Lately there’s been a debate raging around the blogosphere, and I think it’s time to settle the issue once and for all: Is it okay to decorate the tops of kitchen cabinets with fake ivy, or is it an unforgivable decorating faux pas?
The Nester devoted an entire week to talking about fake plants and their crimes against nature. She even started a new club called P.O.O.P.I.E: People Opposing Objectionable Pretend plants In the Environment.
I think we all had ivy garlands and ivy clusters tucked above our kitchen cabinets in the ’90s, right? There has been a backlash against it in the last few years, though, and a lot of us have taken ours down (sneezing from the dust as we packed them away).
Model homes are still crammed with the fake stuff. My parents just bought a model home and the builder is leaving everything in it, including the silk plants and flowers that cover every niche, ledge, and cabinet top.
I know a lot of you have strong opinions about putting the fake stuff up top of cabinets, so let’s hear it. What do you think about ivy? Does a kitchen look cold and sterile to you without it? Or is it a decorating no-no?
how fun to see all of these photos! gotta admit–I don’t like the ivy however, I know the minute I would say to NEVER use it, some creative genius would come up with something beautiful to do with it!
Why do we think we have to put something above the cabs?
I like fake greenery when done right. It softens areas of your house, especially the hard edge of the cabinets. I guess I’m not POPPIE. I’ll live.
Compelling question…But…Um. Is it just me, or are those all the same kitchen? Kinda, sorta, maybe??
I think my problem (and I almost flunked kindergarten for coloring outside of the lines….and my youngest guy almost flunked kindergarten for not wanting to sit next to a girl or use a pink crayon. True stories. So take my comments for what they are worth) Is….I just don’t like upper cabinets, let alone anything on them.
Wow…and here I didn’t think I even had an option any more. I have tons of upper cabinets and would love to know what else to do with them besides the ivy…
For me, it depends on the amount and the quality. I’ve seen some pretty fake ivy out there, but even the best ivy should be used sparingly. 😉
~melody~
I have to say i hate the fake stuff, but today I shot a home (I shoot virtual tours for my day job) and the designer had used fake flowers blossoms in the landscape and I was amazed by the outcome. So never say never!
No, uh, sure I hate them! yep, hate them!
I personally have never done the fake ivy on the cabinet thing, but I break that fake plant rule in lots of other ways. I think if it makes you happy, go for it. Dated, yes, but there are certainly more offensive decorating crimes than a couple bunches of faux ivy.
nooooo I’m sorrry … just nooo
the poll says closed …. It’s probably me !!
The fake ivy on top of cabinets has got to GO!! I admit I had that up there up until a few years ago. ha!
I don’t mind fake things that look realistic and have some natural elements like berries or feathers in it.
A person can go over board on the plants above the cupboards, then it just doesn’t look right. I like to keep it bare, or add just a few ornaments here and there, they say less is more.
Noooo, I hate all fakery. I just prefer fresh flowers or greenery. My MIL on the other hand…. the faker the better! 🙂
nope. sometimes I allow 😉 clients to use fake plants if an area really calls for a plant but they don’t have a green thumb. that being said, I’m totally opposed to them over the kitchen cabinets. better to leave them empty up there than add the dust-catchers.
I have always hated the fake ivy–even when it was” in”. I always prefer real plants/flowers or nothing instead of putting up something fake.
Yes, this is a crime. Ivy on cabinets, ficus trees in the corner, etc. I once was a twenty-year-old newlywed who put fake ivy on top of the cabinets in her duplex. It’s like I don’t even know her! 🙂
Great photos to illustrate what I’ve called desecrating decorating. I was a desecrating decorating diva once but no more…at least in this respect! 🙂
Hi,….I voted NEVER to the ivy above kitchen cabinets. Way tooo many other cute things to put up there, if anything is needed…..
Leanne, the poll is still open for the rest of the month. Not sure why it told you it was closed. Maybe because a lot of people were voting at once. Try again! -Julia 🙂
I big NO to the dusty-musty ivy! I think it just looks dirty after a while and you know no one gets up there and cleans their fake ivy! Out with the old!
I voted for the middle one..that it looks dated…but then again, what do I know…I don’t have any space above my kitchen cabinets to decorate, lol.
I do remember having wicker baskets full of fake ivy in the 90’s though…and I really don’t see it in any of the decor stores I go to, but then again, I shop at The Dollar Store and Big Lots 😉 haha
Your kitchen looks beautiful, Julia, fake ivy and all 🙂
Bella
Thanks Julia – mission completed – poll wise – and thus far the results are close !!
Bella, you’re so funny. I don’t live in these model homes! -Julia 🙂
I’m going with a big “no” on fake ivy. There are too many other things that one could put on top of their cabinets besides that. Which is what BJ said and I guess I should read the comments more closely before I comment myself. So I’m with BJ…
Letmethinkaboutitforasecond… NO! 🙂
No ivy in this house. I live in the most dusty house in my neighborhood (don’t know where it comes from but seems like I’m dusting all the time…). This kind of stuff just traps that dust. I’m all for uncluttered.
Trish
Omaha, NE
Not a fan. Too contrived and a huge dust gatherer.
I am fine with it, in moderation. To me it looks a lot better than having a lot of clutter up there.
I don’t have ivy above the cabinets. My cabinets went to the ceiling in our previous home, so didn’t have it in the 90’s.
Here, I just use some copper and pottery type things above the cabinets. Real ivy would not be above the cabinets…think about watering!!
I do have some silks, but I’ve started doing some editing. I don’t mind a good silk arrangement. I have one in the powder room, made with good silks, I copied from an NDI ad, about five years ago. I still like it and it will remain.
Several live plants in the hearth room. Perfect growing environment, apparently. Plants seem to thrive in that room.
I don’t like fake ivy above the cabinets. I imagine it sticky with grease and dusty and that totally skeeves me out. I don’t put anything above my cabinets I can’t take down and wash easily. I discovered this week you can put your fake stuff in the dishwasher, though. Who knew?
I like it but it has to be done the right way.
But who says one way is right, one way is wrong.
Do I have any?
Only at Xmas, I break it out & use to lay in my chandelier.
I am an ivy-hater. Always have been. Cringe when I see it. That is all.
Well, every HGTV show I watch says no to fake flowers and plants, and I gotta say most are horrible. BUT, I have one bouquet of fake roses and greens on my dining room table and they look so real people often try to smell the roses. I keep them dust free with one of those compressed air cans and if they ever get ratty looking, I’ll dispense with them. But for about 4 years, they’ve been going strong and fooling even the best of them.
Fake plants = fake decorator. No one who resorts to such cheap and tacky “filler” should be allowed to even remotely adopt the title of “decorator” in any context. I think people resorted to fake ivy at the top of the cabinets because no one could come up with anything better. Knick knacks are also used but still usually not much better. What is one to do with that space? Does the space NEED to be filled? No. If there is a large amount of space between cabinet top and ceiling, large kitchen items can be stored/displayed. If there is a small amount of space and nothing practical can fit there the cabinets should have been built to the ceiling. IMNSHO.
Dated, and no likie. Reminds me of my aunt’s house circa 1987. 😉 Don’t get me wrong…I use faux plants in my house (in fact, current ratio of faux to real is 3:1) but I’d rather use the tops of my cabinets for displaying other fun vintagey kitchen things…which I also know isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, either. So I guess….if it makes you happy, go ahead and stick ivy on your cabinets! Revolt against the POOPIEs! 🙂
Interesting to see that the “It’s okay in moderation” is winning in the poll. Apparently the “ivy haters” are just more vocal in the comments! -Julia 🙂
I say no to the ivy…just because of the dust factor. I personally have my big pieces of pottery up there, that I can climb up to grab if I want to use it. (As soon as I rinse it off 🙂 )
As for fake plants, I only have one in my house, it is the corner of the living room where no live plant would survive! We killed/injured 3 before just giving up and putting a fake one there. It is the only one in the house, so everyone assumes it is real!
Hi Julia 🙂
Truth be told… I have never owned a fake plant or flower in my life. I believe that if you have a brown thumb and you want flowers in your home, grow a cutting garden or buy them on sale at the grocery store. For plants… don’t put them anywhere that you wouldn’t put a real plant and make sure they look almost real. When you put them on the cabinets it looks dated and odd. Just my opinion…
rue 🙂
Cabinets that do not go to the ceiling are a waste of space. So no place to put the (always wrong) fake ivy.
I personally wouldn’t do it if I had open space above my cabinets but I don’t judge someone who does!
I’m not totally against ALL fake plants… wreaths are nice, some topiaries…. but ivy garlands and fake flowers on top of the cabinets?? Or on top of windows? Or mantles?? Blech. It just looks so unnatural to me. Like, would real ivy and flowers grow up there? Would you want it to??
I agree with the others, space doesn’t always need to be filled.
I wouldnt put it in my house, but I’m torn. Ivy over the cabinets gives me warm and cozy flashbacks to the early 90’s and sleepovers at friends houses. 🙂
I am tired of Ivy, but I LOVE poopies!
First let me say I LOVE YOUR KITCHEN!!!. Love the table center piece too. I voted….. against the fakies on top of the cabinets. {sorry} Your kitchen is beautiful enough, you just don’t need them. 🙂
I am not a fan of the fake ivy on top of cabinets either. I would rather see beautiful objects or nothing at all.
Even if there was no fresh vegetation remaining, even I was told it could save me from a word of colorless doom, I would toss it back in the face of the brazen, no doubt glue-gun wielding, offender! Boo. Hiss. Boo.
Thanks, Shane, but these are not photos of my kitchen. They’re from model homes. If you want to see my kitchen, click here:
https://hookedonhouses.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/come-on-in-ive-been-decorating-for-fall/
-Julia 🙂
I don’t like fake plants. I think it is wrong to have dust plants
hanging around a kitchen.
Fake flowers … make me crazy.
I think it is up to the individual desires of each person. As a designer I HAVE to be open to what me clients WANT… it is THEIR home… not mine and they will be living there… I will not… and if I want repeat clients or more clients I BETTER LISTEN! Besides… if you tell them no fake and they really like it… when you are done decorating their home… they will add them later and tell everyone a decorator/designer did my home… so their visitors will think YOU the designer installed them anyway. Might as well… place them as nicely as possible.
ME personally… I’m not a fan of ivy plants on top of cabinets… I like objects such as bowls, platters, etc And I am not opposed to fake plants of other varieties… I personally have a few faux orchids around my home. Better than the really ones because they are in bloom all year round!
I think a little bit goes a longgggggggggggggg ways.
Truthfully, Julia, I’m tired of that space over my cabinets! I’m all for bringing back the soffits we hated so much ten years ago. (Not me personally, but collectively) I’ve had mine decorated and not decorated. I’m not happy either way. I just don’t want to clean up there! If I were rich enough, I’d love to have beautiful cabinets that reach all the way to the ceiling. I am thinking about trying to build soffits myself- how hard can it be? (Ha! Famous last words!)
Unless you live at The Olive Garden, it’s a no from me…
Oyyy…I am definitely in the no camp, but I definitely don’t want to be called a Poopie(?) either…that doesn’t sound very good!!
I laughed that you were quick to correct the notion that it’s not your kitchen…I take it you’re not a fan, either…
You always get the best debates going!!
Linda
Just like everything there are CHEAP versions of fake flowers etc. and then there are those that look real, when done right it can look amazing I think 🙂
Hi Julia 🙂 nice post,
Kathy 🙂
tired of it!! Not too mention the dust the darn things collect.
Wow. Just, wow. That’s a whole lotta ivy and…other stuff. You can do whatever you want though because I *heart* you.
First of all thanks for adding me to your roll..
Now Hear This:
Plants belong outside.
Except for a Christmas tree.
The s**t (don’t know if you allow swearing) on top of those cabinets is so suburban ugly. And dirty.
But if you are a dirty suburban girl, have at it.
Your decor will never be magazine worthy. But maybe you don’t care becaus you love your fake ivy so much.
I confesss, I once had a live ivy plant on top of my fridge (I had been Shanghied to a California suburb and lost my mind), hoping the lush trailing tendrils would soften its ugly white hide. The plant got buggy with it, and died. Never again did I stray from good taste. At least regarding ivy.
To quote Heidi Klum on tonight’s episode of Project Runway:
“Ooh, that’s bad….”
And she didn’t mean it in a good way.
Anti-Ivy-ers, unite!
i hate the fake ivy.
while i do love real ivy, i’d prefer no plants so high up on those cabinets. however, if one must have plants on top of cabinets.. keep it real.
Don’t like the fake ivy! Especially on top of the cabinets…No not at all. Baskets and jars are good though….right?
*sighs*
Okay, I’ll say it again. These are not my kitchens. They are all taken from models. I’m not sure if y’all are just teasing me now or what, but I do. Not. Live. In. Any. Of. These. Model. Homes. Pictured.
And I do not have ivy in my kitchen.
That is all.
*sighs again*
-Julia
…hate it…hate it…hate it…end of discussion…
Oh, how I hate it.
This is very, very interesting. Those pictures look hideous….I double checked your REAL kitchen photos to see what you have on top of your cabinets. Maybe you should add the photos onto this post instead of just a link?
I admit that I did put a few fakies up onto of my cabinets. I just don’t have enough other fluff to fill up all the space. But I might go take them down now. My mother in law just built a gorgeous home and has NOTHING on top of all her cabinets. It looks great! Her old house was jam packed with stuff, but it looked great too.
I might go take a picture of my cabinets. I always have a better viewpoint when looking at a picture rather than real life.
Really really dislike the fake ivy. It looks fake and only really serves as a dust collector. Ew!
Ew! It’s bad. There’s no excuse, it’s terrible. 🙂
I gotta admit, I like it in the photos. It makes your eye move around the room. BUT, I usually try to stay away from fake greenery. It gets too dusty.
I do have some fake hydrangeas in my bathroom for color and space, but when I look at them I feel as if I’m committing a very bad crime. However my half torn down bathroom is really a felony in itself.
I have to admit, I’m not a fan of the fake ivy stuff. But I think these little kitchens are really cute anyway! 🙂
I think fake ivy looks really gawdy and cheap. It’s something I see more commonly in the homes of my more elder relatives however I don’t think it fits well with any generation.
Hate the Fakes.
Loathe that shiznit. Down with fake flora! (Love the blog, tho. Thank you for adding sunshine to my day.)
Okay, I have a question for all of you fake-ivy haters. :): I have vaulted ceilings in my kitchen, so I n-e-e-d to have something above my cabinets. I’m desperate for suggestions. Pottery? Baskets? Both??
Personally I have used flowers on occasion, but always in a basket not a vase. I do get what everyone here is saying about the tackiness of ivy. Probably because we all know how easy it to just throw it up on top of cabinets as a filler (knowing this is really a last resort for some who cannot afford to decorate) it sort of takes away from it’s potential uniqueness in character. Why not arrange some beautiful shabby chic pottery, or big colorful bowls, spice or flour tins? Maybe a few cookbooks stacked or lined up with some large filled jars as the bookends (filled with colorful berries, bubblegum, lemon drops or chili peppers in oil jars). I think you can do so many wonderful things with that extra space besides just leaving it bare. Some kitchens need to adhere to the “less is more” theory while others need that space filled to add some charm and character. Good Luck Guys! 🙂
I wanted to add that there is some high quality silk flowers being produced these days as well as high end greenery fillers. Must we always go for the IVY? I don’t even LIKE the REAL ivy (notorious for its black widows, snakes and bugs which gravitate to that). So naturally that is what crosses my mind when I see the fake stuff garnishing kitchen spaces.
I was considering putting faux ivy on top of the cabinets. We have a country kitchen and lots of windows that look out on lots of greenery so I like the idea of “bringing the outside in”.
Now I might leave them bare since so many people seem to think it’s outdated and a decorating faux pas.
I have two gorgeous real plants in the kitchen that are thriving but I’m not opposed to pretty faux flowers and plants in areas that don’t get much sun.
I had no idea that there was so much opposition to ivy on top of the cabinets. It occurred to me that they are dust-catchers but no one would see the dust that high up and it’s no big deal to take them down and dust them (though it’s one more thing to dust).
I especially like the last two pictures (especially the third one) and think the ivy looks pretty in moderation as an accent.