Getting rid of the border will heighten the space of the ceilings. Keep things simple when placing items above cabinets. Less is more. Lots of fake greenery is a bit dated. Try some larger glass or ceramic decorative dishes on plate stands. Mix them with other shapes, such as bottles or vases. Mix in some metal objects. Blend rather than match items, and do not set them up as STRAIGHT as what you have now. Try uneven spacing and balance between items or small groups of items in varying shapes and sizes. If you have a Home Goods nearby they have lots of neat décor items.

bellburgmaggie, we are thinking of redoing our cabinets and varying the height so that is an option too. Just that is down the road right now.

Here are varied cabinets

Click on the link below the photo it will show several ideas :) https://www.houzz.com/magazine/12-creative-ideas-for-decorating-above-the-cabinets-stsetivw-vs~134818

Don't feel like you have to put anything on top. With your vaulted ceilings, by placing items on the top of the cabinets will it will break up that spaced and make your ceilings appear shorter because you are bring the eyes down and breaking up that space.

The layout and counters are nice. I would first take down the border and repaint before spending the $ on new cabinets.

Do you have lighting above cabinets? Some LED strips lights would add drama up there. Don't put anything above the 4 cabinet section, looks tight. After painting and adding lights, if you want to add something, add a display grouped together rather than lined up. Or you could put up a metal scrollwork piece.

You definitely have a lot going on on top of the cabinets. I kept focusing on how busy it is up there which takes away from other aspects of the kitchen. So I agree with the comment above - less is more. I suggest getting rid of the wallpaper and taking down most of the things up there. I think a cute quote about family and friends would look nice up there. Maybe wicker baskets or something that could serve as storage would look nice, too.

Well we painted and removed things from the top of our cabinets. I am posting some updated pictures of what we did.

I have the same ceilings in my kitchen too. If you take things down, the kitchen actually looks smaller but I would group a few "like" things together instead of all different things. I know mine looks better when I did that.

WOW! Nice change in your room by making the changes you did! I might still take the vase and driedd flowers down and put the plate with the art. NICE lantern!!! Maybe nothing on the fridge, either. Clean is good! You are there!!!

Oh man. I really do not like stuff on top of cabinets- and you have a lot going on up there! I can't wait to see it w/o the stuff and the border gone. That said, if you must put something up there- maybe modern metal baskets like the kind you see at PB or Homegoods? No fake greens, baskets, bottles with preserved peppers,or decorative plates/items.