Structures Building Company Tropical Kitchen, Charleston

7. Modern and pretty expressions. Another quietly eclectic kitchen, mostly modern with the simple white cabinets, open shelves and restrained styling on the island. But add in that fabulous embossed patterned tile running up the beam ceiling with the four antique brass pendant lights, and you have something completely different and unexpected. Even the counter stools have an attitude of being effortlessly cool.

Alliums are a decorator favorite because of their dramatic height and giant puffballlike purple blooms. Try them on the kitchen counter or dining table in a glass cylinder for a modern look.

How to choose them. First, consider the scale of the room. Does it call for wide, prominent shades or slender, unobtrusive ones? How many do you need to illuminate your target surface? Choose fixtures that will neither overshadow the most subtle elements of the space nor get lost amid the strongest ones. One good rule of thumb: Scale them directly to the surface they'll illuminate (a dining table, for instance). Decide, too, how transparent or opaque you want the pendant shades to be. A clear glass shade will allow light to spread throughout the room, while a metal or porcelain one will keep the beam focused downward. Similarly, do you want the bulb exposed beneath the perimeter of the shade or recessed entirely within it? Shades with open tops will allow light to flood the ceiling above.Now you can get to the fun stuff: the decorative aspect. Pendants can be a prime opportunity to add top notes of color and sparkle: blown or milky glass, shiny and matte metals, fabric and paper.

As cut flowers, alliums create quite the statement-making floral arrangement. Whether dried or fresh, they bring a sumptuous piece of the garden inside.

Period drama. Bronze details unite this elegant kitchen, from the dainty pendant lights to the chunky rectangular cabinet handles and simple curved faucet. Ornate honeycomb-patterned tiles complete the period look.

6. Nottingham Tile Collection by Ann SacksFree of cabinets and shelves, the tile backsplash of this Charleston, South Carolina, kitchen runs all the way to the ceiling.

Tone of metals - stainless but “rich”?