50 Kitchen Ideas from Ina GartenHouse Beautiful

OK, 50 is a liiiittle bit of an overstatement, considering many of the “ideas” are product placements from the House Beautiful Kitchen of the Year that was on display in Rockefeller Center. However, it was a replica of Ina Garten’s actual East Hampton kitchen, and she does have some good ideas we could steal.

One of them—adding a lamp to our kitchen decor—is something we’ve talked about before. And others were practical enough for even the smallest, most humble kitchen.

A few we liked:

• Put your own hand-written recipes in a book, protected by plastic sleeves, so you can wipe off spills.
• Always have lemons and limes on hand to brighten a dish. (They also look great as decoration, stacked up in bowls.)
• If you have more than one hefty cutting board and no place to store them, put them in a big basket on the floor, next to the countertop.
• Instead of buying a tablecloth, use a piece of fabric, folded to fit the table. Use ironing tape to hem the ends under.

And despite the showcasing of expensive Viking ranges and Ina’s call to have two dishwashers, the Barefoot Contessa still seems very down to Earth. She raves about her plain, white dishes and simple glassware from Crate & Barrel, and she claims all of her small appliances that sit on the countertop are either stainless steel or white, to keep the room looking clean and neutral.

• See the full slideshow at House Beautiful.

Related: What Every Kitchen Needs, According to Ina Garten

(Images: Julian Wass/House Beautiful)