Kitchen & Coffee Wall Art: How to Style Prints in a Kitchen

You spend more waking hours in the kitchen than almost any other room. It deserves at least one thing on the wall that is not a calendar.

Kitchens are tricky for art. There is steam, there are splashes, and wall space is fought over by cabinets, hoods and shelving. But a single well-placed print does more for a kitchen than a new set of handles ever will. It gives the room a personality and turns the coffee corner into somewhere you actually want to stand in the morning.

The Coffee Station: Your Best Spot

If you have an espresso machine or a coffee corner, that is where your print goes. It is the natural focal point, it is usually away from the hob, and a coffee-themed print there feels like it was always meant to be.

A guide-style print, one that shows the different coffee drinks, is the classic choice: useful, graphic and a conversation starter. Hang it 15 to 20 cm above the machine or counter so it does not get knocked, and size it to roughly the width of your coffee setup.

Get the look: Coffee Guide

The Breakfast Nook

A small table by the window is the second-best spot. Here you can go slightly bigger and a little more playful. Centre the print above the table, hang it so the bottom edge sits about 20 cm above the tabletop, and keep the surrounding styling light: a plant, a bowl, nothing that competes.

Open Shelving: Mix It In

If your kitchen has open shelves, a print hung right beside them, or even propped on a shelf, ties the whole wall together. Bauhaus-style geometric prints are perfect here: strong shapes that look good next to jars, mugs and everyday objects.

Get the look: Bauhaus Revival or The Pattern

The Spots to Avoid

Directly above the hob. Heat and grease will find the print eventually. Keep art at least a metre away from the cooking zone.

Right next to the sink. Splashes are inevitable. A print behind the tap is asking for trouble.

Behind the kettle. Steam rises straight up. Move the print to the side or higher.

Everywhere else, the kitchen is fair game. Above the counter, beside the fridge, in the corner by the window: these are the spots that make a kitchen feel finished.