I have a folk art cow and a painted rock bug. No sophisticated vignette here!

I like kitchen updates that don't touch the oven. So many times people unnecessarily upgrade an oven that works fine but doesn't match the decor. It adds personality.

I must be very boring as mine is empty just the wall..

I put two vintage advertisment tins together for my backsplash. One's a PEZ and the other is a bubble gum one. Our guests always notice the great pop of color it gives the stove area.

I have vintage hippo salt and pepper shakers by the stove, and that is it.

I have a combo salt/pepper grinder and a oxo timer sitting toward the back of my stovetop but that's it.

I have a frying pan that never leaves the stove top and gets washed every three days, and that's pretty much it.

I have a silver (chrome? metal?) tea kettle, and a salt and pepper shaker. Often there is a pot of the excess oatmeal from the morning, too. ;)

Sounds boring, but I do have a very vibrant blue-green wall behind it.

What I want to know is how you all deal with the greasy grime that builds up on everything? Or do you not have that problem? I cook a lot, so I don't know if I get it more than everyone else, but everything on the stove-side of the kitchen gets filmed with a layer of grime that is very hard to prevent/clean/remove. I don't dare put anything decorative on the wall there.

Is it just me?

My stove is a downdraft and centered in an island facing a 42" bar counter. So all the accessories needed are 2 or 3 friends watching what I'm cooking and adding color commentary!

But seriously, if you cook, this area gets grimey quickly and daily. So minimalist functionality is my preference.

I have a huge frying pan that doesn't fit anywhere else sitting out on our stove all the time, but I'd love to replace it with a stainless steel kettle of some kind.

I agree with some of the others... I won't put anything above the stove. For years, while a student, I had all my spices lined up on top of the stove. When I went to move I was tempted to just throw them all away because the jars were coated in a layer of grease and grime, especially the ones I didn't use all the time. I do think that row of plates is incredibly cute though.

Curious. How often does one need to clean pictures, plates, or other decor that is hanging above the stove? I'm not a master chef by any means, so there will be no flambeing. But even with regular stovetop use, do items above the stove get damaged and or require a lot of cleaning... maybe this is a stupid question as the wall in which I would be hanging these items does not get dirty.

I have a BBQ lighter hanging from a hook on the wall at the back of the stove (propane), a hot plate between it and the dishwasher, and I keep a large cutting board and my kettle over the grills when the stove isn't in use (http://travelswithmiranda.uskeba.ca/?p=11217 (ignore the tray in the back, it's usually in a cabinet, and my cast iron pan lives in the oven).

I try to have a nice dishtowel that coordinates with my rig's colours hanging from the oven door. I don't know what it is about motorhome ranges, especially the black ones, but they are impossible to keep looking nice. The dishtowel hides the streaks on the oven door.

This area gets dirty so fast and has so many nooks and crannies, so the less stuff to shuffle around, the better. Plus, it's the first thing you see when you enter my motorhome.

Tea pot and two cast iron skillets that get used daily. And a lot of grime. I HATE my black stove top as it is impossible to keep clean.

Our backsplash tiles go all the way up to the stove light behind the stove, so there's not really room or need for decoration there. Just beautiful clear brick-colored glass blocks -- we're so grateful the last owners had good taste in their remodels!

I currently live in a studio loft space in West Hollywood with no oven or stovetop so my cooking space consists of a double hotplate that gets shoved in a cabinet in between uses. :-/

That said, when I used to have a stovetop, I did keep the decorations to a minimum, made sure they were non-porous and washable, and I tried to remove them often for a good soapy bath.

In my current place, my coffeemaker gets a little bit dirty because it's right behind where I put my hotplate but I just keep wiping it down with damp microfiber cloths after using said hotplate.

Oooh! Look at all that space between the burners in pic#4! Oh, I would love love love to have that space. :(
On my stovetop: a big cast iron pan with a splatter guard on it, and on top of the guard an over-turned tiny cast iron for eggs. It looks funny and guests will often ask about it the first time they see it, but I just do it b/c it's so practical: the big pan doesn't fit anywhere else, and the guard and upside down egg pan keep out the roaches we can't eradicate. Nothing pretty b/c of the grime build-up. I ruined a wonderful Calphalon tea kettle, that was the most perfect (to me) design, by keeping it on the stove all the time. And it was a wedding present. :( Even regular cleaning just couldn't keep up with the grime since I cook almost everyday, morn and eve.

I don't have much. The cast iron skillet I use daily just gets cleaned and stays on one of the burners. And then I have my really cute vintage dish towel set with embroidered froggies hanging off the front of the stove. It doesn't really go well, but I love it so much I don't care!

my backspash also goes all the way to the vent hood and is a decorative mosaic, so no othe decoration needed. I keep a stainless spoon-rest by the stove (that gets put through the wash at least once a week). Count me with the people baffled by keeping anything decorative by the stove because it will inevitably be damaged and dirty. Even my kettle is electric and kept on the other side of the kitchen.

i live in a rented home and theirs a terribly corny painting of fruit and a wine glass above our stove that we are NOT allowed to paint over :( we're still trying to figure out a fun way to cover that up and make it more useful

At least one cast iron frying pan is out on the stovetop 90% of the time, and the stainless spoon/lid rest is either on the stove or just beside it. I used to keep a set of cute vintage penguin S&P shakers on the back of the stove but like everyone else, they got completely gross and I still can't get them clean.

I have a green enamel tea kettle and that's it.

A dish towel might be hanging from the oven door handle to dry. I don't use a spoon rest just a plate when I need it for one and wash it after use. I like a clean uncluttered stove.

My '64 Frigidaire Flair Custom Imperial needs no garnish.

My stove is naked.

I have a set of ceramic salt and pepper shakers that are little birds. They sit atop my stove. I've been looking for a piece of artwork to hang over the stove as I don't have a black splash, just the painted wall, but I haven't found anything that meshes with the other artwork in the space.

The actual stovetop... empty, vignettes on stovetop are a fire hazard :-)

Directly next to the stovetop are globe shaped salt & pepper grinders, an orange koziol a pollo timer, a silver stand to prop up my ipad, a silver spoon rest and a stack of modern twist coasters. My stovetop is on my kitchen island.

Well, I have a the same oven/range from picture 3. Above it there is a vent in the ceiling, so about half way up, there is a dial to turn on the fan for it (it's an old house, I love the way the vent works). Above it, we have a big stainless steel clock hanging on the wall. We also have a stone spoon rest on the stove in the middle.

I would like to eventually have a house that can accommodate an oven/range combo with a fancy hood, and also have a secondary wall oven with wall microwave on top... a girl can dream!

I laughed a bit because #5 is very close to my setup. Stainless steel and black stove, the shabbiest most splatter stained tea kettle ever on the front right burner, and then that IKEA utensil holder with a bunch of spatulas and wooden spoons in it. Then, a pair of green towels hanging on the oven.

From top to bottom, on the stove top and front there are a radio, fresh herbs and fruits in ceramic bowls, a dish towel, and a pair of oven gloves.