Whether you have a large, country-house kitchen or a small cottage kitchen, it is still the one room in the house where you spend a large part of your day. Here are some fantastic kitchen ideas from Edinburgh Kitchen Company (EKCO).
For this reason, you want it to be practical, spacious and beautiful. It is as much an entertainment room as the sitting room and should reflect your taste and individualism. If you have always longed for a yellow kitchen with a black ceiling or white kitchen with gold trim, there is no reason not to make your dream kitchen. However we are not suggesting these colour combinations but if that’s what takes your fancy then why not.
Long and narrow, large floor space, too many or too few cupboards, not enough windows or air flow stifled. Whatever the problem with your old kitchen, there is a solution for you.
Here are five superb ideas to transform your kitchen and turn it into a dream space.
1. Backsplashes are not just practical to keep the walls clean but they add beauty to the kitchen giving a focus that the eye automatically follows. A mosaic-style with specific colours or patterns of your choice with worktops picking up the main colour in the mosaic will make your kitchen unique and sure to stand out. It doesn’t have to be an expensive job and if you are into handicrafts, it will be a nice little project to do with the family or with the help of your kitchen designer. Paint the cabinets white or a pale grey or blue, again to contrast with the mosaic tiling. Or if you are into a more classic look, do the backsplash in a plain colour and pick up colour in your accessories. The range of designs and styles are limited to your imagination and will suit every taste and style.
2. If your house or apartment allows it, open up your kitchen with glass doors so that the dining area becomes part of the kitchen. It brings in more light and gives you more scope to decorate, incorporating both rooms. Your kitchen will go from being a poky space to a large entertainment area for social gatherings. Now you can have the over-sized chandelier, which looks great in a larger room but would look a little silly in a small kitchen. Installing under-counter lights or hanging lighting fixtures will make your kitchen look warm and luxurious reflecting the shine of the chrome handles and fixtures.
3. Extra cupboard space is always needed in any home; let’s take the man drawer for example every home has at least one. But what about a place to grow your herbs, your glass containers for flour, rice and pasta and extra shelves for recipe books and wine. The perfect place for these would be a central island or even an off-centre island with hidden cupboards and shelving space for the oddments. An island needn’t be huge, in fact it could be an old-world cabinet refurbished and painted to match your new countertops. Quite often a space is left between cabinets for a waste bubble but this can be utilized by shelving with the countertop extended to close the space.
4. Having a small kitchen filled with cabinets can make the space feel claustrophobic if not done right. Do away with some of the cabinets and have open shelving. Take the small things off the worktops by utilizing the wall space. Hang up your mugs, utensils, condiments and spices. Change the cabinet doors to frosted glass and have tiny down lights inside. Once you have uncluttered the kitchen you can renew the rest of the décor. Integrate your stove and hob into the cabinetry and have the corner spaces transformed into cutlery or utility draws. The odd shapes of the corner units are perfect for all the small items. A pull-out-on-rails shelf for your pots will take up that really awkward section that is difficult to get into.
5. A great idea for bringing character and colour into your kitchen is with the use of wallpaper. Even the backsplash can be papered with waterproof paper instead of tiles. In this way, when you get tired of the décor or the colour, simply peal it off and renew with a different style. The colour can be carried through to the rest of the house uniting the whole into a classic beauty. Soft toned wallpaper can bring warmth to a cold kitchen or brighten up a dark kitchen. Have your window seat cushions made in the same colour and your kitchen accessories to contrast. Of course if you are not on a budget, transform your kitchen by giving your ideas to a professional to advise and guide you. Let the right people do it for you. They can give you the costing, show you designs and together, you can get the kitchen you have always wanted.
