The kitchen is a place where one of the most important aspects of living is carried out – cooking! Without food, it is impossible for us to survive and without a kitchen, it is extremely difficult to make a good home. Whether you are someone who sits down with the family for every meal or just someone who loves to entertain guests at home, you will need a kitchen that makes you feel comfortable in the loving environment that food needs to be made in.
If you think your kitchen needs a bit of freshening up to look more inviting, then here are some tips on how you can turn things around and make it a place where everyone wants to spend some time!
Colour Correction
With all the appliances and the shelves lining our kitchen walls, we rarely think about the colour that adorns its walls, shelves, counters and more. We are more focussed on using the place properly rather than thinking about how it looks and a simple change of colour can make a whole lot of difference. The current trend brings in a lot of bright colours with Red and Orange quickly becoming favourites.
Citrus shades are being sought after, especially with equipment coming in those colours as well. Finally, it is time to take a turn towards the bolder shades of colour than let your kitchen be the dull, monochromatic room you’ve always known it to be.
Everything Fits
One important thing, not just about kitchens, about room-decoration is that things shouldn’t seem out of place. Kitchen design, this year, has gone to a whole different level as ovens, fridges, dishwashers and other appliances are being made to match the surrounding shelves and the walls. This isn’t just in terms of colour, but also in terms of the look and the way they fit into the environment.
You can have a kitchen with no handles protruding from any of the shelves or appliances. Most of the appliances can be hidden thanks to clever positioning while pull-out appliances are being brought in more and more. Everything looks much neater and the space in the kitchen opens up even more.
Mix-Matching Materials
Gone are the days when you needed metal shelves with metal appliances or when everything needed to look the same. You can have a granite slab on the counter and still use a metal sink in it. No need to spend tonnes of money getting that wooden cabinet out just because your appliances have shine steel on the outside. The idea of using mix-match materials has been gaining steam this year and you are likely to find a lot of high-gloss paints coming in for cabinetry and walls to match the shiny appliances you have installed.
Command Centres
The kitchen is the room where you are likely to have the most number of appliances in a given space. Everything needs electricity and everything has its own set of controls. If you have too many things running on your mind and too many stations to run to, to operate everything, then consider installing a small command centre. This control panel wires up all your appliances into one single console that you can control without running around all over the place. Got an IPad? Throw in a bit of technology and that’s what you get!
Eco-Friendly Appliances
The search for better materials for regular-use items has reached the environment-friendly category and even counter-tops aren’t being left behind. There are plenty of energy-saving appliances that are available and some, like a Seltzer Maker, even allow you to create posh sparkling water without spending money on bottled water. You end up re-using bottles and not wasting them, thereby recycling your plastic-bottle disposables.
Murals
You find that families and friends spend a lot of time sitting in the kitchen, talking or eating. Why not make the place a bit more attractive by adding in some wall murals. You pick out the spots between cabinets that is being wasted and put these murals on to not just utilize the space but make your kitchen a lot better looking and chic.
In the end, the kitchen is a sacred place in the home and it is your duty to make sure that it remains clean, beautiful and a room where you’d like to eat what was produced in it. It is an experience more than just a utility room so in 2012, make sure you use that room as best as you can.
Anna Tribiani – author
When Anna took over the job of renovating her parents’ home, she decided to look for the best way to utilize space without having to run to different vendors. Working with the Illya Kitchen team, she created a wonderful haven using the latest kitchen design trends in 2012. From simple visits to her folks to extravagant Thanksgiving dinners, the bar has been raised for the experience that no one will be able to erase from their memories.