Spruce Up The Busiest Room In The House: The Kitchen
If you ask most people, they will say the most popular room in their house is the kitchen.
House parties tend to end up with most guests milling about in the kitchen, and for most families, the kitchen provides the backdrop to both serious conversations and light-hearted moments. Yet despite this, it’s not always the room that gets the most decorating love. It’s a purposeful room, but not always an elegant one.
Whether you have a newer kitchen with the latest appliances but no ‘je ne sais quoi’ factor, or an older kitchen that hasn’t been redecorated since 1989, there are plenty of non-renovation options that won’t leave you cooking on a gas stove in the backyard for six months!
Use Color To Bring Up The Wow
Older cabinets that you don’t have the time or patience to rip out and replace? Give them a coat of paint! Depending on the natural lighting in the room, opting for a light color will open up the space and give it a light, airy feel.
Unsightly or discolored tiles can be covered up with ease: paint! You can paint over most tiles in a few simply steps:
- Clean the tiles.
- Sand them down to remove any gloss or texture.
- Prime and paint. Acrylic latex wall paint is your best bet and is available in a stunning array of colors.
Old, stained wallpaper under the cabinets or above the stove can easily be hidden, rather than going through the effort of stripping it, by adding a stick-on backsplash. These peel and stick adhesive tiles come in sheets, which you can cut down to size and fit in almost any space. There are patterns for all design styles so that you can give your kitchen that instant face lift, with minimal effort.
Add Accessories That Are Fun AND Functional
Sure, the granite countertop and stainless steel appliances are important but it’s the little things that make the look well rounded and appealing.
Add a clock that matches your design style. For example, if you’ve gone in for a French Provençale look, perhaps a large piece with elegant roman numerals. Something that screams French cafe at home, without being too kitsch.
Towels are another way to make a statement. When the tea towels start to get ratty, confine them to the rag pile for shining shoes or polishing the car and invest in a set of color coordinated towels for wiping fingers and light surfaces. The color pop you can get from something as simple as a towel can make all the difference in the look you’re going for.
Rugs aren’t always the first thought for a kitchen, but in the right place, a woven, colorful rug can add a dimension of cosiness. Placing it under the breakfast nook table for example, helps to keep toes warm on cold winter mornings. Look for something washable in case of spills!
Seating Will Draw Friends In
Who doesn’t love the comfy seat at their local cafe? It’s the best spot in the house, so to speak. You can have that at home, by adding functional and elegant seating to your kitchen.
Depending on the kind of space that you have, you can upgrade your breakfast nook with a rustic but still elegant round table, like the Rocca table, with a glass table top and wood legs with a walnut finish. The Lyna side chairs in grey have matching walnut colored legs (the legs are actually made of metal so they’re nice and sturdy), completing this perfect look.
Rocca Dining Table from WHi and Lyna side chairs from WHi
If a breakfast or eating nook isn’t in the cards, thanks to space or design style, adding some very cool stools to a breakfast bar creates the seating you want, with minimal use of space.
Depending on your style, you can go for something modern like !nspire’s Naveed adjustable stool. With a mango wood ‘distressed’ stool top, available in natural or grey, and an iron base, in polished nickel:
Naveed Adjustable Stool in Distressed Natural from !nspire
Looking for a little comfort? A stool that feels like a chair is the perfect choice, like !nspire’s Tango Gas Lift Stool. A hydraulic seat adjuster makes setting the stool to bar or counter height a snap and you and your guests can sit comfortably with the curved bentwood frame in a walnut finish and the faux leather seat.
Tango Gas Lift Stool in a chrome and walnut finish from !nspire
It’s definitely possible to add a lot of style with a little effort and make any kitchen the heart of the home that it was meant to be. If you have a useful and easy decorating tip for sprucing up this all important space, share it with us!