchenstyling

Trays help corral kitchen items and keep things organized

I have a variety of trays, wood, melamine, wicker, etc. They help keep things neat and tidy on a countertop.

When I style for shoots, I often do a coffee set up on a tray. I like to use a wood tray with my white cups.

This coffee set up below, used a client's own vintage tray. This kitchen was mostly white with some touches of wood.

I really wanted to inject more wood tones into this kitchen and we did so with the interesting cabinet pulls, and then in styling, with the sugar bowl and a tray of oils, vinegars and herbs with some wood elements.

I used another vintage tray of this homeowner's, on the breakfast table.

Kitchen Styling, Mid-century modern kitchen - Carla Aston, Photographer: Tori Aston #kitchenstyling

Here's a cool tray for a farmhouse kitchen look.

In my own kitchen, I keep one beside my cooktop for utensils, oils, and seasonings we use all the time. It helps keep that stash from growing and gives a neater, more organized appearance.

Utensils in containers keep tools at the ready in a pretty way I don’t like a variety of kitchen tools crammed into containers by the cooktop. I usually do all wood or all stainless, maybe all white, grouped together.

I have a great collection of olive wood utensils that I keep pretty unused just for shoots. Invariably, they end up slipping into my own collection at home. :-)

Again, this is a good way to bring a wood element into an all white kitchen, or to add some bling, with stainless, to a kitchen that needs a bit of shine or reflection.

Kitchen styling tips - Carla Aston, Photographer: Tori Aston #kitchenstyling

Small appliances kept to a minimum on the kitchen counters

Oh, that Insta-pot! A designer’s nightmare!

My husband loves this new appliance and of course, I’m so glad he is cooking these days that I will be happy cleaning it up and lugging it back to the pantry to go on the shelf in there.

I don’t like too many appliances on the kitchen counter, which is one of the big reasons I built my walk-in pantry. I wanted the lower shelves for that griddle, the food processor, the blender, crock pot, and now, that huge Instapot!

Kitchen Styling - Carla Aston, Photographer: Tori Aston #kitchenstyling #pantry

Styling to introduce color

Most of my clients don’t want colorful kitchens.

They are concerned about resale and want to stay neutral with their built-in finishes. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t love color or want to use it in their kitchen in some way.

My favorite cobalt/indigo blue color was the accent that I wanted to bring out in my neutral kitchen.

I love seeing a collection of plates on the wall in a kitchen, it really adds a personal touch to a room with mostly cabinets. My collection of the Delft blue KLM houses from my husband’s trips overseas on business, add a lot to my kitchen.

I've paired them with an African basket, some ceramics from a trip to Deruta, Italy, and some blue plates from Austria, purchased at the most charming store in Salzburg. I even have a blue plate from Norway with a ski scene. The color blue ties them all together and makes a significant color statement.

I always say, in a neutral environment, the color is what will stand out. I’ve had people tell me I had a blue kitchen, when really only these touches of blue were added in. With color used in this way, just a dab with do ya!

I painted that stool myself years ago and I still use it today, just for a perch at the end of my island. I handpainted the pattern in my Italian plates that I collected, from Deruta, Italy, on the top.

I had initally thought when I remodeled my kitchen I'd get a new stool, but I still think this works and use it every day. It adds more of my favorite blue into this space.