How about a big pile of mail? A neglected plant? A child's art project brought home from school? While the kitchen counter often becomes the repository of various cooking tools and any number of mislaid and homeless items, this important space can actually serve a functional as well as a decorative purpose.

As organizing expert Donna Smallin explains, "Clutter happens," but "it's more functional and it just looks better to have less stuff."

Smallin, author of The One-Minute Organizer, advises keeping only the essentials in view. "If you don't use it every day, put it away. If you make coffee every day, then the coffeemaker gets to stay. If you have a breadmaker on your counter, let it go."

Interior designer Meg Rodgers of Marguerite Rodgers Ltd. in Philadelphia is an ardent advocate of clear kitchen counters.

"I don't like to see a lot of things on the counter," says Rodgers. She favors cabinets with places for every appliance, so "you can close the doors, and the rest of kitchen will look really clean."

Elin Kiefer, kitchen designer for Mark IV Kitchen & Bath in Abington, leans toward the practical. "Everybody needs a lot of counter space. What's important is that the space is in the right places, around the key work areas, the cooking area and the sink," she said.

Kiefer advises creating a cleanup area and a "landing zone," a place to put things down when you take them out of the refrigerator.

As for keeping the counters clear, it's a challenge, Kiefer concedes. "Generally, everyone says they're not going to leave anything about anymore once they get a new kitchen, but that doesn't happen. They like the look of it being clean and clear, but in reality, you need a coffeepot or toaster."

Chef Alison Barshak, owner of Alison Two in Fort Washington and Alison at Blue Bell, doesn't even try for the clean and clear look on her home kitchen counters, where creativity and spontaneity rule. "I like to put things on my counter that are going to give me ideas. If I put them in the cabinets, then when it's closed, I don't know they're there, and I forget about them. It's like the stuff in the back of closet you never wear."

Barshak's kitchen counter is meant to provide her with inspiration. It holds the practical and the functional - her stand mixer and her food processor - as well as the beautiful and the sentimental. "I buy food stuff and condiments when I travel, and it reminds me of where I was. I leave it out so I continue the vacation by using the food I brought back." A tray from Scandinavia, a spice grinder from Vietnam, a Turkish juicer, and dried Greek oregano - this international array helps Barshak make good food. "If it's all clean and sleek, it doesn't make me want to cook."

Aliza Green, author of Starting With Ingredients , keeps her kitchen counters stocked with the tools she uses most often in her cooking. "I like to have everything close to hand. I keep olive oil out, honey, other oils, mixer, food processor, spice grinder, toaster oven - everything is out."

For maximum use of counter space, Green of Elkins Park advises setting up a system based on how you prefer to work. Determine where to put dirty and clean dishes, find the right spot for food prep. Keep the necessary tools nearby, as would a surgeon, Green says. "Whatever works for you, but set the system up and keep to that."

Conceiving of the kitchen counter as a space that can be decorated and reflect personal style, appliance manufacturer Hamilton Beach created the term "counterscaping." Explains company representative Mary Beth Perreault: "Even with this economy, people can make small changes to their kitchens. You don't have to take out the wrecking ball." Use paint, suggests Perreault, to freshen boring older wood cabinets. Add a backsplash or a throw rug. And then add colorful countertop appliances that are designed to be displayed.

The use of bright color along with sleek design is a large part of what makes these functional tools decorative pieces. One example is that most iconic of kitchen tools, the KitchenAid stand mixer.

"We started colors back in the '50s, and ever since then, they've been popular enough for us to keep growing to now almost 50 different finishes and colors," says Deb O'Connor, senior manager for brand experience for KitchenAid. The stand mixer has even evolved into an object to just look at.

"We hear that some people buy them and don't use them," says O'Connor. "We hope that once they put them up there as their beauty object, then they start using it, and it becomes a true tool of the kitchen along with looking pretty."

At Method in San Francisco, the idea of combining the functional with the decorative is in large part the concept behind the company, which includes in its product line a number of stylish clear-plastic bottles filled with colorful cleaning fluids. Says cofounder Eric Ryan, "When we started making cleaning products, everything was in hideous packaging. It was 'out of sight, out of mind.' We thought this was misaligned with modern life." Method's products, Ryan says, have a functional role and a lifestyle element. For instance, with dish soap, he explains: "We use it five minutes a day but we look at it for two hours a day, so there is more meaning to its aesthetic value."

"My kitchen definitely has a lot of my personality," says Green, who agrees that every kitchen counter can and should reflect its owner's aesthetics. "To me, the tools are beautiful; there are people's hands in them. I like to see that. I like to be connected. I don't want it to be a laboratory - I want it to look like a place where somebody cooks a lot."