You're just going to have to bake a cake to stick on there! Oh, the crosses we have to bear to make our kitchens look nice.... *sigh* : )

Put fruit on it. Cake is bad for you!

I got a fancy cake stand as decor. It has a frog. It looks fine bare.

You can put anything on your white cake stand to make it decorative. Fruit, of course, is colorful, but it's too warm here for leaving fruit out, and it might be there too. You can look around your house for different, interesting things to fill it with, though. How about a pocket dolly tea party? A pyramid of those flat marbles you put in vases? A bonbon box. A pretty tea can. A shallow dish with floating flowers. A grouping of salt and pepper shakers lined up like toy soldiers.

Sugar keeps. If you think it would look best as a cake, get a cake shaped round of styrofoam at the crafts store and frost it. Really! Make rosettes and textures and whatever you can make pretty. It'll last a long time. Don't do it if you have ants or another bug problem, but in general, it should dry out fast and keep for a long time.

Pottery Barn shows all kinds of decorative things (other than cakes) on their cake stands. Maybe one of these pictures will give you an idea.

Flowers look great on everything.

Why not another cake stand?

You could put cute dishes that your family regularly uses on top.

How about a grouping of candles?

Clusters of potted herbs or plants can be just as cute as flowers.

If it has a glass dome, you could use it like a glass cloche. Or you could even put a glass cloche on top if it doesn't have a dome.

What about a huge candle? Choose one that would go with your color scheme. Now that's an idea...
Or, frame a family picture and add some dried flowers around the base.
or a wine bottle with grapes,
or a nice decorative wooden bird house with some vine twigs around the base.
It could be something seasonal that you could do .
Have fun with it, be creative!
Now a days, anything could go

Does it have a lid? That would make a difference...bagels. Houseplant! (basil?)

Decorate with stuff you have, because (hopefully) that's the stuff you like. If it's functional, even better.

Hi everyone!

This is such a helpful thread! So glad I saw it...I have been itching to dress up my counters, but don't have the funds to shop for things...but I already have a clear glass cake stand with a dome cover. You all have given me some great ideas...Just want to say thanks to the OP and those who posted!

KAS:)

Thanks pricklypearcactus! Now that I've seen the galvanized 3-tier stand, I have to have it! It's in my cart on potterybarn.com!! :0)

Thanks for the amazing ideas! I love them! The one picture of the cakestand with the white mugs on it is actually the exact cake stand I have and we also have those mugs. I think I might try to duplicate that!!

I know this is an old discussion but I stumbled upon it when I was looking for inspiration for my cake stand. My son gave the stand to me and when I redid my kitchen I wanted it out all the time. I found this flower ball at a craft store. It had a ribbon for hanging but I cut that off and then I sliced off the bottom to make it sit level. I think it looks adorable (though admitedly my husband thinks I'm crazy!). Of course sometimes I have a real cake in there (or muffins or bagels or something else) but when I don't, I use this and I love it!

I just bought a cake stand off of eBay that I plan to use to hold dish soap, hand soap, and cleaning spray next to the sink. I saw it on Pinterest, of course--in fact, if you search for "cake stand ideas" you'll see a million other options. One person had a little hot chocolate station set up with mugs, mix in a pretty jar, napkins and spoons--super cute.

what about a Bundt cake candle...I've seen these in shops before and they smell yummy. Too kitschy?

Here is a link that might be useful: bundt cake candle