Essential elements to keep in mind when doing up your kitchen
You may already have a Pinterest board full of different ideas you’ve saved over the past years and carefully accumulated to create your perfect kitchen space. But trying to balance what you really want with the reality of the space and the budget you have is usually another thing entirely. Therefore, it’s important that you focus on the essentials for your kitchen, including your kitchen layout, first.
Essentials aren’t always appliances or features. The layout of a space might also be an essential, or the fact that you need to add colour to expand a certain wall or make a certain area feel larger than it is. This article aims to focus on exactly those things; namely, that you need to think about your kitchen layout, the effectiveness of appliances and how stylish they are, how you can add pops of colour to enhance the essence of the kitchen, and the importance of the little things that will enhance your kitchen décor even more.
Think of the layout
One of the most important aspects of a kitchen is layout. The kitchen layout is more important than other rooms because you need the right space to work, to function and to productively prepare meals in. Having a poorly placed work space or a cramped nook can transform cooking from a fun activity into a frustrating chore.
Therefore, when planning kitchen space, identify the key elements that you really want to have, such as an island or a long sink. Then, arrange these pieces of the puzzle together to create a space that complements your natural movement and workflow.
Find effective appliances that are also stylish
Once you have the space laid out in a way that you think works, you have to think about the most important appliances and where you’re going to place them. If you’re somebody who uses your oven often, you might want to think about putting the oven at chest level, so that you don’t have to prop yourself down every time you want to get a batch of brownies or a rotisserie chicken into the oven.
The same goes with a refrigerator; you need to put it in a space where it makes sense so that you’re not constantly lugging all your cold products from one end of the room to the side where you’re going to cut them. Also, remember that a refrigerator often takes up a lot of space and they’re often a focal point of the eye. It’s therefore important that you find one that’s stylish at the same time. With those two things out of the way, you’re essentially left with the small bits and bobs, such as the kettle, the toaster, the hob and the microwave. Typically, it’s good to put these sorts of things on the same side, so that when you’re frying eggs over the hob, you can put the plate close to the toaster where the toast is about to pop up – all while boiling the kettle for your morning cup of coffee or tea! Having a long island with all of these appliances plugged in and operating as one is the best ways to go.
Go crazy with pops of colour
Now that you have your kitchen layout, essentials, appliances and other important parts of the kitchen sorted, another key is adding a little bit of your own style. This is where colour comes in. Now, you might be thinking that colour is really just a part of the additional décor – one of those less crucial aspects of kitchen design that are mentioned together in the section below. However, colour is a lot more instrumental than that, and therefore it gets its own dedicated space!
Colour not only sets the vibe of the space but also influences your mood. Red, for example, stands for passion and inspiration; if you add a splash of red to the backdrop of a hob, it could bring up that type of energy. However, if you add soothing yellows or calm and relaxing greens, this will give off a different energy to red.
Don’t shy away from décor, cookbooks and paintings
Now that you have the essentials, layout and the most important parts of the kitchen down, don’t be afraid to add a vase of beautiful flowers or sweet little cushions to a seating area. Another idea is to use trinkets that you’ve collected along the way, such as shells from the beach or little mannequins that you enjoy, to set up around the kitchen. This adds some of your or the family’s personality.
Cookbooks add a touch of colour as well as provide valuable culinary inspiration. For wall décor, consider paintings featuring still-life arrangements of fruits or vegetables to complement the kitchen’s theme.
Final word
So, there you have it: a few useful tips and tricks to guide your next kitchen upgrade adventure. After all, the kitchen is the heart of the home, so creating a space that suits your personal and family needs is a worthwhile endeavour!
