What about putting your cook books in baskets on top?

You can get several and keep some on top of the fridge and on the counter. You could keep your favorites out all the time and store the rest or you could rotate them.

I keep cookbooks out of the kitchen (or in a closed cabinet) They'll just get dusty and micro-greasy if you leave them exposed.

I would place three oversized pottery pieces on top of the fridge.

wine rack

baskets

Your kitchen is awesome!

I put a large philodendron on top of mine!

I wouldn't put anything above the refrigerator in that space. Find somewhere else for your cookbooks.

Yes, now that I see "the whole space", I agree. A long low bookshelf behind those chairs would be ideal.

Lovely blue cabinets and red brick!

Yes, I hadn't realized the brick was such a feature.

I put a basket of cookbooks above my refrigerator

Omg, that kitchen and house is amazing. Do you have chicken wallpaper in your sitting room? Please say yes.

Lovely kitchen, so cheerful!

I have saved a few pics as I was considering a layout with a fridge with no upper cabinet.

The brick is absolutely a feature, but you could put something and still see the brick.

jemimabean, yes, that is chicken wallpaper! I'm mildly obsessed with them .

Annette, thank you for posting this photo, I love the idea of the open shelf above the refrigeration - very much in line with he overall look/feel of our kitchen.

Don't put anything above the fridge. It looks great as is and adds to the sense of space.

Seeing your whole kitchen I vote for leaving it alone. Or maybe ONE interesting basket. Your kitchen is drop dead gorgeous and that space isn’t even obvious. There is so much else for eyes to go to that I’d just forget about it.
As for you cookbooks, you need to thin out the herd and place the important ones nearby but not above the fridge. Not practical and they’d get dirty.

Wow. Inspiring kitchen and I love the brick.

I love this house so much. Congratulations on your new home! What year was it built? Did the chickens come with the house?

jemimabean, thank you! It was built in 1991, and it was painted dark gray, with shiny golden oak flooring, amongst other things. We took down the wall between the tiny kitchen and formal dining room, and made it all into the space you now see. That pantry was a mere four feet, behind 30" doors. The chickens, and everything you see - including the brick facing on the walls is all of my doing :).

A huge porcelain rooster and hen and/or a chicken wire cage. Or the rooster and a collection of antique copper teapots

I'm tall enough (5'7") to reach above my fridge but I'd never be able to reach to the back of a storage space...and my fridge is counter deep, not as deep as a regular fridge. So my space will hold decorative objects that just have to look good. I'm also thinking of an open bookshelf style display, not full cabinet. I've also read a long time ago, that the space above a fridge is not the best place to store wine. A fridge gives off a lot of heat at the back and the closer to the ceiling, the warmer the air gets anyway. I certainly saw this when I was working in my kitchen at ceiling levels. If you have room, an island with book storage built in will take care of some of the books. And as a another reader suggested...might be time to downsize the collection anyway. An open shelving like this pic leaves the brick detail exposed, can be built to by-pass the beam and could rest on top of the fridge. A difference in materials from the cabinets makes a nice focal point to the kitchen as well.

Charming kitchen. Above, I posted I would place 3 large pottery pieces on top of the fridge. Now that I've looked at your entire kitchen several times I have other opinions. I would not do shelves - you cannot reach, dust easily and you already have open shelves elsewhere. Same goes for cookbooks, and I agree too warm for wine. Larger pieces take up space without adding "more." An oversized wicker vintage piece (trunk, picnic basket, etc) to add texture and interest, but somewhat still see the brick.

I would probably just add a floating shelf either the same color as the beam or the white color of the ceiling molding. Then you could put a few of your cookbooks there and perhaps one decorative item. I'd keep it simple or it would look cluttered particularly because of the brick background.

A wine rack or a large beautiful basket ...anyhow , I would paint the brick white . Like the other side .. ..it's a great kitchen ..to my eyes ..the brick is taking away the gorgeous look of all the wonderful things you have in the kitchen and the overall look . Unless it's a house in the countryside of France ...there anyone goes ...

I meant "anything " goes

I would go for a basket holding something lighter than books. For me it would be dish towels and other cloth items. Problem with wine racks is that it not good for wine to be stored in one of the hotter parts of the room (up high, near a motor).

Anything you put up there will have to be dusted off every week or so. I would probably just put a nice basket which is easier to bring down than anything heavy or bulky. Or nothing.

Please post pictures once complete! You have a beautiful kitchen.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><md>We moved our cookbook collection to the guest room. Lots of our guests are cooks and there is a comfortable chair there when hunting for one cookbook or one recipe. Also keeps the kitchen counters a little bit less cluttered

Don’t put a wine rack up there...it may be too warm for wine.

Since you already have open shelves in your kitchen, I vote for either a free standing wine rack or a custom built one that works around the beam. Either would fill in that space nicely.

It makes the kitchen look unfinished and I agree that you need something. I store my cookbooks in the kitchen and find that I care for them better that way.
Check out pictures of creative book storage to see what pleases your eye. Then adapt that for your kitchen space. Good luck.

Definitely not cookbooks - dust collectors and how will you reach them? I'd suggest a simple vignette to carry the eye upwards and around - a small collection of copper and/or basket items.

I like the idea of one beautiful large basket with probably nothing in it. Anything else is too difficult to keep clean and too high to be really useful.

Beautiful kitchen! I’d either leave it as is, or maybe at a potted plant.

Plant above fridge

Share the wealth. I just helped my family clean out my mother's house and if you don't touch it or use it, what is the purpose. I think the not-filled-to -every-square-inch is relaxing to the eye and brings focus to othwr parts of the room. Try less is more for a while and see what you miss.

You already have blue and white decorative plates, so I would repeat the same theme with jars/vases

I agree withe putting a basket up there, and I would probably put at least a few of my favorite cookbooks in it. I put my flour and sugar canisters on top of my fridge, and a metal weathervane with a rooster (countertop size that I found in one of my local craft stores) in the middle of the two canisters. The canisters are metal, so no worry about breakage if somehow they should fall off. I like the idea of putting some decorative pieces up there, but consider how much the fridge doors are opened and closed and by whom (ie kids and/or hubby slamming the doors constantly). You wouldn't want nice porcelain or ceramic falling off the edges, or anything too tall to topple over with the vibration caused by the doors being pulled open and pushed closed frequently..

how about something in the wall instead of on a shelf - maybe a clock that goes with your chicken wallpaper

You could use one shelf and the books would not fall over.

I would pick a favorite large cookie Jar to put there. Something colorful. I have many unique cookie jars and I just swap them out every once in a while

I once had a space like this and used it to store my large ceramic pieces that got used maybe once per year during a party. Large ceramic salad and chip bowls, large platters, a large ceramic rooster for whimsy. It was nice to be able to show off the beautiful glazing on the ceramics. And nice to only get the step-stool out once or twice per year. I had to laugh when someone said you'd have to dust once per week...not in my house! I'm no hausfrau. I'd rather read a book with my cat.

I think a shelf made of white quartz would look amazing here (plus it's so easy to clean). I would display whatever you need and use.

I forgot to mention that depending on what type of cabinet top you have, you may need to put something underneath your item to "lift" it a bit. At one house I had cabinet tops that were lower than the front edge, so I set my items on wood scraps. You couldn't see that from below and it created the optical illusion that the bottoms of the items were sitting on the top of the cabinet.

Beautiful! I agree, maybe a plant, you need some greenery.
My favorite thing about your kitchen is the chandelier. love it!

Maybe a plant. I don't know that you need something on top of the fridge, but maybe a column or lattice wall or something to delineate how the kitchen comes to an end after the fridge. The cooking niche in the other side defines the end of the kitchen on that side quite nicely, but right now there is nothing on the fridge side that says "the kitchen stops here".

The problem with plants is that it is difficult to water them at that height. Consider a very nice chicken wire or other kind of wire basket,. Maybe put the right mix of natural fiber tableclots inside for color and texture

The basket will be useful for large parties!

I agree on quartz shelf, it seem it will go great next to your stainless steel fridge. You can display cookbooks and a plant.

In giving your very beautiful kitchen another look ...I see that you have very large openings on both sides of the kitchen to sitting room and dining table ..why not make the entrance to the kitchen a little smaller by adding tall narrow book cases on both sides ..that should give you enough room for your collection of books ...and you would frame your kitchen entrances ....in a useful way ...!......?

In MY opinion, that brick is a super focal point..DO NOT hide it!! Above the "coffee center" is a handled pitcher with plant in it...perhaps put THAT in center above fridge and carry the "rooster / chicken" theme by placing a ceramic rooster or chicken to either side of plant...and CALL IT DONE !! LOL...less is more...Unless you are blessed with being tall, do not put cookbooks up there as they'd be too difficult to reach....PERHAPS clean off the top shelf above "coffee center" and put some cookbooks there ?? You have cozy sitting area with 2 red chairs...would a low bookcase fit in area to right of chair in pic?? The books would be easy to access, and you could sit and peruse them in search of a special recipe...If you can NOT reach the TOP shelf of any of your wall cabinets, I would use those shelves to store any cookbooks you will keep forever but do not use regularly...

Love your kitchen :). Based on your style how about considering 3 white vintage/antique pouring pitchers. I can picture those grouped on top of fridge off to one side. Beautiful space.